Streetcar Context Flashcards
Melodrama
a sensational dramatic piece with exaggerated characters and exciting events intended to appeal to the emotions; emotional appeal takes place over characterization. Emotional conflict is typically centred around family and relationships.
Name three conventions of an Aristotelian tragedy.
- mimesis
- hamartia
- hubris
- anagnorisis
- fall from grace of a character who begins the play in a position of seniority or noble birth (typically a result of the character’s hamartia)
- chorus
- pathos
- catharsis
- peripeteia
- nemesis
- any other acceptable answer
Three unities
Unity of action, unity of place, and unity of time.
Williams’ Sister
Was mentally ill and ended up receiving a lobotomy - could be seen in the character of Blanche.
Williams’ Father
An abusive alcoholic - could be seen in the character of Stanley.
Williams’ Mother
A southern belle who protected Williams from his father in his youth.
Expressionist Theatre
Utilized theatrical elements and scenery with exaggeration and distortion to deliver strong feelings and ideas to audiences.
Williams’ Alcoholism
A particularly shy individual, upon attending uni he discovered alcohol to be a cure for this shyness. His brother ended up hospitalizing him in 1969 but he remained involved with drugs and alcohol until his death.
Williams’ Sexuality
Accepted he was homosexual by the 30s and had an affair with dancer, Kip Kiernan, in the 40s. He then left Williams to marry a woman and news of Kiernan’s death four years later shook Williams.
New Orleans
Birthplace of jazz, multicultural even in the 1940s, based in south Louisiana. Williams himself resided in the French Quarter for a bit.
Civil War
Northern states (unionists) had abolished slavery and wanted everyone else to adopt this way of life. The southern confederacy disagreed and defended what they saw as their way of life.
The Lost Cause
Romanticises the way of the south, focusing on the glamour of the upper classes rather than the links to slavery.
Southern Gothic
Building on this idea of the Lost Cause, this genre features deeply flawed characters and derelict settings with grotesque situations relating to crime, poverty and violence. Other features include the exploration of madness, decay and despair and a blurring of lines between the victim and the villain.
Southern Gothic
Building on this idea of the Lost Cause, this genre features deeply flawed characters and derelict settings with grotesque situations relating to crime, poverty and violence. Other features include the exploration of madness, decay and despair and a blurring of lines between the victim and the villain.
Works to expose the myth of the old antebellum south.
