Streetcar – Context Flashcards
What is the play based on?
Tennessee Williams’ life
What happened to Williams’ sister?
Rose became increasingly unstable and was given a lobotomy, living in a mental institution for the rest of her life
What was Williams’ mother?
a southern belle
What was Williams’ father?
an alcoholic
What is Williams’ obsessed with?
death
Give some context of New Orleans
2nd largest port in US very diverse population created/ruled by French streetcar = a tram - connecting most of NO racially acceptable celebrated for its cemeteries
Who directed the film?
Elia Kazan
How did the play succeed?
achieve literary and commercial success
When is the play set?
1946
Why was the 40s anxiety ridden?
threat of nuclear war Great Depression segregation WW2 Civil war
What are the conflicts apparent in the play/40s?
capitalism vs communism
old south vs new south
What is the purpose of the title?
ties the action to the place (French quarter of New Orleans)
uses it as a metaphor: desire will lead to death
What is realism?
genre of theatre which encourages believable reproduction of life on stage
What is expressionalism?
a genre which sought to express emotional experiences in a symbolic, distorted, stylised fashion
How is expressionalism created?
costumes set props lighting music
What is plastic theatre?
“all the elements of staging must combine to reflect and enhance action, theme, characters and language”
What is the main idea of Streetcar?
our desire will lead to death, leading to afterlife (“Elysian Fields”)
Who was Stanley Kowalski inspired by?
borrowed from a factory worker
Amazon “Pancho” Rodriguez y Gonzalez = a mexican boxer who was once Williams’ lover
Who inspired Blanche?
she may have been a stand in for Williams:
he was like Blanche, a gentle Southern soul, thirsty for live yet fascinated by gruff men
“I draw every character out of my very multiple split personality”
“my heroines always express the climate of my inner turmoil”
Where was Williams born?
Mississippi:
Antebellum south
What are the connotations of the South?
place of great beauty but is built on slavery = complex connotations
What inspired many of Williams’ writing?
the South
Who were the South former colonised by?
French colony
Spanish colony
Describe the Nietzsche illusion vs reality theory
all tragic tales can be traced back to a struggle between illusion vs reality
Apollonian illusion vs Dionysian reality which ends only with the destruction of the Apollonian
illusion = Blanche vs reality = Stanley
Describe the Nietzsche power battle
we exercise power over other people both by benefiting them and by hurting them
cruelty, because it is the inferior option, is a sign that one lacks power
What is the significance of Blanche and Stanley both being earth signs?
associated with qualities of heaviness, matter - reality
it is arguable that Blanche has faced reality in her past
represent sensual aspects of life
What is the Rosenkavalier
The Knight of the Rose:
a comic opera, incorporating weighty themes of infidelity, ageing, sexual predation and selfishness
What are the Pleiades?
Hunter Orion tried to make them objects of his pursuit so Zeus, in an attempt to save them, changed them into a flock of doves
How are the Pleiades relevant to Blanche?
Mitch will protect Blanche from Stanley’s clutches
What is the relevance of La Dame Aux Camellias to Blanche?
When Blanche says this, she is attempting to tell Mitch about her promiscuous past but can’t bring herself to
What antithesis’ are demonstrated in Scene 7?
New America vs Old America
reality vs fantasy
illusion vs reality
upper class vs working class
What is Deus Ex Machina ?
“God out of a machine” - Latin
applied to any unanticipated intervener who resolves a difficult situation
Who is Huey Long?
a working class man who gained power through intimidation
he applied to uplift the lower man - “every man a king”
opposed to excessive privileges for the rich
What is the Howard Giles’ Communication Accommodation Theory?
the idea that people exaggerate their social class through their language
How does Williams use magical realism? (scene 10)
“a generally realistic setting with some odd fantasy thrown in. in this case, the fantasy enters the picture when the audience gets to see and hear some of Blanche’s imagined horrors”
How does Williams use Psychological realism? (scene 10)
it portrays reality as it exists in the mind; not as it exists objectively
How does Williams use social realism? (scene 10)
because of the plays frank treatment of issues like immigration, class, gender roles and power plays between women and men
How is the southern gothic genre depicted in scene 10?
all the creepy shadows also explain the plays categorisation as southern gothic
Why does Williams break play boundaries? (scene 10)
he wants people to break free from the ideas of the past to create a new future
What are the similarities between Blanche and Cleopatra? (scene 11)
Cleopatra was prepared for death by her two hand maidens
Eunice and Stella prepare Blanche to go, Stella can’t truly be happy anymore
Blanche was given a dignified ending
