Streetcar - fantasy + delusion + madness Flashcards
‘I ought to…
go there on a rocket that never comes down’
Scene 2, Blanche to Stella
What does Blanche say when she is alone waiting for Stella in her flat?
‘I have got to keep a hold of myself’
How does Williams share many similarities to Blanche?
He wants said “I discovered writing as an escape from a world of reality in which I felt acutely uncomfortable.”
Writing was his ‘place of refuge’
Williams’ sister
Estranged from his sister Rose who suffered from a mental illness and had a lobotomy in 1943
Williams’ mother
Was prone to hysterical attacks
One of the original titles of Streetcar ?
‘Blanche’s chair in the moon’
Williams was a hypochondriac…
Fate/insanity
Williams was a hypochondriac, obsessed with sickness and death and was constantly worried he would turn insane. This was as a result of being traumatised by his sisters lobotomy which then led to her schizophrenia.
Witch quote
‘I could never imagine a witch of a woman casting a spell on you’
Rocket quote
“I want to go up there on a rocket that never comes down’m
Blanche not delusional in terms of Stella’s marriage
‘And you let him?’ (Smash light bulbs)
‘Didn’t run, didn’t scream?’
‘Pull yourself together and face the facts. You are married to a madman’
‘I don’t understand you Stella’
Blanche in her own world
‘As if she were actually talking to Shep’
Does Blanche actually see reality??
XX
‘Men don’t see your existence, don’t admit your existence unless you are making love to them’
‘Soft people have got to shimmer and glow - put a lantern over the light’
‘You’ve got to be soft and attractive’
Neurasthenic quote
Blanche’s voice full of ‘exhaustion’ that only a ‘neurasthenic’ personality can know
Blanche in a land of fantasy when she gets back from her date with Mitch
‘Pretend’ we are in a ‘little artist’s cafe’ on ‘Left Bank in Paris’
Specificity - she has her fantasy all maple sour in her head
Paper moon quote
“Say it’s only a paper Moon. Sailing over a cardboard say – but it wouldn’t be make-believe if you believed in me’’