Streetcar Named Desire Flashcards
Who sells flowers for the dead?
The Mexican woman
Who pities her sister and urges her husband to be nice to her and compliment her appearance?
Stella
Who believes in the Napoleonic Code especially when he thinks he’s missed out on something?
Stanley
Who is the Hispanic man who plays poker with the boys?
Pablo
Who is the wealthy oil man who is more a distant memory of a lonely and desperate woman than he is a possible love interest and savior?
Shep Huntleigh
Who is the man - often called Pollack by his sister-in-law - King of his castle?
Stanley
Who comes to collect a deranged woman in scene 11 - and treats her like a lady?
The doctor
Who owns the building in which the majority of the play takes place - his wife threatens to call the police after he gets physical with her?
Steve
Who collects money for the newspaper?
The newspaper boy
Who lives with his mother?
Mitch
Who left her upbringing to marry a man whom she felt a strong passion for?
Stella
Who visits her sister in New Orleans all the way from Laurel, Mississippi?
Blanche
Who,lives upstairs at the Elysian Field House - takes her friend in sometimes when her husband gets too rough (like after the poker game)?
Eunice
Who comes to collect a deranged woman in scene 11 - is very matter of fact and gruff - “These fingernails will have to be trimmed”
Nurse
Who works at the factory - is a single man - believed to be different from the others - according to Blanche?
Mitch
Who wants to go back “to the way they was” befor his wife’s sister came to stay?
Stanley
Who packs her sister’s things at the end of the play and avoids telling her the truth about where she is really going?
Stella
Who reminds Blanche of a young boy she was involved with - at a high school she was teaching at - after she request and is granted a kiss from?
The newspaper boy
Who relies on dim lighting, afternoon dates and paper lateens to hide her age?
Blanche
Who is fooled by a women claiming to be younger than she really was - he is disappointed, heart-broken and angry at the end of the play?
Mitch
Who is the upstairs neighbor who has to hel restrain Stanley after he hits his wife in scene 2 - after the poker game?
Steve
Who is the old beau of Blanche’s whom she believes will sent her and Stella up in a shop somewhere so that they can get away from New Orleans and her sister’s husband?
Shep
Who travels out of town for work from time to time - maybe for a couple of days or even a whole week. When he is gone for long stretches his wife goes crazy without him?
Stanley
Who descends from barely hanging on to sanity to being committed by the end of the play?
Blanche
What was the Greek mythological reference to the afterlife?
Elysian Fields
What means beautiful dream?
Belle Reve
What means flowers for the dead?
Flores para Los muertes
What is the French polka song that replays itself in Blanche’s head?
Various anima
What word means white?
Blanche
What does Blanche find unforgivable?
Deliberate cruelty
What means virgin?
Virgo
In what state was Tennessee Williams’ father born?
Tennessee
What award did Tennessee Williams win for “A Streetcar Named Desire”?
Pulitzer Prize
What is a southern city and the setting for “A Streetcar Named Desire”?
New Orleans
What disease did Tennessee Williams suffer from?
Alcoholism
What item does Stanley bring out on special occasions?
Silk pajamas
What is Stanley’s birthday present for Blanche?
Bus ticket to Laurel
What is the name of the hotel that Blanche “worked” at?
Flamingo
How may candles were on Blanche’s birthday cake?
26
Who said, “ I have always depended on the kindness of strangers”?
Blanche
Who said - “Al right, I’ll wait till she gets through soaking in a hot tub and then I’ll inquire if she is acquainted with the Napoleonic Code. It looks to me like you’ve been swindled baby, and when you’re swindled under the Napoleonic Code I’m swindled too. And I don’t like to be swindled?”
Stanley
Who said, “I never was hard or self-sufficient enough. When people are soft - soft people have got to shimmer and glow - they’ve got to put on soft colors, the colors of butterfly wings, and put a - paper lantern over the light. It isn’t enough to be soft. You’ve got to be soft and attractive. And I - I’m fading now! I don’t know how much longer I can turn the trick.”
Blanche
Who said, “You take it for granted that I am in something that I want to get out of.”
Stella
Who said, “Hey canary bird! Toots! Get out of the Bathroom!”
Stanley
Who said, “I can smell the sea air. The rest of my time I’m going to spend on the sea. And when I die, I’m going to die on the sea. You know what I shall die of? I shall die of eating an unwashed grape one day out on the ocean. I will die with my hand in the hand of some nice-looking ship’s doctor, a vey young one with a small blonde mustache and a big silver watch.”
Blanche
Who said, “You never did give me a chance to say much Blanche. So I just got in the habit of being quiet around you.”
Stella
Who said, “I called him a liar at first. And then I checked on the story. First I asked our supply-man who travels through Laurel. And then I talked directly over long-distance to this merchant.”
Stanley
Who said, “STTTTTEEEELLLLLAAAAAA!!!!!”
Stanley
Who said, “I know, I know, but you are the one who abandoned Belle Reve, not I! I stayed and fought for it, bled for it, almost died for it!”
Blanche
How does Stanley’s first action show that he is a primitive man?
Because he throws meat to Stella
How does Blanche feel about Stella’s home and why?
It is gross - - Compared to belle Reve it is small and low class
How does the relationship between Steve and Eunice mirror Stanley and Stella?
They fight and then make-up - - fight and then make-up - - it is a continual cycle
Why was Blanche fired from her job?
She had an affair with a 17 year old boy
Why doesn’t Mitch want to marry Blanche?
She is not clean enough to bring into a house with his mom
What does Blanche lie to Mitch? How is she able to pull this off?
Her age - - because of dim lighting
Why does Stella always go back to Stanley, even after his acts of cruelty?
Because of the passion and lust between them
What does Stanley over hear when Blanche is talking to Stella the morning after the first poker scene?
Blanche calls him an animal - - and tries to get Stella to leave.
What are two cruel acts that Stanley commits upon Blanche after the birthday party and before the end of the play that serve to break her sanity?
1) Rape
2) Gave her a bus ticket - indicating that he wanted her out of the house
What has happened to Belle Reve?
They lost it due to debts
What happened to Blanche’s husband and why?
He committed suicide - because he was gay and Blanche discovered this.
Why is Blanche constantly bathing?
She is searching for purity
Why does Stella need to believe that Blanche is crazy?
Because she couldn’t live with Stanley other wise
Where is Blanche going at the end of the play?
Sanitarium - - or a mental hospital
Why is Blanche’s name both ironic and symbolic?
Use your notes
What is the significance of Blanche’s final line?
Use your notes
Describe the relationship between Stella and Stanley - what is it that makes it last?
Use your notes
Describe the world of illusion Blanche has built for herself. Consider the following questions: What has happened in her past that led to her dislike of thruth? What does she lie about to Mitch? Why was she kicked out of Laurel? How is Stanley able to break her?
Use your notes
