streetcar Named Desire context

Question 1

authority of father

Answer 1

His father pulled him out of University for journalism and forced him to work in a shoe factory where he had a nervous breakdown

Question 1

Williams

Answer 1

from an unhappy/dysfunctional family, parents had an unhappy marriage and were from different backgrounds (Williams explores the clash of people from different backgrounds)

Question 2

father

Answer 2

hard-drinking salesmen who was abusive and a bully

Question 3

sister (Rose)

Answer 3

diagnosed with schizophrenia aged 19 and was subjected to primitive treatment of lobotomy

Question 4

mental health

Answer 4

both him and his sister struggled with mental health and were treated badly - he portrays this treatment through the way that Blanche is treated by the doctor and matron

Question 5

Williams sexuality

Answer 5

engaged ina homosexual relationship with Frank K Merlo who supported him through his clinical depression

Question 6

Frank K Merlo

Answer 6

died in 1963 and Williams spiralled

Question 7

American dream

Answer 7

1776 declaration of independence
but in the 1930s the experience of the American Dream was less than idealistic
Suggesting society is a level playing field = responsibility for personal success or failure falls more heavily on the individual = easier to blame society, community or other individuals than it is to blame yourself

Question 8

American South

Answer 8

South fought for keep slaves but lost and slavery was abolished

Question 9

North vs South

Answer 9

The industrial north progressed to economically succeed but the South didn’t and it remained largely agricultural and struggled to compete
streetcar followed 80 years after the war and explores the despair of the southern family in Belle Reve

Question 10

New Orleans

Answer 10

famous for its multicultural heritage and thought to be the birthplace of jazz, was liberal and sexually-tolerant
Williams lived here as of 1938

Question 11

New Orleans setting

Answer 11

Transitory place, surrounded on 3 sides by river with train tracks cutting through and hot, humid climate = setting of tension and cultural diversity

Question 12

Gender roles - positives

Answer 12

during ww2, women had opportunity to fill roles men had usually filled in workplace
more financially happy, gained more freedom
women could pursue their own versions of the American dream

Question 13

Gender roles - negative

Answer 13

women are still defined by fertility and the ability to perform domestically
Blanche is scorned by society for being a woman of a certain age who is not married – an old maid and seen as predatory for her attraction to makes
Stella has broken away from the traditional decorum that her family may have chosen for her by marrying Stanley
BUT is a victim of domestic violence that is witnessed on the stage itself
BUT has become a mother in a traditionally sacrificial role – willing to forego her relationship with her sister for the sake of her family in America
women in play represent what was happening to women of the time – women confined to home, Stella relying on allowance given by Stanley
women criticised by Williams for the submissive roles in which they play