Streetcar Symbols Flashcards
What are symbols?
Objects, characters, or colours used to show abstract concepts or ideas
What symbols do we see in Scene 10 as Blanche and Stanley argue?
Oddly shaped shadows on the wall behind Blanche
Discordant noises and cries
How do the shadows and cries dramatise Blanche’s breakdown?
She is losing her sanity in the face of Stanley’s physical threat, in her final struggle against him she retreats into her fantasy world
What is the Varsouviana?
A polka tune
Blanche and Allan danced to this the night he took his life
What did Blanche do during the Varsouviana on Allan’s final night alive?
She said he ‘disgusted’ her
He ran away and shot himself dead
When do we first hear the Varsouviana?
Scene 1, when Stanley asks Blanche about her husband
When do we usually hear the Varsouviana?
When Blanche is feeling remorseful for Allan’s death
When is the second appearance of the Varsouviana?
When Blanche tells Mitch about Allan
After this it plays increasingly often, it drives Blanche to distraction
When does Blanche tell Mitch that the Varsouviana stops?
When she hears a gunshot in her head
What does the Varsouviana and when it plays represent?
Blanche’s guilt and loss of innocence
The suicide began her mental decline
The timing shows her her panic and her losing grip on reality
When do we see meat be used as a symbol?
Scene 1
Stanley throws it at Stella
What reaction was gained from Stanley throwing the meat at Stella?
Eunice and the ‘negro’ Woman laughed
They picked up on his sexual innuendo
How does Stanley throwing meat at Stella foreshadow the foundation of their relationship?
It shows his sexual proprietorship over her
Her catching it shows her sexual infatuation with him
What is the symbol of ‘It’s Only a Paper Moon’
A ballad that Blanche sings in the bath
Summaries her approach to life
What do the lyrics of ‘It’s Only a Paper Moon’ state?
How love turns the world into a ‘phony’ fantasy
If both lovers believe in their imagined reality then it is true
What one of Blanche’s fundamental beliefs is captured in ‘It’s Only a Paper Moon’?
She believes her lying is her only means of enjoying life, and is therefore harmless
What paradox occurs whilst Blanche sings ‘It’s Only a Paper Moon’?
Stanley exposes Blanche’s sexually corrupt past to Stella
What is the irony as Blanche sings ‘It’s Only a Paper Moon’?
Whilst she has a fantastical understanding with herself, Stanley describes her brutally real nature
How do Blanche’s and Stanley’s dialogue differ?
Blanche is educated with literary allusions
Stanley’s is blunt with crude imagery
What is the dialogue rich in?
Tropes (metaphorical or figurative language)
What does Blanche lie about to protect her ego?
Her sexual promiscuity in Laurel
What does the ‘Streetcar Named Desire’ symbolize?
Blanche’s desire
To find a man, live as a respectable woman
What does the ‘Streetcar Named Cemeteries’ symbolize?
The old Blanche
Suggests that life is over for new Blanche too
What does the ‘Street Named Elysian’s Fields’ symbolize?
The new life Blanche is seeking
Blanche’s old self ‘died’ in Laurel, she traveled to New Orleans to seek her Elysium
What does ‘Belle Reve’ symbolize?
The life Blanche dreams of but never experiences
Means ‘beautiful dream’
What does Blanche’s white suit symbolize?
Her false purity and innocence
Masks her carnal desire and cloaks her past
What do Blanche’s baths symbolize?
Her trying to wash away her past
What does the name ‘Blanche’ symbolize?
Means white in Latin
Purity and innocence
She arrives in white in the first scene
What does the name ‘Stella’ symbolize?
Means star-like in Latin
Contrasts her lower-class life
Could be Stanley’s star or the star that led Blanche to New Orleans
What does the name ‘Stanley’ symbolize?
English name meaning ‘stone field’
Could represent a cemetery for Blanche
Stanislaus was a Polish king, he is the king of the household
