Themes

Question 1

Sexual Desire

Answer 1

Play is driven by desire:
B: See’s herself as an object of male desire. Always flirts, takes on different guises to attract men - see’s it as her only means of survival. Young man incident. Desire leads to her demise.
St: Her desire for Stanley pulls her away from Laurel and her old life. Sexual dynamic repairs arguments
SK: Brute, animalistic sexuality, asserted violently over others
Dubois: ‘epic fornications’ of family led to the loss of Belle Reve

Question 2

Fantasy vs Delusion

Answer 2

Blanche’s desire to escape leads her to lose touch with reality and by the end, she can no longer tell the difference between fantasy and reality.

• Constantly overplays herself as this ‘Southern Belle’
• Maintains illusion of Shep Huntly - medieval knight like figure coming to save her
• Uses slurs like ‘Polack’ - maintain her superiority
• Hides away from light, paper lantern, hides her age
• Dresses in faux furs, concerned only with appearance

Question 3

Masculinity vs Feminity

Answer 3

Stanley:
- Package of red meat
- ‘bellows’
- Dresses in bright, lurid colours - and strips them off
- Hits Stella, Rapes Blanche
- Mitch is beta-male, physically imposing, but not violent
Blanche and Stella:
- Define themselves by the men in their life
- Blanche see’s a relation as security and a purpose
- Blanche bases her feminity on illusions and an act
- Stella ultimately chooses her husband over her sister

Question 4

Power

Answer 4

Plot based on power struggle

- Blanche and Stanley fight for dominance and control of Stella. Stanley views her presence as an intrusion