A Streetcar Named Desire
- High School English teacher in Laurel
- She looses Belle Reve and arrive at New Orleans where her sister is
- She decides to live with her sister and her husband for a while
- Avoids reality and lives in her imagination
- Her age and appearance is of great importance for her, she is scared that soon she will loose all her beauty and get old
- Her first marriage was a disaster since her husband ended up shooting himself
- She fears being alone so when she meets Mitch she tries to make things work out
- Blanche says Stanley rapes her but her sister Stella never believes it and sends her to a mental institution
- Blanche is trapped between reality and illusion
- Our first impression of Stanley of him is as a aggressive, dominant and very sexual character.
- Fought in World War II, now works as an auto-parts salesman
- Married to Stella Kowalski
- He enjoys maintaining stereotypical gender roles in his home
- He like him to be the respected head of the household
- He enjoys time with his friends and bowling
- Very quick-tempered, in many occasions breaks or throws things and hits Stella one, he also is accused by Blanche saying he raped her.
- He believes that the presence of Blanche is the reason the relationship between him and Stella is not working
- All he want is for Blanche to leave.
- Married to Stanley Kowalski (Lower Class)\
- Blanche (her sister) Visits her and she is torn between her husband and sister
- Stanley is very aggressive and with all of his negative things Stella remains inlove
- Gives birth to a child with Stanley
- Has always been on her sisters side, she has always been loyal and kind but finally refuses to believe that Stanley raped Blanche and arranges for Blanche to be committed to a mental institution
- Stanley’s army friend, coworker, and poker buddy,
- He lives with his mom who is ill.
- He is very sensitive and gentlemanly
- Mitch and Blanche are an example of a co-dependent relationship that is founded on mutual loneliness and the desire to be with someone – anyone – to distract themselves from previously suffered emotional damage.The only reason these two are together at all is out of mutual need.
- Mitch and Blanche bond over their lost loves
- He courts Blanche until he finds out that she lied to him about her sordid past.
Themes
- Shows a sharp critique of the way the institutions and attitudes of postwar America placed restrictions on women’s lives
- Blanche and Stella both show dependence on men, both Blanche and Stella see male companions as their only means to achieve happiness, and they depend on men for both their sustenance and their self-image.
- Evidence of this could be when Stella chooses to remain with Stanley, she chooses to trust, love, and believe in a man instead of her sister.
- Stella- it is quite clear that Stanley represents a much more secure future than Blanche does and this is why Stella chooses him.
- Men’s exploitation of Blanche’s sexuality has left her with a poor reputation. This reputation makes Blanche an unattractive marriage prospect, but, because she is destitute, Blanche sees marriage as her only possibility for survival.
- Mitch rejects Blanche because of Stanley’s gossip about her reputation, Blanche immediately thinks of another man—the millionaire Shep Huntleigh—who might rescue her.
- Blanche cannot see around her dependence on men, she has no realistic conception of how to rescue herself and does not realize that her dependence on men will lead to her downfall rather than her salvation.
- Blanche puts her fate in the hands of others.
- Blanche explains to Mitch that she fibs because she refuses to accept the hand fate has dealt her. Lying to herself and to others allows her to make life appear as it should be rather than as it is.
- Blanche’s final, deluded happiness suggests that, to some extent, fantasy is a vital force at play in every individual’s experience, despite reality’s inevitable triumph.
- Blanche’s fear of death manifests itself in her fears of aging and of lost beauty
- Refuses to tell anyone her true age
- She seems to believe that by continually asserting her sexuality, especially toward men younger than herself, she will be able to avoid death and return to the world of teenage bliss she experienced before her husband’s suicide.
Important Quotes
Source: http://www.novelguide.com/Streetcar/toptenquotes.html
SymbolsShadows and Cries
- Blanche & Stanley begin to quarrel in (Scene 10) - various oddly shaped shadows begin to appear on the wall behind her.
- Discordant noises and jungle cries also occur as Blanche begins to descend into madness.
- effects combine to dramatize Blanche’s final breakdown and departure from reality in the face of Stanley’s physical threat.
- Blanche retreats entirely into her own world. Whereas she originally colors her perception of reality according to her wishes, she ignores reality altogether.
- Tune to which Blanche and her young husband, Allen Grey, were dancing when she last saw him alive. Earlier that day, she had walked in on him in bed with an older male friend.\
- The three of them then went out dancing together, pretending that nothing had happened.
- In the middle of the Varsouviana, Blanche turned to Allen and told him that he “disgusted” her. He ran away and shot himself in the head.
- when Blanche is feeling remorse for Allen’s death.
- Stanley meets Blanche and asks her about her husband
- Blanche tells Mitch the story of Allen Grey.
- always drives Blanche to distraction.
- She tells Mitch that it ends only after she hears the sound of a gunshot in her head.
- The polka and the moment it evokes represent Blanche’s loss of innocence.
- Blanche hears the Varsouviana whenever she panics and loses her grip on reality
- Scene 7- Blanche sings this popular ballad while she bathes.
- song’s lyrics describe the way love turns the world into a “phony” fantasy.
- The speaker in the song says that if both lovers believe in their imagined reality, then it’s no longer “make-believe.” These lyrics sum up Blanche’s approach to life.
- Scene 1 - Stanley throws a package of meat at his adoring Stella for her to catch.
- Action sends Eunice and the Negro woman into peals of laughter.
- In hurling the meat at Stella, Stanley states the sexual proprietorship he holds over her.
- Stella’s delight in catching Stanley’s meat signifies her sexual infatuation with him.
- Jealousy & Possessiveness
- His Actions don't match his words
- Use violence and emotional abuse to control
- Believe that they have the right to behave in whatever way they choose
- Think that a ‘real’ man should be tough, powerful and head of the household
- Make excuses for their violence
- Report ‘losing control’ when angry and ask for forgiveness later
- Grown up in an abusive environment themselves, and/or have problems with alcohol
Title: A Streetcar Named Desire
Author: Tennessee Williams
Date of Publication: 1947
Genre: Tradegy
Type of Work: Play
Language: English
Time & Place Written: Late 1940s, New Orleans
Publisher: New Directions
Tone: Ironic & Sympathetic Realism
Setting (Time): 1940s
Setting (Place): New Orleans, Louisiana
Character Profiles
Protagonist - Blanche DuBois
Loquiacious, Fragile, unstable, aristocratic
Antagonist - Stanley kowalski
Crude, Violent. Bitter
Stella Kowalski
Mild, Soft- spoken, artisocratic
Harold "Mitch" Mitchell
a) Dependence on Men
b) Fantasy’s Inability to Overcome Reality
c) The Relationship between Sex and Death
-
Sex and death are intricately and fatally linked in Blanche’s experience.
“I’m not young and vulnerable any more.”
Blanche speaking to Stanley, Scene 2
“He acts like an animal, has an animal’s habits! Eats like one, moves like one, talks like one!
Blanche speaking about Stanley, Scene 4.
“In some kinds of people some tenderer feelings have had some little beginning! That we have to make grow! And cling to, and hold as our flag!”
Blanche speaking to Stella, Scene 4
“And men don’t want anything they get too easy. But on the other hand, men lose interest quickly.”
Blanche speaking to Stella, Scene 5
“And then the searchlight which had been turned on the world was turned off again and never for one moment since has there been any light that’s stronger than this—kitchen—candle.”
Blanche speaking about the effect on her of her husband’s suicide, Scene 6
“I don’t want realism. I want magic!”
Blanche speaking to Mitch, Scene 9
“Never inside, I didn’t lie in my heart.”
Blanche speaking to Mitch, Scene 9
“You’re not clean enough to bring in the house with my mother.”
Mitch speaking to Blanche, Scene 9
“We’ve had this date with each other from the beginning!”
Stanley speaking to Blanche as he carries her to the bed, Scene 10
“Whoever you are—I have always depended on the kindness of strangers."
Blanche speaking to the Doctor, Scene 11
The Varsouviana Polka
The Varsouviana Polka - Scene 6
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoj2ywRLJRw
“It’s Only a Paper Moon”
"It's Only a Paper Moon" - Scene 7
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gapCK5_rMuY
Meat
Psychology of Men who are Abusive?
Reasons for men to be abusive:
Sources:
http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/streetcar/context.html
http://www.novelguide.com/Streetcar/novelsummary.html
Scene 2
Stanley, Stella
Bellaa stole stellas rights
Stanley starts looking at blanches trnk
Stanley believes Blanche has stole things
Stanley sarcastically tells her
Chapter reveals that beauty is everything for blanche
Scene 3
Stella and Stanley are crazy for each other
Scene 4
Scene 5
Blance writes a letter to
Pretends she has been around
she is lying to him
Eunice calls the police
Blanche - Virgin
Stanley - Capricorn
Paper boy
Desire for a husband back
Scene 6
Scene 7
Banches birthday
Stanley tells stella abot Blanches past
Mitch does not want to marry blanche anymore
Its only a paper moon - Folk Song ( Emphasizes blanches hope in the future)
Blanche scared of aging
Stellaa does not believe stanley
Desire overcomes reality
Blanche was telling a bath, she wants to remain clean
Amount of candles - 25 (does not want to age)
Scene 8
As the birthday dinner is coming to an end
Blooming atmosphere
Blanche asks Stanley to tell a funny story - he declains
Stanley is mean towards Blanche because he knows about her past
Blanche makes a bad comment about Stanley
Blanche makes ignorant comment about Stanleys polish ethnicity
Stanley did not like being polack
Blanche tries to call Mitch and when he does not answer she acts liek she dosent care abot him anymore
Scene 9 - Sugarcoat Reality/ Past Catching Up
Tense Mood
Mitch does not show up for supper
The Varsouviana Polka - Blanches Insanity / altered state of mind- Her past is reflected, she cant escape
Mitch is mad at Blanche because she has lied about her past
Blanche does not want realism, she wants magic (does not want to be seen at light)
Mexican Women shows up which announces "flores para los muertes" --> Scares Blanche (Death)
Blanche is startled, she starts regretting
Scene 10 -
Rape - (Stanley,Blanche)
Scene 11-
Characters - Blanche, Stanley, Stella, Mitch, Eunice, Doctor, Nurse
Stanley and buddies playing poker
Mitch still cares about Blanche
