A Streetcar Named Desire is a play about power

Do you agree?

Stanley
Stanley has masculine power - power of men at the time
The lexical choices/ choice of adjectives are violent and show that Stanley is physically powerful

Blanche
Blanche describes Stanley as common to demean him and undermine his power and assert her own

Stella
Stella is physically controlled by Blanche - Stella accepts this
The power shifts between Stella and Blanche

A Streetcar Named Desire is a play about people who are driven by their desires

How far and in what ways do you agree?

Hint - agree to an extent - they are directing you

Mitch is struggles with desire and is eventually overcome

Stanley and Stella's relationship is based on sexual desire

Essay questions - Blanche's vulnerability is only one part of her character

In the light of this comment, discuss the role of Blanche in a Streetcar Named Desire


Powerful/Commanding
"Put that lamp over the light bulb."


Haunted
With the young boy
Stage directions - looking elsewhere thinking about something else


Desperate/Commanding
"Come over here like I told you"
Imperative

Scene 5 and 6

Stanley brings up the past
Blanche passes it off
Stanley lets it slide but is clearly going to investigate further


Blanche admits to playing games to make Mitch want her
Because then she can be self sufficient


Young boy
Blanche won't let him leave
Flatters him
Kisses him


Mitch excitable
Blanche obsessed with playing the perfect lady
Blanche puts words in Mitch's mouth


Light metaphor used to describe feeling of love her husband
When her husband dies she describes it as a light being turned off


Scene 6 ends with the words
Sometimes there's God so quickly

Twice

It is about someone being rejected and then turning to God.


Oh my love/God
Brackets suggest secrecy
More confident in the second half
Found strength in God


Lots of similarities between the two halves (parallelism) emphasises the similarities of the processes


The narrator...
Wants acceptance
Someone to love her
Not strong enough on our own we need love


It is devotional poetry


Religious
A lot of religious imagery, ideology
Biblical references
Biblical allusions


Comparisons
Maude Clare
Same imagery and idea of posetion
"Take my share of a fickle heart" - Maude Clare


No, Thank You, John
Idea of rejection
Both conclude that they don't need a male lover

Key words

Charcterisation
Setting
Atmosphere
Dialogue
Stage directions

Echo

The narrator is addressing thoughts to someone who they can't reach or is lost

Repitition - Convincing themselves that it happened? Trying to relive it?
Punctuation - syntax is complex - adds pauses and slows down the poem
Meter -

• First line of each stanza - 10 syllables - 5 beats (pentameter) - mostly iambic but also trochees to add emphasis
• 4th line - tetrameter
• 5th line - dimeter

Rhyme - traditional rhyme scheme
End - each stanza ends in a complete way  which brings each paragraph to a conclusion

Comparisons
Remember

• Both strong rhyme and rhythm
• Lyric poem
• Similar subject matter

Song

• Both are about death and love and separation
• Difference - song is about dying and what she leaves
• Lyric poems
• About forgetting - memory doesn't matter

Shut Out

• Separation and desperation and distance
• Both have doors/gates

Blanche

She is a frustrating character
She is flawed - Drinks, malests children...

Are we on her side?
To an extent because she has had a bad life and we feel pity for her

Scene 1

Moth analogy
Moths are attracted to danger
Light in the play is often symbolic of the truth in the play
Blanche can be damaged by the truth
Moths are vulnerable, delicate


Stella and Blanche's meeting
Blanche is dependant on Stella
Long turns
Monologues - to herself
Collapsing
Concerned with looks
They love each other but Blanch drives Stella insane


Blanche acts confident but needs validation
e.g. on page 9


The sisters talk about Stanley (pg 10)
Stella is obsessed with Stanley
Is reliant on Stanley and enjoys it


Stanley and Blanche
Blanche doesn't say much
Stanley has control of the conversation
Blanche is weary and intimidated
Blanche tries to come to terms with the fear
She is physically attracted to Stanley and flirts with him


The audience is supposed to feel...

• The tension and suspense
• Awkward
• Frustration - to Blanche who is self obsessed and Stella for being so kind to Blanche
• Connection - Sympathy for the characters

The setting (in the film)

The apartment is...

• Dingy
• Small
• Patchy
• Run down
• Open plan
• Exposed

The neighbourhood that the house is in is...

• Multicultural
• Lively
• Vibrant
• Chaotic
• Busy
• Noisy
• Loud
• Intimidating for outsider

First impressions - Stella

In the first scene Stella is presented as...

• Non-committal
• Down to earth
• Wholesome
• Plain
• Reserved

First impressions - Stanley

In the first seen he is presented as...

• Childish
• Confident
• Dominant
• Flirtatious
• Blunt
• Intimidated by Blanche
• Animalistic
• Focussed on sex

First impressions - Blanche

In the first scene she is presented as...

• Lost
• Shy
• Timid
• Nervous
• Bubbly
• Skittish
• Defensive
• Dramatic
• Traumatised
• Angry
• Confrontational
• Glamorous
• Makes excuses for everything
• Shows signs of lunacy and instability

Mitch

He is...

• Sensitive
• Stands out
• Caring
• Supportive
• Kind
• Decent
• Shy
• Bumbly
• No self confidence

Stella

She is...

• Naive
• Oblivious
• Rebel
• Tries to do the right thong
• Vulnerable
• Sees the best in people

Stanley

He is...

• Good looking, attractive, alluring, fit
• Violent
• Doesn't say much
• Arrogent
• Has a sense of superiority
• Affectionate towards Stella
• Young
• Dominant
• Immature
• Strong
• Unrelenting, precistant
• Protecting of Stella

Blanche

She is the Protagonist

She is...

• Vain
• Proud
• Lively (at least at the start)
• Ashamed
• Vulnerable
• Ditatched
• Desperate
• Attention seeking
• Dramatic
• Fragile
• Delicate
• (an) Alcoholic
• Confident
• Scared
• Contempuous
• Lonely
• Flawed
• Lost
• Deluded
• Guilty
• Unstable
• Haunted
• Clingy
• Insecure
• Lies to others and herself

We feel...

• Sympathy
• Pity
• Angry
• Frustrated
• Distant
• Don't like her
• Distainful

Backstory

• Blanche and Stella come from wealth
• Blanche's husband commit suicide because she called him disgusting and she saw him do it - Blanche blames herself.

Key narrative moments

Poker night - when Stanley hits Stella
Blance arriving
When Blance is honest with Mitch
The end
Stanley tells Stella the truth about Blanche
When Stanley goes through Stella's stuff
The birthday party
When Stanley rapes Blanche
When Blanche first meets Mitch

• When B taken by doctors - climax/resolution - we feel pity
• The Rape scene - it is offstage which makes it uncertain and ambiguous which makes the audience feel like Stella in that they don't quite know whether it happened but it also creates suspense/tension. the reader also feels disgust and anger towards Stanley. Changes the dynamic.
• Stella's baby - Change in the dynamic - it brings Stella closer to Stanley and there is no room for Blanche
• Stanley hits Stella - Forshadows the rape and induces shock and disgust.
• Mitch tries to have sex with Blanche - Changes the audiences attitude towards Mitch and is a major character development going from sweet and awkward to aggressive and immoral.
• First meeting of Blanche and Stella - Awkward introduces the characters - characterises them
• Stanley exposes Blanches past - he describes it as  a form of prostitution