Streetcar Context

Question 1

Melodrama

Answer 1

a sensational dramatic piece with exaggerated characters and exciting events intended to appeal to the emotions; emotional appeal takes place over characterization. Emotional conflict is typically centred around family and relationships.

Question 2

Name three conventions of an Aristotelian tragedy.

Answer 2

• mimesis
• hamartia
• hubris
• anagnorisis
• fall from grace of a character who begins the play in a position of seniority or noble birth (typically a result of the character’s hamartia)
• chorus
• pathos
• catharsis
• peripeteia
• nemesis
• any other acceptable answer

Question 3

Three unities

Answer 3

Unity of action, unity of place, and unity of time.

Question 4

Williams’ Sister

Answer 4

Was mentally ill and ended up receiving a lobotomy - could be seen in the character of Blanche.

Question 5

Williams’ Father

Answer 5

An abusive alcoholic - could be seen in the character of Stanley.

Question 6

Williams’ Mother

Answer 6

A southern belle who protected Williams from his father in his youth.

Question 7

Expressionist Theatre

Answer 7

Utilized theatrical elements and scenery with exaggeration and distortion to deliver strong feelings and ideas to audiences.

Question 8

Williams’ Alcoholism

Answer 8

A particularly shy individual, upon attending uni he discovered alcohol to be a cure for this shyness. His brother ended up hospitalizing him in 1969 but he remained involved with drugs and alcohol until his death.

Question 9

Williams’ Sexuality

Answer 9

Accepted he was homosexual by the 30s and had an affair with dancer, Kip Kiernan, in the 40s. He then left Williams to marry a woman and news of Kiernan’s death four years later shook Williams.

Question 10

New Orleans

Answer 10

Birthplace of jazz, multicultural even in the 1940s, based in south Louisiana. Williams himself resided in the French Quarter for a bit.

Question 11

Civil War

Answer 11

Northern states (unionists) had abolished slavery and wanted everyone else to adopt this way of life. The southern confederacy disagreed and defended what they saw as their way of life.

Question 12

The Lost Cause

Answer 12

Romanticises the way of the south, focusing on the glamour of the upper classes rather than the links to slavery.

Question 13

Southern Gothic

Answer 13

Building on this idea of the Lost Cause, this genre features deeply flawed characters and derelict settings with grotesque situations relating to crime, poverty and violence. Other features include the exploration of madness, decay and despair and a blurring of lines between the victim and the villain.

Question 14

Southern Gothic

Answer 14

Building on this idea of the Lost Cause, this genre features deeply flawed characters and derelict settings with grotesque situations relating to crime, poverty and violence. Other features include the exploration of madness, decay and despair and a blurring of lines between the victim and the villain.

Works to expose the myth of the old antebellum south.