A03 Flashcards
What is Blanche a metaphor for?
The old romanticised south
How was streetcar recieved?
Won a Pulitzer prise.
How can the resurgence for the nostalgia of the old South during the 40s and 50s be shown?
Through the great success of the movie ‘Gone with the Wind.’
What was the initial reaction to Stanley raping Blanche?
The audience was sypathetic to him. They enjoyed Blanche being torn down.
How did the audience of the 40s and 50s view Blanche’s promiscuous past?
They looked down on it, viewing it as shameful.
What was Williams’ father like?
He was an abusive alcoholic.
What was Williams’ mother like?
She was a southern Belle figure who was prone to neurotic and hysterical behaviour.
What is Plastic theatre?
A form of theatrical expressionism, mostly unique to ‘Streetcar,’ that uses motifs (Props/sounds/etc) to parallel a character’s mindset.
What is a tragic protagonist?
A protagonist with a noble goal, whose fatal flaw hinders them from achieving their goal and ultimately causes their downfall.
What impression did the Red Scare have on the American public on polish people?
Poland had become a communist state in the post-war era, and communism was seen as an eastern european import.
Polish people coming to America were suspected of having communist sympathies and provoked fear.
What was polish migration like prior to the second world war?
Many immigrants were working class and entered industrial jobs, they were treated with suspicion by Americans.
What is Elysian fields?
A place in Greek mythology for heroic souls to settle once they die.
What sort of character does the southern Gothic focus on?
Damaged and delusional characters. They are often complex and mentally unstable.
Who was one of the early writers of the American gothic?
Edgar Allan Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne
What were the attitudes towards domestic violence?
Until the 1970s it was basically ignored.
Wife beating was considered a ‘family matter.’
