ASND Quotes Flashcards
(8 cards)
“she pours half a tumbler of whiskey and tosses it down”
-allows blanche to access old aristocratic South through delusion and fantasy that the alchol brings, escapism of life and her own emotional and sexual turmoil. Alcohol becomes a coping mechanism, a means to silence the harsh truths that she cannot face
-Anna Vlasopolos says Blanch is “dangerous” and “distructive”
-alchol = self destruction her tendency to behave recklessly increases. Drinking loosens her inhibitions, allowing her to make decisions and take actions that she later regrets. In particular, she becomes more sexually aggressive and self-destructive when intoxicated.
-“I want to kiss you, just once, softly and sweetly on your mouth… I want to be kissed by you, just once, softly and sweetly on your mouth.”
“Every man is a king! And I am the king around here, so don’t forget it!”
-Stanley defends the new postbellum, social fabrics of America which is constituted by patriotism
-shows his belief in the importance of masculine authority and traditional gender roles in maintaining order in both the home and society. she inferences that he believes women are denisms of the home and domesticated spaces
“then playfully sprays him with it. He seizes the atomizer and slams it down”
-Stanley and Blanche have a conflicting relationship
-a Nietzschean interpretation would look at how the apollinian Blanche and dionysian Stanley disintegrate when they operate as extremes. Blanche who thrives on proprietary gets lost in illusion while Stanley drives solely on instincts and is destructive due to this.
-power dynamic
Mitch as a victim: “You lied to me, Blanche.”
Oppressor: “(Grasping her arm) You’re not clean enough to bring in the house with my mother.”
victim- he is foiled by her reality rather than her illusions- betrayed and deceived- displays his has hyperfemanine due to his overly emotional reponce
oppressor-physical aggression signals his shift from a potential savior complex- aligning with ideals of traditional masculinity in a ante bellum patriarchal america
“daintily dressed in a white suit with a fluffy bodice, necklace and ear-rings of pearl”, compared to “Blanche appears in the amber light of the door. She had a tragic radiance in her red satin robe”-
-Brecht’s theory of light states that strong light illuminates the truth,
-exemplifies her pure appearance and her attempt to appear delicate and refined implying that she is trying to present herself as sophisticated and gentle, which contrasts with her reality of being a southern belle within the old aristocratic South
-her break form innocence and purity- no longer in white/ amber-caution- The “door” represents a boundary, a point of entry or exit. Blanche’s appearance at the door could symbolize her transition from illusion to reality./ juxtaposition of “tragic” and “radiance”/ red traditionally symbolizes passion, sexuality, and danger, while satin, a luxurious fabric, connotes elegance and sophistication
they told me to take a streetcar named desire, and then transfer to one called cemeteries and ride six blocks to get off at -Elysian Feilds
-descent to madness
-hope and loss
-New America vr Old South
-Blaches descent to madness can be supported by Dante’s descent to inferno- an allegory to acknowledging sin- mirrors blanches journey to sin, Elysian fields is symbolic for false hope and false narrative as it is mythologically a paradise for the virtuous dead
she is shaking all over and panting for a breath as she tries to laugh. the bottle nearly slips from her grasp
-illusion
-old and new america
-alghol and addiction is the only way she can access the old South, the ‘slipping from her grasp” prevents her from establishing the escapism
-losing her grip on reality, easily succumb to illusion and fantasy
he pulls open the wardrobe trunk standing in the middle of the room and jerks out an armfull of dresses
-masc and fem
-power dynamics
-relationships
-blanches interactions with men
-old and new
-stanleys auctions are invasive and primal. By handling Blanche’s clothes with such violence, he is symbolically tearing apart her carefully constructed identity, one that is rooted in illusion, class performance, and femininity. By dragging them out in the open, Stanley is exposing her, both literally and psychologically, which mirrors his broader mission throughout the play: to strip Blanche of all illusion.Stanley—representing the new social order—forces Blanche into confrontation with the truth.
