CONTEXT ASCD Flashcards
Drama
Liebestod Tradition
Streetcars named ‘Desire’ and ‘Cemetries’ explicitly link sex and death. Gains coherence through Leibstod.
‘Elysian Fields’ - in Greek Mythology this was where noblemen or heroin would spend their afterlife.
Elysian Fields
Not only is Elysian Fields a literal place which embodies the New South, in Greek Mythology, this is where a nobleman or heroin would spend their afterlife, referencing the utmost ethereal heaven which is highly ironic considering the grimy realism of New Orleans. (Also reinforces Leibstod tradition foregrounded by streetcars).
Southern Belle
During the decades leading up to the American Civil War, the southern states were viewed as having a distinct society, and the archetype of the Southern Belle become popular in the literature of years that followed, as a ay of memorialising that life which then change irrevocably.
Civil War and Southern Decline
After the Southern Confederate states lost the Civil War (1861-65), the South became poor and families like the DuBois declined. The decline of these wealthy (but slave-owning) Southern families was romanticised in literature and the cinema, particularly in Margaret Mitchell’s famous 1936 novel ‘Gone with the Wind’, later portrayed by Vivien Leigh’s acting in 1939. As such, Blanche and Belle Reve can be seen as representative of the ‘decorative decay’ of this kind of culture.
Brown and Levinson’s (1978. 1987) ‘Politeness Theory’.
Blanche’s derogatory remarks against Stanley’s ethnicity “Police” directly undermines his self-worth, she threatens his face, and is arguable the reason for his brutish physicality over her.
Gender norms in 1940s America with Stanley and Blanche.
Stanley emerges victorious as he understands and acts accordingly to the expected norms of male superiority in society. Contrastingly, Blanche is ostracised and abused as she continually fails to behave as though she is subordinate to him.
Deborah Burks’ view of the conflict between Blanche and Stanley being…
‘…less of a conflict between Good and Evil’, and more a ‘Social Darwinist struggle for survival between two ‘species of human beings.’
Rebecca Frecknall’s direction of the rape scene.
All of Stanleys friends were involved, all men taking advantage of her. Alternatively illustrates how all of society can’t accept her. Encapsulates death of Southern Belle under New South.
Benedict Andrews 2014 production (zoomorphism)
The character of Stanley was shown in the opening scene, banging his hands against his chest in an ape-like manner, which pre-empts his later comment from Blanche suggesting there is ‘something ape-like about him’.
Following contextual evaluation, this dehumanisation could be perceived as Williams speaking out against violence and hostility; being trapped with abuse for parts of his life, he understand its disgusting qualities better than most, and can be seen as demoting Stanley in attempt to express his criticism. That said, Williams also accepted violence as natural, even if fundamentally animal, since he believed that humans were animals too.
Domestic abuse in Williams’ life
Domestic abuse was tolerated in 1940s patriarchy, a common occurrence, police remained uninvolved until the 70s.
Williams’ father Cornelius was a man who turned savage with liquor and would enter episodes of manic fury, launching violent attacks/assaults on Williams’ mother and his sister rose.
In one episode, Cornelius slapped Rose across the face, she tried to mildly defy him and was then placed under psychiatric care (link Blanche).
‘Je suis la dame aux camellias!’ a reference to Alexander Dumas’ play to ‘Camille’.
Although this eloquent literary reference generates a tone of whimsical romance, it has a more ominous undertone. In the play, the fragile heroine, Marguerite, tainted by the stain of her past promiscuity (like Blanche) seeks the purity and innocence of young love, but ultimately dies after being condemned as a whore by her lover Armand. In the same way, Blanche’s demise occurs after Mitch declares ‘you are not clean enough to bring in the house with my mother’.
The Moth
At the beginning of the play, Blanche is significantly likened to a ‘fragile moth’, a creature which is drawn to light, yet is scorched by contact with a bulb. In the same way, Blanche craves desire, yet it can only lead to danger and destruction for her. Williams was originally going to name ‘Streetcar’: ‘The Moth’; showing its importance to Blanche’s character.
Stella asserts that “I am not in anything I have a desire to get out of.” Link to Williams.
Following contextual evaluation, Williams himself was attracted to brutal and primal people, aroused by dominance and aggression, and is said to have participated in what may be termed as “rough sex”.
“I have never written about any kind of vice that I can’t observe in myself” in an interview with himself.
‘I pulled you down off them columns’
Williams further presents sex as a gateway into the New America through Stanley’s reference to pulling her ‘down of them columns.’ Not only does this recall a degradation of socio-economic class, but it also links the columns with a phallic symbolism, confirming sex as the ‘liberator’ which entices Stella away from the aristocratic privileges of the Old South.
Eunice as a voice for New South
Eunice’s reassurance of “Don’t ever believe it. Life has got to go on” shows how survival in the competitive new world overrides familial bonds. Eunice serves as a voice of the New South, a place where Stella and many other women must make pragmatic decisions in the security of her family and future, since single mothers would face certain poverty and humiliation.
