Critical Essay

Question 1

Who wrote a street car named desire

Answer 1

Tennessee Williams

Question 2

Where and when is a streetcar named desire set

Answer 2

It is set in the late 1940s just after WW2 in New Orleans in the french quarter

Question 3

Who is Blanche

Answer 3

Blanche is Stella’s older sister who recently got fired from her job as an English teacher and kicked out of her old town due to having sexual relations with many different men including a 17 year old boy Blanche then comes to New Orleans because she knows that is where her sister lives. We learn that Blanche lies a lot to protect herself including lying about her past which in time her brother in law Stanley exposes

Question 4

Who is Stella

Answer 4

Stella is blanches younger sister and wife to Stanley

Question 5

Who is Stanley

Answer 5

Stanley is Stella’s husband and blanches brother in law who came from a poorer background ground and is looked down apron by Blanche and Stanley dislikes blanches due to her lies and not being able to tell the truth hence why he exposes her for what she truly is.

Question 6

What is Blanches past trauma

Answer 6

When blanche was younger she had a husband who she fought cheating on her with another man and then they went dancing and Blanche said she was disgusted by him and he then went outside and shot himself. While all this happened at the dancing a polka tune was playing and now whenever Blanche gets flashbacks or is upset she hears the same tune.

Question 7

What does belle reve mean

Answer 7

Belle reve = beautiful dream

Belle reve was Blanche and Stella home ( plantation / antebellum mansion) when they were younger which they ended up loosing due to the lack of money

Question 8

What does Elysian Fields mean

Answer 8

It means paradise and that was the Greek god afterlife was called

Question 9

What are difference between the old and new south

Answer 9

old south - Blanche
-socially conservative
-segregated
-aristocracy and slave
-agriculture

new south - Stanley
-more socially liberal
More ethnically mixed
-democratic
-industry

Question 10

What are the central concerns / themes

Answer 10

• fantasy
• fantasy vs reality
• desire
• lies and deception
• old south vs new south
• class conflict
• gender conflict
• the relationship between sex and death

Question 11

Fantasy / illusion

Answer 11

This is represented by blanches constant lying and being in her own fantasy world and protecting herself from the real world and being able to face reality

Question 12

What does Blanche represent

Answer 12

• fantasy
• desire
• illusion
• old south

Question 13

What does Stanley represent

Answer 13

• reality
• New south
• masculinity
• violence

Question 14

Fantasy vs reality

Answer 14

This is represented by Stanley and Blanche as Stanley represent the hard reality and is for telling the truth and exposing Blanche where as Blanche represent fantasy and using her lies to protect herself but in the end reality wins over fantasy as Stanley rapes Blanche then gets her sent off to a mental hospital

Question 15

Desire

Answer 15

This is represented by blanches need to feel desired by men due to her past trauma with her husband ever since then she has filled her life with meaningless sexual relations with strangers so she can feel desirable but her constant need to be desired leads to her down fall as her past catches up with her and everyone learns the truth

Question 16

Lies and deception

Answer 16

This is represented by blanche and how she’s lies to everyone about her past and how she makes herself look innocent and delicate by the way she dresses and makes herself look self younger by staying out of strong light but in the end she gets exposed for who she truly is and he lies no longer work

Question 17

Old south Vs new south

Answer 17

This is represented by Stanley and Blanche as Stanley represents the new south which is industrial and mixed cultured where as Blanche represents the old south which is agricultural and dominantly white but as these 2 characters argue the split between the 2 sides becomes bigger but in the end Stanley - the new south - wins over Blanche - the old south - as Stanley rapes blanches and gets her sent to a mental hospital

Question 18

Class conflict

Answer 18

This is represented when Blanche first arrives to New Orleans in her fancy clothes and she looks out of place and is also represented in the way Blanche treats Stanley as Blanche comes from a wealthy back ground where as Stanley doesn’t and Blanche thinks that she is better than Stanley due to this reason

Question 19

Gender conflict

Answer 19

This is represented by the way Stanley treats Stella for example when he throws meat at her or hits her during the poker night because he think he can and get away with it and there will be no consequences for him as he is the man of the house , it is also represented when Stanley rapes Blanche because he can and he has the power to do so and in his eyes no can stop him from doing it.

Question 20

What is plastic theatre

Answer 20

Plastic theatre is the mix of realist theatre and expressionist theatre

Question 21

What is expressionist theatre

Answer 21

• It is more dramatic and it doesn’t resemble real life
• characters may be read symbolically
• uses more exaggerated staging to coney emotional tone of the play

Question 22

What is realist theatre

Answer 22

• it is supposed to look like real life
  -characters are ordinary people dealing with real issues
• set design , lighting & costumes reflect the real world

Question 23

What is the name of the prize a street car named desire won

Answer 23

Pulitzer prize

Question 24

Introduction ( TART )

Answer 24

T - Title : a streetcar named desire
A - Author : Tennessee Williams
R - Revisit : summarise key events and basic plot
T - Tie to question : make it clear what question you are responding to include a statement of intent ( in this essay I will … )

Question 25

Main body paragraphs

Answer 25

T - Topic sentence : establish the focus of your paragraph and link clearly to the essay question R - refer to context : introduce your quote by outlining what is happening in the play E - Evidence : add a quote that backs up the point you were making A - analysis : Explain your quote. Discuss any techniques in the quote and discus the impact of the quote on the audience. T - Tie to task : finish by tying back to essay question

Question 26

Conclusion ( QRF )

Answer 26

Q - Question : remind your reader what your essay has focused on. Use they key word from the essay question R - Recap : sum up the main things you have shown in the essay. Address the broader themes of they play F - Final point : end on a memorable point , try to sum up the mainmessage of the story or give your opinion about how the plays theme might be relevant to us in the modern world.

Question 27

Blanche :“ her delicate beauty must avoid strong light. There is something about her uncertain manner, as well as white clothes , that suggests a moth “

Answer 27

As Blanche is first introduced to the audience she looks out of place due to what she is wearing and how she presents herself as she enters the place. As Blanche is wearing all white we are made to think that she innocent and pure and she presents herself in the same way as she is quite reserved and held back. Later in the play we find out that this is innocent persona is a lie as we are exposed to her seedy past. Which involves many different relations with many men which during this time that this play is set is seen as disgusting and no one would want to marry Blanche if they know this which proves to be true as Mitch no longer wants to be with Blanche after finding this out . This highlight the key themes of fantasy and lies and deception as Blanche uses her lies and fake persona to hide her real self.

Question 28

Blanche :“ they told me to take a streetcar named desire and then transfer to one called cemeteries and ride six blocks and get off at - Elysian Fields “

Answer 28

This symbolises blanches fateful end as “Elysian fields” is the name for the Greek after life and a cemetery is somewhere most folk go to be put to rest after dying. “Desire” is what leads to blanches fateful end as her desire to be desired by men and the people around her lead to her being sent to a mental hospital as at the start of the play blanches is seemed to be innocent but her seedy past life gets exposed which is her many relations with many men and when this happens her mental state starts to worsen and her lies start to unravel which then leads to her and Stanley arguing due to her lying to Stanley and then Stanley proceeds to rape Blanche and after this is when she gets sent to a metal hospital which shows how desire leads to blanches downfall which highlights the key themes of desire and the relationship between sex and death as blanches toxic relationship with sex and the need to be desired are the 2 things that lead to her end

Question 29

Blanche :“ I don’t want realism … I’ll tell you what I want . Magic .. I don’t tell the truth. I tell want ought to be the truth “

Answer 29

This highlights the key themes of fantasy vs reality and lies and deception. As Blanche uses her lies to protect herself and her past, as she creates her own world of delusion as she starts to believe her owns lies and tries to get everyone to believe them as well and she believes that what she says should be what is the reality instead of what really is true. But as her seedy past of many sexual relations with a lot of men get exposed, her lies start to unravel and her mental state get worse as she used her lies to protect herself and protect her mental state and now as no one believes what she says anymore her mental state is at a all time low. This is when she lies to Stanley but he doesn’t believe her and the argument gets worse and in the end Stanley rapes Blanche and she gets sent of to a mental state hospital as no one believes what she says about what Stanley did to her now due to her lies in the past.

Question 30

Description of Blanche :“ a somewhat soiled and crumpled white satin evening gown “

Answer 30

This shows the difference in blanches character and mindset since the start of the play as at the start Blanche was dress in all white and looked very pristine and innocent but now the white gown that she is wearing is dirty looking which highlights how Blanche is mo longer the innocent character we once thought she was. As now we know about her past relationship with men to fill the emptiness and the need to be desired and how she lies to protect herself, so she us no longer the innocent character we first see as but instead a mentally broken and frail character as she can no longer protect herself with her lies. This helps to highlight the central concern of fantasy vs reality as before when blanche was presented as innocent looking and desirable she was in her fantasy world but now that her lies have came to the surface and she is no longer desirable she is faced with the cold hard reality of her life.

Question 31

Blanche :“ deliberate cruelty is not forgivable … it is the one thing of which I have never been guilty “

Answer 31

This highlights that even though Blanche lies to protect herself and sometimes these lies hurt the people around her, she doesn’t mean to hurt anyone where as people like Stanley do mean to hurt people. This is seen through out the play as Stanley from the start of the play has it out for Blanche and tries to find out more information about her until he finds out about her past and she is not the persons she seem to be and then after learning he exposes her for what she truly is which sends Blanche in a downwards spiral and he knows the effect that this would have on her. Where as when Blanche lies she doesn’t want anyone to get hurt, she only want to keep herself safe as lying is the only was she knows how to keep herself from eating hurt but in the end her lies lead to her downfall. This shows the central concern of lies and deception as Blanche believes that her lies and the way she protects herself, can be forgiven if people get hurt in the process but being hurtful on purpose cannot be forgiven in any case.

Question 32

Blanche :“ whoever you are - I have always depended on the kindness of strangers “

Answer 32

This relates with when Blanche had lost her husband and wasn’t in a good mental state and was having sex with many men to fill the emptiness in her mind and she relied on meaningless sex with strangers to make her feel desire and wanted as that was controlled her life was the need to feel desire which in the end led to her downfall. Blanches desire to be desired was what made have to move to New Orleans and it was the thing that induced her upsetting fate. This then show how weak and frail blanches is as she is back to relying on strangers to fulfill her life as she as nothing anymore just like when she lost her husband. This highlights the central concern of desire as Blanche needs to feel desired in life to feel complete and she relies and the people around her and strangers to fulfil this need she has.

Question 33

Stanley :” take a look at yourself in that worn-out mardi-gras outfit, rented for fifty cents from some rag picker ! And with that crazy crown on ! What queen do you think you are ! “

Answer 33

This highlights the central concern of fantasy vs reality and new south vs old south as Stanley represents the cold hard reality where as Blanche represents fantasy. Stanley breaks down Blanches fantasy by being cruel too her and criticising what she wearing in a harsh way as this is the way he gains power over her and makes himself feel more powerful, it also breaks down what is left of Blanches mental state and her lies that she uses to protect her mental state and Stanley knows this as he criticises her to be cruel and a bad person as he knows what it will do to her and that it will make her weaker. This also shows the new south starting to win and the old south slowing dying as Stanley starts to take power over Blanche and Blanche starts to get weaker and frail until she meets her unfortunate fate.

Question 34

Stanley :” we’ve had this date with each other from the beginning! “

Answer 34

This highlights the central concern of the relationship between sex and death and gender conflict. As Stanley carries Blanche off to rape her he say this to her implying that he wanted to do this to her since he first ment her and was just waiting for the right moment to do it. This show his thoughts on women and how they are lower than him as usually he does whatever he want to them and gets away with it because no one will stand up to him. This also symbolism Blanche unfortunate fate as after this monument she tries to tell the people around what happens and no one believes her due to the lies she has told in the past, so they send her away to a mental hospital meaning that Stanley gets away with it and Blanche doesn’t get justice for what she’s been put through. This also represents new south vs old south but in the end new south wins and the old south is defeated as Stanley rapes Blanche and gets his way with her.

Question 35

Introduction model

Answer 35

**T** A streetcar named desire by **A** Tennessee Williams is a Pulitzer prize winning play - (tie back to question). **R** When Blanche arrives in New Orleans she looks very out of place and is shocked to see where her sister lives. As the play goes on there is a clear rivalry between Blanche and Stanley as they kept getting into arguments and Stanley starts to accuse Blanche of various things to do with her post and belle reve. Further on in the play Stanley exposes the truth about blanches seedy past which includes many sexual relations with many different men to fill her need to be desired and we also find out that Blanche uses lying as a coping mechanism and to protect herself. Later on Stanley and Blanche get into a big argument after the argument Stanley rapes Blanche. Then at the end of the play Blanche gets sent to a mental hospital as n one believes her when she says that Stanley raced her de to her past lies. **T** In this essay i will discuss …

Question 36

Conclusion model

Answer 36

In conclusion **Q** … refer to what the essay has focused on by using key words from the essay question. **R** … sum up main ideas and point of the essay and address key themes of the play. **F** … end on a memorable point / sum up key points in play and comment your opinion on the play and its effectiveness to the world .