critics quotes Flashcards
(18 cards)
“less (…) a struggle between Good and Evil” and more a “Social Darwinist struggle for survival between two species of human being
Burks - Darwinist survival
Burks - Darwinist survival
“less (…) a struggle between Good and Evil” and more a “Social Darwinist struggle for survival between two species of human being
Corrigan - the play as a psychological drama
“the external events of the play, while actually occurring, serve as a metaphor for Blanche’s internal conflict”
Hovis - southern belle
The role of the Southern Belle as a mask and a prison
Bilijana Oklopcic - old south and escapism
Bilijana Oklopčić describes Blanche as “the last representative of the Old aristocracy who tries to survive in the modern world by escaping to alcohol, madness and promiscuity.”
Blanche as “the last representative of the Old aristocracy who tries to survive in the modern world by escaping to alcohol, madness and promiscuity.”
Bilijana Oklopcic - old south and escapism
“…sees Streetcar not as a drama of natural selection but rather as “a reversal of Darwin’s vision—back to the apes”
Nancy Tischler - devolution
Bert Cardullo Desire
“They are less victim and villain… than mutual victims of desire.”
Nancy Tischler - devolution
“…sees Streetcar not as a drama of natural selection but rather as “a reversal of Darwin’s vision—back to the apes”
“They are less victim and villain… than mutual victims of desire.”
Bert Cardullo Desire
“[Blanche] attempts to maintain her past luxurious life by holding onto and creating new desires rather than adjusting to her reality”
Katrina Duerre quote about Illusion vs. reality
The New Yorker about Corruption/Decay in the play
“A play about the disintegration of a woman…or of a society”
Eliza Kazan on stella and her Female Entrapment
Stella… becomes the field of battle over which Stanley and Blanche fight.”
Welsch on Blanche’s Death & Desire?
“Both psychologically and symbolically, Blanche’s sexual experiences lead her on a journey to death.”
Gillian Anderson views on Fantasy & Delusion?
“Blanche is an architect of her own destruction.”
Feminine power exerted by blanche:
she has flirted with Stanley, engaged him in verbal combat, and challenged his authority. He confronts her in his role of the alpha male facing the attacker of the herd.
Marxist view
According to Marxists such as Louis Pierre Althusser, the ruling class attempt to consolidate their dominance over others in society through the use of ‘consent and coercion’;
Blanche attempts to persuade Mitch to embrace the ideology of the Old South in its conceit of a demure femininity and chivalric masculinity.
Symbolism of giving up legal papers ?
Blanche timidly surrenders the legal documentation regarding the estate of ‘Belle Reve’ into Stanley’s ‘big capable hands’.The house, and what little land remained, has been mired in debt and eventually lost.
