essay plans condensed

Question 1

Explore the presentation of desire in A Streetcar Named Desire. You must relate your discussion to relevant contextual factors.

Answer 1

PARA 1- DESIRE AS A DESTRUCTIVE FORCE, ESPECIALLY FOR WOMEN

arguement: Desire to cling onto youth leads to deceit and destructive sexual desire/ behaviour to maintain youth

context: Williams decieved people of his age too ‘i am blanche dubois’, southern belle expectations of chastity and beauty

M1: quote on insecurity of age/ appearance

M2: quote on sexual relations with yoing man

M3: Quote on decieving mitch of past

M4: Quote on blanche’s lies being found out by Mitch/ stanley bein g the catalyst for tragic downfall

PARA 2- MASCULINE DESIRE FOR POWER AND TO MAINTAIN SUPERIORITY OVER WOMEN

arguement: men use sexual dominance and violence in attempt to keep sense of dominance over women

context: Increased violence post war, Industrialisation vs new world, nepolionatic code

M1: uses sexual dominance in relationship with blanche AND Stella

M3: use of violence by stanley mirrored by Steve

M4: use of masculine possession, nepolionatic code

PARA 3- STELLA AS A SYMBOL OF COMPROMISED DESIRE

Arguement: desire for security stanley provides intimately and financially, broader commentry on the lack of autonomy of women post war, cyclical.

context: Women domesticated post war, Could ultimately argue stella is the tragic hero, trapped in the cyclical process of the male hierarchy forever

M1: Sexual desire for stanley cuases comprimisation over treatment, seen in scene 4

M2: Passivity to stanley

M3: loyalty to stanley overrides love for sister, shows desire for security stanley provides

Question 2

Explore how Williams makes use of stage directions in A Streetcar Named Desire.

Answer 2

PARA 1- STAGECRAFT AND PLASTIC THEATRE ILLUMINATE BLANCHE’S PSYCHOLOGICAL DETERIORATION TO AUDIDIENCE, BY EXTERNALISING HER INNER EMOTIONS

M1: Varsouviana music, often followed by a gunshot

M2: Light

M3; Jungle sounds

M4: Costime

PARA 2- TO CREATE A SENSE OF PLACE IN NEW ORLEANS AS A SITE OF DECAY AND A CULTURAL HUB

M1: nopening stage directions on new orleans decay

M2: blue piano, jazz

M3:

PARA 3- TO COMMUNICATE AGGRESSIVE MASCULINITY

M1: stage directions, e.g stalks feircely

M1: Costime

M2- Props, e.g red stained meat

Question 3

Explore the ways in which Williams uses setting in ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’.

Answer 3

PARA 1- ELYSIAN FEILDS FORESHADOWING BLANCHE’S TRAGIC JOURNEY

PARA 2-NEW ORLEANS AS A SYMBOL OF SOCIAL CHANGE/ PROGRESSION

PARA 3- CLAUSTRAPHOBIA AND INSESCAPABILITY OF STELLA AND STANLEY APARTMENT, FORESHADOW INABILITY TO ESCAPE FATE

Question 4

“Explore how Williams presents the theme of madness in A Streetcar Named Desire.”

Answer 4

BLANCHE’S DESCENT INTO ILLUSSION TO CONCEAL HERSELF FROM REALITY

STANLEY AS A CATALYST FOR BLANCHE’S MADNESS

PLASTIC THEATRE USED TO SHOW BLANCHES MADNESS

Question 5

“Explore how Williams presents conflict between characters in A Streetcar Named Desire.”

Answer 5

CONFLICT BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN

-stanley violence to stella, mirrored by steve and eunice

-nepoloionatic order

-women dependence on men

CONFLICT BETWEEN OLD SOUTH AND NEW AMERICA

-blanche tries to maintain image of old south: old fashioned ideals, chastity

-stanley lifted Stella off the white columns

-rape: win

CONFLICT BETWEEN SOCIAL CLASSES/ ORDER

M1: blanche condems state stella lives in, says need to mix blood

M2: blanche calls stanley common

M3; stanley fed up of being called a polack

Question 6

“Explore how Williams presents desire as a destructive force in A Streetcar Named Desire.”

Answer 6

MASCULINE DESIRE FOR POWER

SEXUAL DESIRE AS DESTRUCTIVE

DESIRE TO MAINTAIN YOUTH- DECEIT

Question 7

“Explore how Williams uses music and sound to shape meaning in A Streetcar Named Desire.”

Answer 7

MUSIC AND SOUND TO EXPOSE INNER EMOTIONS OF CHARACTER

polka-

jungle sounds-

TO CREATE A SENSE OF PLACE

blue piano-

TO INCREASE TENSION BETWEEN CHARACTERS

Question 8

“Explore the theme of escapism in A Streetcar Named Desire.”

Question 9

“Explore the ways Williams presents Mitch in A Streetcar Named Desire.”

Answer 9

REPRESENTATION OF OPPRESSIVE FORCE OF MASCULINITY

REVEALS BLANCHE’S TRUTH TO HER

Question 10

“Explore how Williams presents ideas about women and femininity.”

Question 11

“Explore how Williams presents ideas of confinement and entrapment.”

Question 12

Explore Williams’ presentation of an uncertain world in A Streetcar Named Desire

Answer 12

PARA 1- BLANCHE ILLUSION VS REALITY

PARA 2- UNCERTAIN WORLD FOR WOMEN

PARA 3-

Question 13

Explore how Williams presents marriage in ‘A Streetcar Named Desire.’

Answer 13

-DEPENDENCY IN MARRIAGE

VIOLENCE IN MARRIAGE

SEXUALITY IN MARRIAGE

Question 14

Explore Williams’s presentation of illusion and reality in A Streetcar Named Desire

Answer 14

BLANCHE’S UTILISATION OF ILLUSION TO CONCEAL HER PAST

argument:

context: expectations of southern belle, industrialisation of america, william’s mental decline and his sisters schizophrenia

M1: consisntly uses light to conceal truth

M1:tries to connote purity to mitch and others

M2: Decieves those around her (Mitch, Stella)

M3: leads to downfall, mitch rips off lamp, psychological downfall and completely retreats into fantasy to cope

STANLEY’S ENFORCEMENT OF REALITY, VIOLENTLY DESTROYING BLANCHE’S ILLUSION

arguement: exposure of blanche’s past is an agent of her tragic downfall.

context: tragedy- exploits her harmartia (tragic flaw) is an agent of peripetia (reversal of fortune) leads to her anagnorsis (recognition), generates catharsis for blanche (pity and fear, due to brutality of his revelations) , shows battle between old south and new america

m1: Shaw
m2: tells stella and mitch
m3: laurel ticket
m4: rape

BLURRED BOUNDARIES BETWEEN REALITY AND ILLUSION

context: Links to growing post-war awareness of mental illness and trauma.

M1: stanley reveals shep isnt real, but at the end she still believes shep is coming to get her

M2: plastic theatre reveals her inner thoughts (her deception of characters yet audience see’s inner throughts)

Question 15

How does Williams present masculinity in a streetcar named desire?

Question 16

Explore Williams’ presentation of family bonds in A Streetcar Named Desire.

Question 17

Explore how Williams presents the relationship between Blanche and Mitch in A Streetcar Named Desire.

Question 18

Explore Williams’ presentation of class differences in A Streetcar Named Desire.

Question 19

How is the play’s ending represented

Question 20

Explore how Williams presents a streetcar named desire as a tragedy

Question 21

Explore how Williams presents the opening of the play

Question 22

How is blanche presented

Question 23

Explore the ways in which Williams makes use of confrontation in streetcar

Question 24

Explore the ways in which Williams creates tension between the past and present in a streetcar named desire.

Answer 24

URGE TO ESCAPE PAST

URGE TO CLING ONTO PAST

Question 25

Relationship between steve and Eunice

Question 26

importance of the past

Question 27

Explore how does Williams presents minor characters in ASND?

Question 28

"explore how william’s presents obsession in ASND”

Question 29

Explore how Williams presents the relationship between Stanley and Stella.

Question 30

Explore Williams’ use of stagecraft in A Streetcar Named Desire.

Question 31

Explore how Williams makes use of light in A Streetcar Named Desire.

Question 32

Explore how Williams presents characters’ inner lives in ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’.

Question 33

Explore how Williams allows us to see different points of view in A Streetcar Named Desire.

Question 34

Explore Williams’s presentation of fear in ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’.

Answer 34

BLANCHE'S FEAR OF EXPOSURE arguement: fear of exposure of her truth is a catalyst for her descent into corruptive behaviour and deceit, leading to her ultimater tragedy (lying, habitual bathing, covering light) Context: polka music plays when remembering past- use of plastic theatre to express fear. Tennesse williams identification with blanche. M1: light sceme 1, light scene 3, light scene 6 M2: blanche asks stella if she has heard anything bad about - leads to sexual corruption with young man M3: descent into illusion, mitch pulls light off STANLEY'S/ MASCULINE FEAR OF LOSING POWER argument: stanleys fear of losing his power is shown in his repression of those who challenge him with physical and sexual violence. context: men domestic violence post war, napoleonic code M1: violence when stella challenges him M2: supresses women who challenge him thorough physical and sexual violence (blanche and Stella) M3: uses sexuality to lure stella back in M4: pyjamas sprawled M5: Napoleonic code, every man is a king STELLA'S FEAR OF LOSING THE SECURITY OF STANLEY Context: women redomesticated post war, nuclear family, dependence on men M1: compromises in feat of violence (justifies through sexual gratification) scene 4 M2: he gives her money, scene 4 M3:Loyalty to stanley overrides loyalty to sister

Question 35

To what extent does Williams present Blanche as a victim of change in A Streetcar Named Desire?

Question 36

Explore the dramatic presentation of violence in A Streetcar Named Desire.

Answer 36

PHYSIICAL VIOLENCE TOWARDS WOMEN SEXUAL VIOLENCE TOWARDS WOMEN

Question 37

Blanche believes that the opposite of death is desire. How is this theme developed throughout the play?

Answer 37

ATTEMPT TO MAINTAIN BEAUTY TO ESCAPE AGING AND DEATH ALLAN GRAYS DEATH CATALYST FOR HER DESIRE TO CONCEAL PAST

Question 38

explore Williams' dramatic presentation of Stanley in A Streetcar Named Desire. In your answer you must consider relevant contextual factors.

Answer 38

CATALYST FOR BLANCHES TRAGIC DOWNFALL VIOLENCE TOWARDS WOMEN POST WAR REPRESENTATIVE OF NEW AMERICA