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english lit - a streetcar named desire > key quotes > Flashcards

key quotes Flashcards

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1
Q

stage directions:

‘elysian fields’

A

land of the dead in greek mythology where heroes went to die

ironic - blanche is not a hero

he street name is both a literal street in new orleans and a symbolic resting place - foreshadows blanche’s looming fate.

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2
Q

stage directions:

‘white suit with a fluffy bodice and earrings of pearl’

A

white - symbolises innocence and purity, ironic

out of place in elysian fields - part of the upper class , she is a stranger to this type of setting as opposed to her sister

there is a lack of colour, as blanche is simply wearing white. conveys the idea that the upper class is declining, as it lacks the vivacity of the working class, which williams believes will replace the upper class as the new driving force in america.

exploring the idea of the “white suit” can be linked up to the mid-nineteenth century play la dame aux camélias (1848), where a fallen woman (the play’s protagonist) wears a “white camelias” when she is available to her lovers - blanche appears to be drawn into prostitution

moral chastity

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3
Q

stage directions:

‘suggests a moth’

A

attracted to light - kills them

avoids attention yet secretly wants it

her fate lies in self-destruction

death and darkness is closely related to moths

symbol of change

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4
Q

stage directions:

‘she pours half a tumbler of whisky and tosses it down. she carefully replaces the bottle and washes out the tumbler at the sink’

A

alcohol addiction

secretive - ruin her image

in private she leisurely drinks however in public, her tendency to drink a lot is scraped from her image

disregards stereotypes

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5
Q

blanche:

‘i’ve got to keep hold of myself’

A

reminding herself of her status within society - upper class, must be polite and ‘ladylike’, in a way she sticks to the stereotypes that were present around rich women and reflects stanley in the way that she thinks and incorporates the stereotypes of society into her character.

that it is ‘out of character’ for her to act that way as she comes from a very prestige society as opposed to stella.

anxious

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6
Q

blanche:

‘you haven’t said a word about my appearance’

A

typical southern belle - beauty is part of identity

moth like tendencies

scared of losing her beauty - old south

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7
Q

stella:

‘yes. a different species’

A

machismo male

extremely degrading from stella especially considering she’s talking about her own husband, the person she loves.

could be foreshadowing how blanche finds stanley animalistic

love blinds stella to the social differences between herself and her husband - doesn’t see the compatibility issues that blanche does.

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8
Q

stage directions:

‘blanche is bathing’

A

recurring motif throughout the play

washing away sins

escapes to her fantasy world

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9
Q

stanley:

‘how about my supper, huh?’

A

gender roles

expects everything to be done for him

doesn’t want to go because it is an upper class restaurant and he is proud of his working class origin

old south

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10
Q

stella:

‘you’d better give me some money’

A

men in control of money

women have no way to escape from men

williams was a feminist

old south

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11
Q

stanley:

‘in the state of louisiana, we have the napoleonic code’

A

justify his feelings of entitlement toward stella’s inheritance.

in doing so, he shows that he is ignorant of legal technicalities, because belle reve, located in laurel, mississippi, wouldn’t fall under new orleans jurisdiction.

stanley’s repeated references to the napoleonic code highlight the fact that his conflict with blanche is also a gender showdown.

stanley’s greed reveals his misogyny, or woman-hating tendencies. as a man, stanley feels that what stella has belongs to him.

hates blanche as a woman and as a person with a more prestigious family name, and therefore suspects that blanche’s business dealings have been dishonest.

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12
Q

stage directions:

‘fist full of costume jewellery’

A

putting on an act

trying to make her fantasy seem a reality

not real jewellery

superficial and fake personality

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13
Q

stanley:

‘since when do you give me orders?’

A

wants control

conforming to stereotypes

clash between men and women

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14
Q

blanche:

‘love letters, yellowing with antiquity’

A

old - past

yellow is a symbol of mental illness

youthful colour- stuck in the past

progressively corrupting idea of what love is

shows the downfall of the upper class, as all that is left of blanche’s love is these letters, which are disappearing like a vapor and a mist.

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15
Q

blanche:

‘the touch of your hands insult them!’

A

ruins purity - not clean enough, working class

doesn’t want her romantic depiction of the past to be tainted by corruption of the present

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16
Q

stanley:

‘i want no if, ands or buts!’

A

controlling

wants to know

machismo male

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17
Q

blanche:

‘maybe he’s what we need to mix with our blood now that we’ve lost belle reve’

A

embrace the new south

that her and stella do not belong to the southern elite anymore- trying to convince her sister to leave stanley and live a better and more free life

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18
Q

stage directions:

‘blanche crosses into the bedroom and partially closes the portieres’

A

wants attention - trying not to show it

hamartia

men and women separated

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19
Q

stage directions:

‘a chair scrapes’

A

tension

foreshadows the fight which is about to break out

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20
Q

stage directions:

‘stanley gives a loud whack of his hand on her thigh’

A

asserting dominance

machismo male

showing off - possessive and just shows how much power he holds over her to his friends

considered normal - williams trying to show the disgusting reality of the new south

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21
Q

blanche:

‘i haven’t noticed a stamp of genius even on stanley’s forehead’

A

male dominance will get him ahead rather than academia

uneducated working class

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22
Q

blanche:

‘i hate beer’

A

conforming to stereotypes

masculine thing to do

trying to cover up addiction

repressing inner self

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23
Q

blanche:

‘white woods’

A

upper class took pride in their heritage - colonised

true american - sophisticated

romantic france

purity and innocence

wood seems hard to break but is actually flammable

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24
Q

mitch:

‘you might teach arithmetic’

A

not her - masculine

maths has a clear answer - always avoiding this

english

opinionated and well spoken

fictional worlds

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25
stage directions: ‘there is a sound of a blow. stella cries out’
off stage - more violent open for interpretation reflects williams’ dark childhood
26
mitch: ‘poker shouldn’t be played in a house with women’
blaming the game - toxic masculinity women shouldn’t be involved in impure things women should be protected
27
stage directions: ‘one hand rests on her belly, rounding slightly with new maternity. from the other dangles a book of coloured comics’
made the transition to the new south comic books are childlike - simplicity of the new south jejune dumbed herself down for stanley
28
stella: ‘i was - sort of - thrilled by it’
enjoys his violence has sex too epitomises stella’s blindness in the face of lust- stanley has her in his firm, psychological grasp, so stella doesn’t want to leave normal at the time
29
stella: ‘i’m not in anything I want to get out of’
right in living, wrong in loving - women had no choice major blow to blanche’s world view. unable to imagine that her sister could be happy with the small flat and brutish husband this represents the differences between old and new america.
30
stella: ‘there are things that happen between a man and a woman in the dark - that sort of make everything else seem - unimportant’
purely sexual relationship - key component in 1950s paramount to a good life and a good marriage despite stanley’s violent and abusive nature, the sexual intimacy of the couple, makes the rest of it unimportant and all negative emotions are forgotten. insufficient financial situations are forgotten during these moments of intimacy too.
31
blanche: ‘he acts like an animal... something -ape-like about him, like one of those pictures I’ve seen in–anthropological studies!'
people like stanley will rule apes will inherit the earth his complete disregard for the social morals that she, as a southern belle, has been taught since birth to cherish. he represents the very thing she’s come to fear above all else- the kind of raw, untamed, uncivilized desire that inspired her promiscuity in laurel, and that brought her to a place close to hell in new orleans as punishment going back in evolutionary terms - atavism
32
blanche: ‘dont hang back with the brutes!’
don’t give in to animalism stand for what’s right picture of progression stanley represents hanging back is ironic due to the context the play is set in as well as the wider ties between stanley and modernity illustrates blanche’s illusion, as she is still attached to the values she was brought up in, and sees them as modern despite the fall of the old south.
33
stage directions: ‘ fanning herself with a palm leaf’
upper class out of touch with the norms of the new south ironic - symbolise integrity and eternal life
34
blanche: ‘capricorn - the goat’
links to the devil fertility and aggression - oversexualised earth sign, known for being down to earth - reasonable. the animal goat is also a symbol of greatness and excellence
35
blanche: ‘virgo is the virigin’
ironic reflects her want to be pure
36
blanche: ‘ i don’t know how much longer I can turn the trick . and i - i’m fading now!'
telling stella - first time she’s not hiding scared of prostitution beauty is fading - feels as though she is getting old she is fading with her power, she relies on beauty and validation of men to source her own self worth
37
blanche: ‘men lose interest quickly’
always thinking about men - it’s a man’s world stella knows she’s acting shows the stereotypical gender roles in the 1940’s that a woman would change themselves to date a man. as they were the providers and create stability for their wives. here blanche is expressing her insecurities on the fact she is not financially stable and needs a husband before its too late, this is why she uses mitch
38
stage directions: ‘neurasthenic personality’
frayed blanche’s inability to enjoy the date despite her attempts points to her deteriorating mental health the real blanche is coming out
39
blanche: ‘i’m looking for the pleiades, the seven sisters’
in western astrology they represent coping with sorrow an allusion to a star constellation is it and it is significant for a variety of reasons in this context: , it can be noted that the comment on a specific star constellation demonstrates the notion that blanche is well educated and a cultured woman-as was to be expected of a typical ‘southern belle stars exist in their own entity even if they are part of a constellation and in this way, it can be commented that blanche is just a small star and a vast universe her apparent love first or astrology may stem from the idea that blanche is trying to make desperate sense of the vast world around her, linking it to contextual ideas about the ‘old south’ and the ‘new south’- given the constellations to a design to tell a story in this create a dream world to explain normal occurrences stars symbolise her escape fate?
40
blanche: ‘i want you to have a drink! you have been so anxious and solemn all evening, and so have i’
reliance on alcohol wants to create a show - fantasy world showing herself - lost in fantasy
41
stage directions: ‘she rolls her eyes’
sick of acting the exhaustions of mental health fed up with the fantasy she creates in her mind soon before she speaks the truth of her husband’s death
42
stage directions: ‘a locomotive is heard approaching outside. she claps her hands to her ears and crouches over’
doesn’t want to acknowledge the past the intrusion of the outside world and thus the inability of the characters to create a safe haven where they are protected by the world. journeying into regions of the psyche that are unexplored desire for connections spiritually
43
stage directions: ‘blanche is singing in the bathroom a saccharine popular ballad which is used contrapunctally with stanley’s speech’
mashup of sound stanley reveals blanche’s fictional world emphasises unity of space, time and action sings to romanticise herself - southern belle archetype stanley and blanche can not co exist harmoniously - old and new south and upper and working class
44
stanley: ‘blanche is no lily! ha ha! some lily she is!’
innocent and pure flowers associated with beauty weak and silly sees through blanche’s façade also symbolise death and are typically associated with funerals, symbolising that the soul of the departed has received restored innocence after death ironic use of the title ‘sister’
45
blanche: ‘it’s only a paper moon, sailing over a cardboard sea'
flying away truth coming out simultaneously easily destroyed and unstable nature of her fantasy moon is a symbol of the rhythm of time speaker in the song says that if both lovers believe in their imagined reality, then it’s no longer make-believe
46
stanely: ‘downright loco - nuts’
euphemism for mental issues lacked understanding at the time sister lobotomised williams suffered too notoriously for all the wrong reasons
47
stage directions: ‘the view through the big windows is fading gradually into a still golden dusk’
reflects blanche - ending is pending, descent into madness - illusion/ fantasy is fading façade is slipping ecological awareness of williams, the dissatisfaction of industrialisation and the desire of going back to natural world ‘golden’ implies what once was and what has been lost
48
blanche: ‘i must run through my repertoire!’
going through her acts delusional
49
stanley: ‘every man is a king! and I am the king around here, so don’t forget it!’
gender roles he’s superior - different species dehumanising them no coherence between new south and old south the working class are the future, not the rich ironic - his actions are awful huey long became the governor of louisiana in 1928, then went on to become a senator in 1932. championed the rights and living standards of the poor white population; himself coming from an impoverished background, he put into action a wide program of road and bridge construction, widened state university facilities and created a state hospital, affording these measures through heavier inheritance and income taxes. largely maintained his power through intimidation – taking personal control of all civil service positions in louisiana by 1934. stanley seems to echo the exact man long aimed to inspire with his policies, and long’s control over louisiana indeed parallels stanley’s patriarchal, new-money position
50
stanley: ‘i am not a polack’
effects of ww2 - fought for america - became heroes of the country williams demonstrates racial and cultural shifts in society demonstrates the sad reality wherein some believed they had more of a claim of this identity than others and reflects the racial divide between peoples during the 40s. (made ironic through the setting of new orleans, one of the more diverse and integrated communities in america at the time. irony is further heightened as new orleans is a french colony, emphasising blanche’s inability to adapt to the social changes taking place in america- something stanley interprets as prejudice, but we, the audience, come to learn is a result of deep seating trauma causing her to cling to the safety of her past
51
stanley: ‘i pulled you down off them columns’
spatial deixis old south must come down from its height ideals in order to live in the new world alternatively, stanley ‘pulled” stella ‘down’ to his lower status as an immigrant representative of new america
52
stage directions: ‘the varsouviana is heard’
played when blanche’s husband died circus - jarring music, crazy gets us into blanche’s mind out of place music
53
blanche: ‘el pain de mais, el pan de mais, el pain de mais sin sal. el pain de mais, el pain de mais, el paid de mais sin sal…’
possessed - southern gothic tropes fantasy - french spanish - losing grip on reality bread without salt - poor food nothing to do with what’s going on in the play delusional echolalia of street sellers - impact of her surroundings
54
stage directions: ‘he stalks into the bedroom’
predator like - mirroring stanley mitch becomes him williams’ highlights the dangers of male influence
55
mitch: ‘i don’t think i’ve ever seen you in the light’
metaphorically and literally never seen the truth or under her façade ashamed of her behaviour
56
stage directions: ‘he tears the paper lantern off the lightbulb’
destroying her façade destroying the old south no longer believes her lies the light and mitch himself suggest realism. his action can also be seen as a form of violation foreshadowing the physical rape that will happen in the next scene blanche fears the light because of the harsh realism she will be forced to face which will cause her happy fantasies (being young and beautiful) to be shattered. denial and stubborn statement that she doesn’t want realism shows how strongly she does not wish mitch to know the truth.
57
blanche: ‘i don’t tell the truth, i tell what ought to be the truth’
new south is violent, although it is accepting no morals compared to the old south shouldn’t be like this - it should be better
58
stage directions: ‘crumpled white satin evening gown
pure - parallels scene 1 façade ruined like clothes mentally unstable
59
stage directions: ‘slams the mirror down with such violence that the glass cracks’
can’t even look at reality can’t bear the sight of her true self trying to distort her view of reality?
60
stanley: ‘well, it’s a red letter night for us both’
danger, love , anger night of celebration - foreshadows stanley celebrating blanche being sent away in scene 11?
61
blanche: ‘i have been foolish - casting my pearls before swine’
biblical reference sad - people don’t care about personality, only beauty uses this allusion to describe what she sees as her own actions - sees herself as generous, and though she is monetarily poor, she is rich in spirit, her mind beautiful wasting their time by offering something that is helpful or valuable to someone who does not appreciate or understand it swine = lower class - has to show people she’s better than them
62
stage directions: ‘the night is filled with the inhuman voices like cries in a jungle’
foreshadows inhuman, animalistic events police could’ve helped mirror the outside world
63
stage directions: ‘the barely audible blue piano begins to drum up louder'
dynamic between the old south and the new south hard to stop the new south drums symbolise it getting more intrusive
64
stage directions: ‘blanche appears in the amber light of the door, she has a tragic radiance in her red satin robe following sculptural lines of her body.'
contrapuntal sound power/ tragedy rather than seduction added that description to show how her end is almost near – parallel to a greek tragic hero at elysian fields sculptures are usually made after a tragic hero’s ending - greek mythology
65
blanche: ‘i don’t want to pass in front of those men’
contrasts scene 3 when she would’ve done this eagerly can’t be part of that world
66
blanche: ‘i shall die of eating an unwashed grape'
fantasising about her death it won’t go like this - mental hospital more trauma delusions have grown more romantic and literary as she retreats further into madness. given up on trying to reconcile her visions with reality and surrendered completely to fantasy. wants to cleanse herself with the ocean
67
blanche: ‘please don’t get up, i’m only passing through’
old south manners fading realising they’re gone contrasts scene 3
68
stage directions: ‘stella accepts the child, sobbingly'
made the transition to the new south innocence and purity accepts the new south now blanche is gone
69
steve: ‘this game is a seven card stud’
last used at poker night lack of morality

english lit - a streetcar named desire (15 decks)

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