streetcar context Flashcards
(90 cards)
who in Williams’ life is stanley based off of
-based off of william’s abusive and bullying father
-father was a working class alcoholic called cornelius coffin Williams
who in Williams’ life is blanche based off of
ROSE
-based off his sister rose who was diagnosed with schizophrenia
-rose was 18 when she recieved a pre-fontal lobotomy
-rose was then co-signed to a mental insitution until her death in 1996
-william’s was traumatised by the guilt of the event (likening him to stella) he said it was ‘much uglier and more terrible than death’
HIS MOTHER
-also could be based on his mother who was a southern belle, born higher class to a clergyman
-her husbands drinking, affairs and lifestyle reflected badly on her. she detested this as she felt she had a social status to maintain
WILLIAMS HIMSELF
-he alsi feels a sense of identification with blanche, stating ‘i am blanche dubois’
-he identified with her in terms of shared hysteria, loneliness, alcoholism and depression
-both had a tendency to lie (williams also mislead people concerning his age)
how is blanche based off of rose
ROSE
-based off his sister rose who was diagnosed with schizophrenia
-rose was 18 when she recieved a pre-fontal lobotomy
-rose was then co-signed to a mental insitution until her death in 1996
-william’s was traumatised by the guilt of the event (likening him to stella) he said it was ‘much uglier and more terrible than death’
how was blanche based off of william’s mother
HIS MOTHER
-also could be based on his mother who was a southern belle, born higher class to a clergyman
-her husbands drinking, affairs and lifestyle reflected badly on her. she detested this as she felt she had a social status to maintain
how was blanche based off of williams himself
WILLIAMS HIMSELF
-he alsi feels a sense of identification with blanche, stating ‘i am blanche dubois’
-he identified with her in terms of shared hysteria, loneliness, alcoholism and depression
-both had a tendency to lie (williams also mislead people concerning his age)
Williams homosexual relationship, and what happened as a result
-he was in a relationship with FRANK MERLO, his secretary
-his relationship with frank was seen as immoral and shocking to mainstream society
-Merlo died in 1963, as a result williams spun out of control (was temporarily committed to a psychiatric hospital in 1969 due to alcoholism and drug addiction that emerged in response to his grief)
when was streetcar set
-post WW2 in the 1940s (post civil war and abolition of slavery)
when was slavery abolished and how did this impact the dubois family
1865, as a result of the Civil War, leading to the decline of families like the Dubois.
life in the south post civil war
-after the civil war the south became alienated, and known as a place of maintained values of racism and growing poverty
-segregation was intensely prominent in the south due to the Jim Crow laws. The system exploited minorities through cheap labour. Lynching was prominent.
-the rest of the usa was progressing into multi-cultural communities and industrialised
what is the significance of the industrialisation of modern america in relation to the rape
-symbolises the south being destroyed when the clock represented by stellas pregnancy runs out (birth symbolises the birth of a new america)
-the rape symbolises victory and pervasion of modern america
when did the genre of the southern gothic prevail
-within the 19th C to current day
characteristics of the southern gothic genre
-irrational, horrific, transgressive thoughts
-desires
-impulses
-grotseque characters
-dark humour
-sense of alienation
-momento mori (death, decay, consistent presence of lurking threat
-opression and discrimination
-phantasmagoria (illustrations or deceptive appearances in a dream or as created by the imagination
-damsels in distress portrayal of women
-alcohomism
what was the effect of plastic theatre and why did tenessee williams use it
-delves deeper into senses, creating and evoking more emotion and atmosphere
-used plastic theatre techniques to help convey a scene to an audience and to give them a look inside the minds of the character
what WAS plastic theatre
combining: setting, music, sound, colours, visual effects and all elements of staging to enhance the action, themes, characters and language
gave a deeper sense of understanding to the play
how did plastic theatre rise from expressionism
This genre of theatre arose from Expressionism. Rather than attempting to create a vision of ‘reality’, Williams created a highly personalised vision of the world that included distorted images symbolising inner psychological states (shadows on the wall, gunshot)
which elements of plastic theatre did williams incorporate into the play
created symbolism through….
-lighting
-colours
-costumes
-props
-sound effects
THE VARSOUVIANA POLKA- plastic theatre
THE VARSOUVIANA POLKA
Williams uses the music to bring about Blanche’s loss of the grip of truth and reality (often when thinking of the death of her husband)…..
-music is first heard distantly in Scene 1 (Pg 15), when Stanley questions Blanche about her husband
-reappears with the polka shifting to a minor key when Blanche tells Mitch of the suicide of her husband (throughout Scene 6).
-increasingly heard as blanche loses control
-As the music plays when Stanley gives Blanche the Greyhound ticket to return home in Scene 8, Williams depicts how the music foreshadows the imminent disaster for her.
-When Blanche is discovered alone in Scene 9, the polka is rapid.
BLUE PIANO- plastic theatre
The blues music enhances the dreamlike feeling in the play. The Blue piano represents ‘the spirit of life’ (Pg 3) in the setting. This is prominent in the first scene when Blanche recalls the unfortunate fate of Belle Reve, and in the 5th scene when she kisses the Young Man. The blue piano is the loudest when Blanche is sent away to the asylum in the last scene.
The blue piano shows the cyclical structure of the play, as the play starts and ends with the same background music. This shows possibly that Blanche, just like in the begging of the play, is alone and continues her unsettled journey of life. The Blue piano not only gives the readers a sense of setting, but also shows Blanche’s need for companionship.
LOCOMOTIVES- plastic theatre
Stanley is associated with the power sounds of locomotives- modern, impressive, and raw. In Scene 4 (Pg 40), when he secretly overheard the conversation of the sisters’, there is a sound of the approaching train. When Blanche tells Mitch of her marriage, she is harrowed by the memory of an oncoming locomotive (Pg 56). The start of the last phase of the movement towards the rape in Scene 10, the locomotive sound grows louder.
The locomotives represent Stanley, who brings Blanche’s downfall by unmasking her truth. Hence, in every scene where the truth of Blanche is revealed through Stanley, the locomotive sound is dominant. It sound may also be seen as a symbol of blanche’s desire to escape
SHADOWS AND LIGHTING-plastic theatre
Blanche avoids the light, light represents the truth. In scene 9, Mitch forces her into the light, he stares at her, causing her to “cry out and cover her face”. Most of the play is dark, to represent the working-class living conditions of the Kowalskis’, but now there is a bright light on the stage, which could cause discomfort to the audience as they have not been used to it.
When Blanche and Stanley fight in Scene 10, oddly shaped shadows appear on the walls. The jungle cries enhance the sense of madness of Blanche. These effects combine to heighten Blanche’s final breakdown.
It heightens any feelings of unease that the audience may have and builds on the bond between Blanche and the viewers.
COSTUMES- plastic theatre
-used to represent how the characters portray themselves and their inner thoughts…
Blanche dresses in white for most of the play, opting for a “red satin robe” after one of her “hot baths”. This reveals how Blanche tries to romanticise things that even her simple bath robe is made from satin and in is red. The stark contrast between the vibrant red of her bathrobe, and the “weathered grey” of the setting, mirrors the differences between Blanche and Stanley.
Stanley is first shown in his “work clothes”, showing that he is a practical, hardworking man. Williams establishes Stanley’s authority in the house with the “bowling shirt”, as it displays an idea of physical capability, typical of ‘alpha male’ characters. Similarly, the other male characters in the play are seen wearing primary colours when they get together for poker nights, to represent that they are “coarse and direct and powerful”. This shows that they are meant to be dominant over the women of the play, which of course ends up being true.
JUNGLE NOISES- plastic theatre
Show the animals inside humans, and highlights the brutality of the rape scene.
what was a tradgedy
-a play dealing with tragic events, or javing an unhappy ending, especially one concerning the main character
-a tradgedy origionally focuses on a tragic hero/heroine whos downfall was brought on by a combination of flaw in their character and fate
who defined the astages of tradgedy
aristotle defined the stages of tradgedy where a tragic hero has a fatal flaw (harmartia), which they become aware of too late (at this point is known as agnorsis), after which point their downfall is sealed
