streetcar/duchess critics Flashcards
(16 cards)
Joan Templeton on Blanche
just as responsible for her fall as the Old South is for its own demise
Judith Thompson on Blanche’s trajectory towards madness
mythically elevated expectations, followed by inevitable disillusionment
Mary Ann Corrigan on Stanley
strips away Blanche’s illusions and forces her to face animal reality
Ross Vassilev on Stanley
represents the vitality, dynamism, and swagger of a country emerging from World War II
Charles R. Forker on Ferdinand
an impressively sophisticated study in the psychology of a sadist, repressed by guilt and horrified to the point of self-delusion by the nature of his own erotic urges
M.C. Bradbrook on the ceremonial nature of Ferdinand’s persecution of the Duchess
ritual is an effective way of disguising and controlling repressed desires
Zinnie Harris on the Duchess’ independence and sexual confidence
become dangerous sources of male anxiety and paranoia
Linda Woodbridge on the Duchess
hero of desire
Bilal Hamamra on the Duchess of Malfi (play)
enacts an inversion of gender roles
Muhammad Al Ahmad on the Duchess
rebels against the norm by achieving her will to love and marry
Harold Clurman on Blanche
a delicate and sensitive woman pushed into insanity by a brutish environment presided over by chief ape-man Stanley Kowalski
Tennessee Williams on what Streetcar shows
the destructive power of society on the sensitive non-conformist individual
Lauren Seigle on Blanche
Williams uses her plight to criticise the social circumstances that have both shaped her flawed persona and led to her demise
Camille Saunders on Blanche
‘irreversibly damaged’ by her past
Jonathan Kalb on Blanche’s downfall
a tragic choice, not the conquest of a helpless individual
Tennessee Williams on Streetcar
play about the ravishment of the tender by the brutal
