Streetcar Named Desire Flashcards
(32 cards)
How does Stella greet her sister?
“Stella, oh, Stella, Stella! Stella for Star!”
How does Blanche explain what she want to Mitch?
“I don’t want realism. I want magic!”
What does Blanche warn Stella?
“Don’t- don’t hang back with the brutes!”
Examples of Dramatic Irony
The audience knows something the tragic heroine does not.
Scene 7: “Blanche is singing… contrapuntally with Stanley’s speech”
Williams enhances the audience’s empathy for Blanche by audibly juxtaposing her ignorant bliss with Stanley’s savage attacks. While Blanche enjoys her fantasy world obliviously, Stanley destroys it.
What is Aristotle’s catharsis and what are some examples of it?
The feeling of intense fear/pity which purifies the emotions felt by the audience.
Scene 10: combination of plastic/expressionist theatre in “Blue piano” and Stanley’s predatory movements “He takes a step towards her” emphasise to the audience how Blanche cannot escape the harshness of life. She is attacked by both her own past life, and those around her in her present life.
What is speaker’s accommodation and what are some examples of it?
Diverging or converging to make other speaker feel comfortable.
Scene 8: following being stood up by Mitch, the audience’s sympathy for Blanche is built by Stella’s obvious attempt to accommodate her, using honorific mode of address “Mr. Kowalski” to adopt Blanche’s sociolect. Given that Stanley then erupts and destroys any tranquillity that Blanche may have gained from this action, the audience see how Blanche is completely unable to gain any solace in society.
What is upwards convergence and what are some examples of it?
To raise the lexical proficiency of one’s language.
Scene 2: Stanley advances his lexicon, “merchant”, “acquaintance”, “appraisal” to assert his dominance over his wife when referring to legal matters.
This accentuates territorial character
What is upwards divergence and what are some examples of it?
To move away from lexical proficiency of other characters.
Scene 10: Blanche’s escape to the imaginary world is evidenced by her upwards divergence from Stanley, when saying “a cultivated woman, a woman of intelligence and breeding, can enrich a man’s life - immeasurably!”. By raising her lexical proficiency, her languages mirrors her spiritual escape from this basic New Orleans society.
What is downward divergence and what are some examples of it?
To move away from lexical proficiency of other characters.
Scene 10: Stanley asserts his power by deferring from lexis that would be understandable for a cultured woman such as Blanche, by exclaiming “Oh! So you want some rough-house!”. He makes Blanche incongruous with her surroundings.
What is a dramatic heroine and who is it in the play?
A character who undergoes dramatic fall from grace.
Blanche.
What is hegemonic masculinity and what are some examples of it?
It’s the prevalent view of what it is to be a man.
Scene 2: Stanley shows hegemonic masculinity by demanding that “what belongs to the wife belongs to the husband”, showing his territorial, possessive nature.
What is hegemonic femininity and what are some examples of it?
It’s the prevalent view of what it is to be a woman.
“baby”, “catch!”, “why don’t you women go up and sit with Eunice?” accusative pronoun. In this society, the woman is the subservient role. They are weak and depend on men.
What is a diminutive mode of address and what are some examples of it?
The informal, disrespectful form of a name: “baby” Stanley says to Stella throughout the play. This emphasises how he sees her as weak, nothing more than an infant. Also, it suggests he only considers her to be worthy of the respect an infant would receive.
Where does Blanche and Stanley’s power shift?
Scene Two and Scene Ten
How does Williams make speech sound natural?
Short or fragmented utterances, ellipsis, elision, dialect and expletives to replicate ‘natural’ speech and create believable characters.
What’s the Old South vs the New South?
Stanley represents the American dream that all men are born equal and can succeed equally, whereas Blanche represents the old world, where class and race are still important issues.
What’s the symbolism of ‘Elysian’?
Elysian Fields- abode of blessed dead in Greek mythology
What’s the symbolism of the ‘Chinese lantern’?
Chinese lantern - hiding ugliness of reality. Light unveils her true age and fading beauty (Blanche), represents harshness of reality, nowhere to hide, obsession with appearance.
What’s the symbolism of ‘moth’?
Moth - fragility - Blanche - comes out at night, no substance, not as pretty as a butterfly.
What’s the symbolism in Stanley and Blanche’s relationship?
Stanley and Blanche - symbols of two Americas: New America of immigrants against the decadent old plantation culture rooted in slavery systems.
What’s the symbolism of the ‘meat’?
Meat package - vulgar men, sexual connotations, New South, primitive.
What’s the symbolism of ‘Belle Reve’?
Belle Reve - means ‘beautiful dream’ - name of plantation, representative of Old South and their charmed life as Southern Belles. Represents the past.
What’s the symbolism of Stella and Blanche’s names?
Stella and Blanche.
Stella is French for ‘Star’.
Blanche is French for ‘White’-they are pure, sophisticated and pretty - Southern Belles.
What’s the symbolism in Blanches bathing?
Bathing - Blanche attempts to purify herself trying to be clean again. She had sinned in the past and wants to redeem herself. She feels unsettled/agitated.
