Streetcar+Named+Desire+and+Who's+Afraid...

· Was homosexual: Blanche’s husband: New Orleans: accepting Felt guilty when his sister Rose was taken away for lobotomy < relate to Stella’s feeling of having betrayed her sister Williams moved from the South to New Orleans < mirrors Blanche’s journey, and uses real places which add verisimilitude Tennessee Williams was known to have a problem with dipsomania (alcoholism) and drug abuse, to cope with his problems, similar to Blanche · Success de scandal (play which owes success due to its scandalous content…homosexuality): when 1st staged, but now a somber serious drama Williams worked at MGM film studio, and so cinematic effects influenced his work (ref. to plastic theatre) ||   || Also a psychological and moral exploration- society dictates what gender roles are, of the individual vs society ^lyrical dialogues show the psychological state of the character · Puritan: had censorious moral beliefs esp. about sex and pleasure < · Elia Kazan: “Everything in his life is in his plays and everything in his plays is in his life” · For the greater part of Williams’ life, homosexuality was still illegal, but tolerated in areas like New Orleans. This explains his reluctance to give prominence to the issue. All homosexual relationships in his plays end in disaster. Perhaps this is his dislike of his sexual inclinations or an intention to placate morality. His Puritan beliefs made him conflicted about his own sexuality as homosexuals were considered degenerates in society. It was also added for a dramatic effect (choosing a guy not girl, otherwise would just be a man cheating on wife). This issue of homosexuality finds its way into all of his plays (though a minor part here) · Title – desire leading to death, moral aspect of the title is quite clear· ||  || > Plastic theatre: Williams insisted that theatre make use of all the stage arts, e.g. music, lighting, etc, to generate a theatrical experience greater than Realism ||  || > 2nd section: scenes 7 to 10 – all take place in 1 day; calamities take place > 3rd part: scene 11 = a few weeks later, shows the outcome of the events · Williams chose the location of Stella’s house in the Elysian fields primarily because of the ironic mythological associations of its name: the tiny, dingy Kowalski apartment seems the antithesis of the Greek paradise of heroes · Elysian Fields was the place of rest and solace for the Greek heroes, but Blanche gets anything but that. Williams stayed in New Orleans and hence, included the places he used to frequent like the Galatoire’s. · Interiors and exteriors, .e.g before the rape scene, the drunkard and the prostitute are mentioned to set the tone of moral corruption and violence, everybody has to fend for themselves in this hostile environment || <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">· || <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 20.5pt; text-indent: -9pt;">· Blanche’s Chair on the Moon, lyrical idea of distance from reality, and can be connected to the song she sings about the paper moon <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 20.5pt; text-indent: -9pt;">· The Poker Night, ref. to Scenes III and XI, the important scenes in the play, and the original form of the play < also shows Stanley’s transition; he was losing in the first game, and winning in the second · <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">^ game motif <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 20.5pt; text-indent: -9pt;">· The Primary Colours, the poker players wear clothes in primary colours; also refers to the unpolished and primal nature of the men, contrasted with the delicate, faded colours of Blanche (though Blanche sometimes wear blue and red) <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 20.5pt; text-indent: -9pt;">· Streetcar Named Desire: “They told me to take a streetcar named desire then transfer to one called Cemetries to get off at the Elysian fields” Desire is what causes her downfall and hence the title is highly relevant. Desire leads to death of her innocence (She arrives at the cemeteries) · <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">fate – Blanche is helplessness against her destiny but arguably she had a choice –It is her choices to be a coquette. || <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">· Albee saw the title written in soap on a mirror in the bathroom of a college establishment called ‘The College of Complexes’ in Greenwich Village. He thought that this was a witty college joke, and this inspired him to write the play.
 * |||| **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">A Streetcar Named Desire ** || **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf ** ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Author Background |||| <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">· “At the age of fourteen I discovered writing as an escape from a world of reality in which I felt acutely uncomfortable < relate to Blanche and her alienation in society
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Purpose of writing (social/political didactic/propagandist etc) |||| <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Primarily a social play, talking about a society in transition, with the fading gentility of the Old South with the rise of the industrial North (Blanche is unable to adapt to her new surroundings, which is necessary for the survival of her class)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Genre & Type |||| * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Realism (in the settings and the characters); contrasts with the unexpected lyricism in dialogue and high drama of the end
 * <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Psychological insight- EXPRESSIONISM (movement talking about the sense of alienation and the questioning of faith following the First World War) || <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">· ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Time & Place written |||| <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; text-align: center;">Finished in 1947. Tenessese William wrote the play with the intention of adapting it into a movie screenplay
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Setting (Time) |||| * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">May to September (duration of play covers 5 months); therefore he disregards the unity of time; 1st 6 scenes are set in May, and set the calamities that will follow
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Unity of place maintained
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Unity of action maintained ||  ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Setting (Place) |||| · <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">“In New Orleans I found the kind of freedom that I always wanted”
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Relevance of Title(s) |||| · <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">The Moth, obviously a ref. to Blanche, when moths get too close to the light, they die. The moth is fragile and leaves dust wherever it goes, the symbol of Blanche, with her fading beauty

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">The title Who is afraid of Virginia Woolf is a play on the children’s song ‘Who is afraid of the big bad wolf?’, from the Three Little Pigs. Throughout the play Albee also uses child like language which is similar to the title.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">The title refers to Virginia Woolf, a famous female novelist during the interwar period. The title suggests the academic setting of the play. Virgina Woolf wrote with great honesty and a stream-of-consciousness. Through this Albee probably wants bring out how characters such as Martha and George are linving under an illusion and hence are afraid of the truth exposed by Virgina Woolf. Albee said that its meaning was ‘who’s afraid of the big, bad wolf, which means who’s afraid of living life without delusions?’. Virgina Woolf’s writing was also very complex, hence the title could also refer to the way George feels undermined as a history professor in the college. || > Pablo and Negro Woman: To highlight multi-ethnic society of N. O.Eunice and Steve: Violence is normal in Elysian Fields; crudeness + when E doesn’t call the police, Stella says “that’s much more practical’ = shows her over adaptability ||  || · <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Scenes 6 and 9; similar situations, the same characters, different outcomes. · <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Dramatic hooks, starts in media res? · <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Episodic structure: each scene has a specific incident which seems to be resolved but actually isn’t, having a larger bearing on the course of events. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">The effect in each case is that of the ending of a playlet (a tiny play), with the players motionless in a tableau vivant (living picture). This concept of a series of 1 act playlets is reinforced by the element of repetition in the play (action, dialogue, poker scene twice, lurid scenes in the background, use of symbols, motifs ...repetition binds the play together). · <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Equilibrium (Stan/Stella relationship) -> disequilibrium -> new equilibrium. (Todorov) · <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Written almost as screenplay; Tennessee Williams wrote it with a cinema adaptation in mind. ||  || > > <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Hot trumpet and drums (eg: end of rape scene); jungle noises indicate wild animal desire. > > Polka music/Varsouviana  <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">(the polka is from **Europe** which connotes old money, classical things, etc. the dying old order. Blanche claims she is of French extraction. More structured than the blues) <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">: Played before Blanche’s flashbacks, a haunting reminder of the past; heard only by Blanche; signals crucial moments of the plot; was playing when husband shot himself; it fades out, as described in didascalia when she believes there is a chance with Mitch (when he kisses her in scene 6, when he comes to see her in scene 9: “you’ve stopped the polka tune that I had caught in my head"); rises up again when she knows there is no hope with him. + distant revolver shot that silences it – guilty memories of her husband.  > > <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">B’s singing in bathtub in scene 7: sentimental love songs contrasts shocking truth revealed onstage + builds tension. Blanche’s singing: poignant, almost innocent. Insecurity; need for love/care. No one believes in her. Retreats into her idealized fantasy when cannot deal with reality. Pg. 98 (scene 7) [Blanche is singing in the bathroom a saccharine popular ballad which is used contrapuntally with Stanley’s speech] - highlights the contrast between Stanley's and Blanche's personalities. Each other's foils. Stanley wreaks Blanche’s destruction, drives her to insanity. > > Roar of locomotives: scenes 4,6 and 10 = atmosphere + enables Stan to eavesdrop in scene 4 (dramatic purpose). <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">ref. Symbols. > <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Use of music and sound effects – a technique learnt from cinema (Williams grew up in the 20s and 30s, the golden age of Hollywood cinema, and was the film critic of his highschool magazine, paying close attention to the flim he was viewing and consciously or unconsciously absorbing the techniques used. > > · The musical symbols appreciated more keenly by the theatre audience – readers at a disadvantage as stage directions can never have the same dramatic impact as the music starting up on stage (can talk about this point while taking about musical symbols or didascalia).  <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Ref. Plastic theatre   > || <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Albee uses the sound of clinking ice, at the beginning of act 3, to convey the hollowness that Martha feel. Through this sound the audience is able to empathies with Martha. || > <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; text-indent: -0.25in;">· Scene 10 and 11: lurid reflections appear on the wall around Blanche (her terror takes a visible form + we see her in the light now that her pretences are destroyed + builds tension) + “night is filled with inhuman voices likes cries in a jungle” (represent confusion and terror in her mind). > <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">· Note: lurid reflections appear again in last scene, when B hears Stan’s voice (remind of nightmarish rape > > <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Dellia Robbia blue - Madonna blue - Madonna-whore complex highlighted by her clothes. > > Mostly wears white, indicating her fragility (like a moth) and seeming purity. > > Stanley's working class clothes (or lack thereof) -> sexuality, animal bestiality. Mitch's cheap working man's coat. -> class difference between these men (new America, the American Dream) and Blanche (aristocracy, almost fin de siècle decay).   ||   || > > <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Broken bottle - response to threat - Blanche uses the alcohol bottle as her defence against Stanley (the brutality of the hard real world that she can't stand). Signifies that her means of escape is her only means of defence. Represents violence. > > Heart-shaped box of accessories - her heart lies in that box; physical appearances/ornamentation/false costume jewellery -> generally artificial things are her only path to love. ||  || > o Flowers (the ones the blind Mexican woman was selling) = reminder of death > ||  || > B: “I was on the verge of – lunacy almost” (is thought to be 1 later) > B: “oh, you do have a bathroom”: nasty joke. Ironic that she is criticizing Stella’s house (and sees her as lower in social order) when she herself is homeless. > Stella: “liquor goes fast in hot weather (actually Blanche had it) > B: ‘you must have lots of banging around in the army’ (ironic cos she bangs soldiers > B’s sign is Virgo the Virgin. > <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Stella’s disbelief of rape proves an ironic coda; she, rather than B, is the one in need of support > Twist at the end: B is forced to confront reality (quiet dignity in her final exit), Stan is a liar (lies he never raped her), Stella chooses to believe his lies (lives in an illusion). ||  || > B’s hysteria casts a doubt on her sanity later on. > B: ‘I won’t hang around until he throws me out’: foreshadows Stan gets rid of her. > <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">B: ‘I have got to be good and keep my hands of children’ (after kissing young man/paper boy): foreshadows dirty secret of her having seduced 17-year old being revealed. ||   || <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; text-indent: -0.25in;">· “A woman’s charm is fifty percent illusion” <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; text-indent: -0.25in;">· she does not want realism, she wants magic. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; text-indent: -0.25in;">· This means that she seeks to manipulate reality until it appears to be what Blanche thinks it ought to be. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; text-indent: -0.25in;">· Alcohol is a means of escapism: no1 knows how much she drinks <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; text-indent: -0.25in;">· White clothes: appears to be pure but is actually little more than a whore (contrasted with the red satin robe) <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; text-indent: -0.25in;">· The magnificent aura of Belle Reve creates a sense of sophistication. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; text-indent: -0.25in;">· B’s vanity “I want you too look at my figure” (physical manifestation of this theme); lies about age to Mitch. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; text-indent: -0.25in;">· B’s hypocrisy about alcoholism and other stuff; “you know how indifferent I (Blanche) am to money”; alcoholism also shows need to escape reality (“she is drinking to escape it and the sense of disaster closing in on her”; social comment on alcoholism) <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; text-indent: -0.25in;">· She can’t accept reality and stays out of the light <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; text-indent: -0.25in;">· B stays out of the light “I cant stand a naked light bulb” <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; text-indent: -0.25in;">· “I like it dark, the dark is comforting to me” <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; text-indent: -0.25in;">· She pretends to not be a seductress; B to M: ‘I guess you are used to girls who like to be lost’; shows true colors to audience thoh, when M cant understand french <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; text-indent: -0.25in;">· B constantly wants to escape into her illusionary word ‘we are going to pretend we are sitting in a little artist’s café on the left bank in paris’; “je suis la dame aux Camellias (resorts to play acting as she cant face reality) <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; text-indent: -0.25in;">· Stan sees through B’s games “not once did you pull the wool over this boy’s eyes!...cover the light with a paper lantern and beyold, you’re the queen of the nile!” <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; text-indent: -0.25in;">· Last line of play: ‘the game is 7 card stud” = symbolic of deception and bullying that went on. Being the last line, it emphasizes that it’s the most imp. theme <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; text-indent: -0.25in;">· Stella is an intermediate to Stan and B <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">· Women not allowed to join poker game + “poker should not be played in a house with women” <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">· Blanche: ‘they say the lady must entertain the gentleman – or no dice’ <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">· Female dichotomy: <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">o Stella is dutiful wife who cooks for him (“what about my supper”, cleans his messes…) <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">o Blanche is the whore || <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">· || <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">· Association with Hotel Flamingo <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">· Keeps trying to portray herself as a very sophisticated and cultured woman. She is ashamed of herself, but is trying hard to prove that she is ‘clean’ (link to bathing) to herself <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">· Stanley had a conflict with Blanche since the start of the play (Belle Reve papers…). Stanley was further annoyed by Blanche’s interference in his life, Stella’s changing attitude, vanishing alcohol and Blanche’s derogatory remarks about him. Hence, he uses Blanche’s poor reputation in Laurel in order to try and turn Stella against Blanche. We can see that reputaion becomes Stanley’s means of resolving his conflict with Blanche. When that doesn’t work…he rapes her to break her spirit. || <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">·1. George: ‘Martha tells me often I am in the History Department…as opposed to being the History Department…in the sense of running the History Department. I do not run the History Department.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Characters (Protagonist,Antagonist, foil, minor characters etc) |||| * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Blanche is the principal character, but cannot be called the protagonist, because of her moral ambiguity; at different points in the play, the audience views her differently (remains centre of attention through course of play = unity of action is maintained…she is hardly ever offstage, or atleast heard signing of stage; at no point of the play is her presence not felt…when she is on stage she monopolies everyone’s attention….every scene ends with her centre stage, commanding her attention, with a arresting phrase or dramatic gesture)
 * <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Stella becomes the lens through which we view Stanley/Blanche; determining where the audience’s sympathies lie.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Minor characters:
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Structure of the Play |||| · <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Poker night: shows Stan’s dominance. ( Scenes 3 and 11)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Music/ Sound Effects/ Songs |||| * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Blue piano: the blues, melancholy. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">< relates to the setting of New Orleans (the birthplace of jazz)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Sometimes suggests raw emotions, unrestrained physical pleasure, animal strength and virility. It appears at significant parts of the play, playing near the start; at end of scene 2 and 3, before she kisses the young man. pg. 105: [The distant piano goes into a hectic breakdown.] – acceleration of the plot towards climax; mirrors the characters’ state of mind – When Stan reveals B’s secrets to Stella, before the climactic rape scene.
 * <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">The song of the Mexican woman: ‘Flores, flores, flores para los muertos’ (flowers for the dead) -> death comes to Blanche’s doorstep, but she denies it – ‘Not now, not now’
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Lighting |||| * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">During poker night, Blanche stands “in the light through the portieres – such behavior is instinctive around men (light/desire leads to moth/her downfall) + her last attempt for salvation by enticing Mitch.
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Blanche’s aversion to the naked light bulb (exposes her as the light of truth would expose the reality; her true colours). " I can't stand a naked light bulb, any more than I can a rude remark or a vulgar action." pg. 55
 * <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">The paper lantern. Ref. Symbols
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">‘coloured lights’ – Stanley/Stella – sexuality?  ||   ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Costumes/Clothes |||| * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Blanche's red dress; first triumph, then 'tragic radiance' - the red of a scarlet woman.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Props |||| * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Alcohol bottle appears in almost every scene -> intoxication, escapism, Blanche's unwillingness to come to terms with reality, living in her own 'magic' world.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Symbols and Motifs |||| * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Belle Reve: symbol of class superiority (imp: B’s transition from B.R. to the cheap hotel Tarantula and finally to Stan’s small apartment symbolic of her descent in the social ladder [ ‘I pulled you down from those columns and how you loved it’; ‘Maybe he’s what we need to mix with our blood now that we have lost B.R. and have to go without B.R. to protect us’]
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Bathing: cleanse her of her guilt (husband’s death), dirty past and rape (in scene 10)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Spilt coke of B’s skirt = stained reputation or spilt blood of husband
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Blanche’s red satin robe = biblical allusion to scarlet woman
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Alcoholism: B’s hypocrisy; emphasizes difference between B and Stan (B drinks alone, Stan drinks in groups), brings out Stan’s primal behavior)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Rhinestone tiara = shows appearance vs reality\
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Paper Lantern = B’s refusal to face reality, B deceives others and wants ‘magic’ + moth being attracted to the light. When Mitch rips of the lantern (with the same sort of violence that foreshadows rape) + she is exposed
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Scene 10 uses expressionistic menacing shapes inside the apartment and scenes of violence outside reflects B’s terror.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Comic books = reminder to B that she has entered a world where comic books and not literature is read.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Van Gogh’s painting of a billiard-parlor at night (primal colors matched by primal colors worn by men) = highlights their primitive nature; “as coarse and direct and powerful as the primary colours”(this + red watermelon rinds set scene for poker night and have same connotations
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Street Car – highly symbolic for desire (as mentioned in title)…desire = sin; cemeteries = death….didactic message is clear. Using as a form of euphemism (scene 4: riding the street car)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Irony |||| * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">B: “I am not going to be hypocritical (Scene 1, when expressing shock at Stella’s condition)”
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Foreshadowing |||| * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">In scene 10, Stan “peers in at B, and gives a low whistle. All of this is emphasized by “we’ve had this date from the beginning (his last lines before raping her)
 * <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Scene 4: Stella chooses Stan over Blanche. -> comes true in Scene 11.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Deceptive Appearances |||| <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; text-indent: -0.25in;">· Blanche is sufficiently self-aware to know that she cannot survive in the world as it is. Reality is too harsh, so she must somehow create illusions that will allow her to maintain her delicate, fragile hold on life.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">“I tried to gloss things over in my letter
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">Justifies Stan’s behavior to self (‘people have to tolerate each other’s habits, I guess” || <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">· ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Gender Roles and Reversal of Gender Roles |||| <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">· Stanley sees himself as superior coz he’s a man “every man is a king. And I am the king around here, so don’t you fogret it” [also a reminder that he is of working class + shows women are expected to be submissive]
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Reputation |||| <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">· Blanche’s need to hide the truth about her past

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">George and Nick's academic departments at New Carthage College set up a dialectic in which Albee presents a warning about the future of life. George is an associate professor in the History Department, while Nick is a new member of the Biology Department. Old, tired, and ineffectual, George exemplifies the subject that he teaches. What's more, he notes that no one pays attention to the lessons of history ­ just as Nick ignores George's sincere advice, responding contemptuously, "Up your!" Nick, as a representative of science, is young and vital. In the words of George, he is the "wave of the future." Through Nick and George's argument about Biology and History, Albee demonstrates two clashing worldviews. George's lack of success in the History Department and inability to rise to power as successor to the president of the college contrasts with Nick's plans and seeming ability to move ahead ­ first taking over the Biology Department, then the college.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">2. Nick is very ambitious but George’s character foreshadows probably what is Nick’s future. [Martha (to Nick and Honey): Hey, you must be quite a boy, getting your Master’s when you were…what?…twelve ? You hear that, George?]

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">3. George mocks Nick for being a biologist. He mocks the idea of chromosomes. (pg. 70-71) [George: Everyone will tend to be rather the same…Alike]. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Albee is probably hinting that with the American Dream and the drive for ambition and the importance given to getting a good reputation everyone will turn out to be the same, and there will be a loss of individuality. Through George’s mockery of Nick Albee points of flaws of the American Dream.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Albee clearly intends for us to perceive Nick's (half-joking) plan as a threat. George's criticism of Biology's ability to create a race of identical test tube babies all like Nick and Nick's ruthless willingness to take any means necessary (including sleeping with factory wives) to get ahead reveals the absence of morality and frightening uniformity in a future determined by science. What's more, in exposing seemingly virile Nick's impotence, Albee demonstrates the underlying powerlessness of science and in George's perseverance, the unexpected staying power of history.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">4.Martha is fed up with George because he does not live up to her father’s reputation, therefore she continuously compares George to ‘Daddy’ and pokes fun at George’s academic and career related failures (his book). This shows that one of the aspects of the American Dream was a successful career and one’s reputation was based on that. || <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">· Polka and gun shot
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Death of Innocence |||| <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">· The flower seller represents the death at Blanche's door; She cries, "Not now!"

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Idea of Blanche being what she is now due to men around her. This is implied when Stella says to Stanley "you didn’t know Blanche as a girl. Nobody, nobody, was tender and trusting as she was. But people like you abused her, and forced her to change". <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">This idea is furthered by certain aspects of Blanche being portrayed as rather child-like, such as her "frolicking in the tub", emphasizing the traces of innocence that still reside within her, increasing audience sympathy for her as what is being discussed at this very moment by Stanley and Stella is her impure past.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">The death of Blanche's beauty and her identity as a 'Southern Belle' with her loss of 'Belle Reve'. Taking this further, Belle Reve meaning beautiful dream, this could also signify the death of her previous dream-like existence.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Her beauty is decaying and fading, which links in with the moth imagery. The end of her youth also implies no further hopes of a stable life for Blanche. || <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">· Death of the American Dream: <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">· Decay of the perfect American family, George and Martha do not have any children, indicates the sterility of their marriage and <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">· Death of values as Nick attempts to improve his position at the university by sleeping with Martha. à He uses sexual and corrupt means to further his position instead of intelligence and capability. Therefore, this degradation of the purity and moralistic nature of the American Dream. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">· Therefore, through this decay, Albee tries to indicate the flaws and the shallow nature of the American Dream.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">George and his Parents: <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">· There is a hint towards the fact that George killed his parents, however this is always left ambiguous. George appears to be uneasy and hesitant to talk about his parents <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">(pg 106) Act2: Nick: “what happened…the boy who shot his mother?” <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">George: “I won’t tell you” <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">· In Act 3, (pg 212): George, “maybe”, Martha, “Yeah, Maybe not, too.” <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">· This continuous conflict between truth and illusion.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Death of the Baby: <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">· George ‘kills’ the baby in the end in the exorcism. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">· Baby itself never really existed, so, this ‘death’ is metaphorical. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">· It symbolizes the ‘death’ and end of all their illusion and games.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Why does George kill the baby? <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">· He says: As revenge (cross ref end of act 2: “You’re going to regret this Martha (pg 192)”, he wants Martha to feel the same pain that he did by taking away what is so important to her (the baby) <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">· However as an audience we understand that he realizes the importance to end the illusions and games as Martha seems to be unable to differentiate between the truth and illusion.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Effect of killing the baby: <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Death their illusions and games <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Role reversal: Martha appears submissive (the pauses and ellipses shows her hesitation and her reflective mood) while George is firm and assertive and provides answers to all her questions. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">(pg254) Martha: “did you…did you…have to?” <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">George “yes” <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Martha: “it was…? You had to? <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">George: “Yes” <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Therefore, a new relationship has begun to develop between Martha and George. It is time for them to confront reality and see if they can work things out as a married couple. It indicates therefore the birth of a new phase in their marriage, one which Martha is scared of.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">“Pouf” à the killing of every illusion || <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">These two acts of violence shock Blanche, who is not used to violence…she reacts by calling Stanley an animal
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Violence and suppresion |||| * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; tabstops: list .5in;">Throwing the radio out of the window
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; tabstops: list .5in;">Striking Stella

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">As Stella tries to tell Stanley to end the poker game, Stanley subdues her with a smack across the thighs. He only knows how to use force to make his point. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Shows how violence is normal in the EF <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Result of building tension and Stanley’s annoyance at Blanche’s influence on Stella <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Climax…final act of violence that breaks Blanche’s spirit and also puts an end to stay at the EF
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; tabstops: list .5in;">Eunice-Steve fight
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; tabstops: list .5in;">Clearing the table
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; tabstops: list .5in;">Blanche’s rape
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; tabstops: list .5in;">Violence taking place in the background offstage – lurid reflections that appear in scenes 10 and 11 are violent as well |||| <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 19.5pt;">* George and Martha’s relationship is founded on this continuous battle of wits and struggle for power over one another. They have been married for quite a few years now, and know exactly how to tackle one another.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; tabstops: list 1.0in;">Martha is ‘loud and vulgar’, dominating the conversation at the beginning of the play with her aggression, ‘YOU CUT THAT OUT’. Most of her dialogues and repartee are capitalized, indicating that Albee intended them to be yelled out. Her use of expletives such as ‘FUCK YOU’, threats like ‘I’ll fix you, you….’ And her constant cutting-off of George’s remarks depict that she uses the violence in her language to dominate George – which ultimately, however, is unsuccessful as George too retaliates, refusing to be suppressed by Martha alone.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; tabstops: list 1.0in;">George comes across to the audience as passive-aggressive. He may not be one overtly dominant but he does know how to offend her, especially with reference to her age as seen in Act 1, ‘I’m six years younger than you are…I always have been and I always will be’.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; tabstops: list 1.0in;">Towards the end of the play, however, this power struggle ceases as they come together in mutual reconciliation. They realize that it’s only each other who can satisfy each other, as Martha says ‘There is only one man in my life who has ever…made me happy….George, my husband.’ Despite the outwardly bitterness and cutting remarks, they share a deep understanding of each other’s personalities, and a need for one another that eventually brings them together in the end. ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Conflict 1: Old Order v/s the new order ||||  ||||   ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Conflict 2: Past impinging on the present ||||  ||||   ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Conflict 3: Power Struggle ||||  ||||   ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Conflict 4: Inner conflict public appearance versus private thoughts and relationships ||||  ||||   ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Betrayals |||| <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Stanley betrays Stella by raping her sister

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Stella betrays Blanche by closing her eyes to the truth of her husband raping Blanche and choosing a life with Stanley over her sister's well being, condemning her to a life in an asylum. ||||  ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Conflicts in Domestic Relationships ||||  ||||   ||