Tennessee Williams
I encourage you to watch both clips from two different documentary-type films. You'll get a picture of our playwright and will therefore understand Streetcar on another level.
In the words of Mrs. De Wilde, "Know the writer, know the story."
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More Modernism
Another major idea that came out of the modernist era was the sense that writers wanted to rid their work of the "prettiness and sentimentality" of previous literature. The hero often becomes the anti-hero and often becomes literally or metaphorically damaged.
"The elements of modernism evident in the works are; loss of traditional value, damaged hero, machine society vs. individual, disassociation of sensibilities, fragmentation, we have a past, but can’t use it, and finally, we create the world in the act of perceiving it." SOURCE
To what extent do you see these ideas working in A Streetcar Named Desire?
Immigration in the USA.
Click no the following links for some additional contextual information on immigration around the time of our play. How is the American Dream connected to immigration? When would Stanley Kowalski's parents have immigrated to the USA? |
Ongoing Questions to Consider:
- To what extend does fantasy help or harm people trying to cope with reality?
- How far should someone go to show loyalty to a loved one? To friends? To family?
- What are the consequences of pursuing overwhelming desire?
- Is “deliberate cruelty” the only unforgivable crime?
- How do characters simultaneously represent and deconstruct the “American Dream”?
- How do humans’ primal instincts both strengthen and destroy them?
- What two worlds are juxtaposed? Find evidence for support.
- What are your impressions of Stanley? How has Williams used imagery to characterize Stanley?
passage_-_scene_1_meet_blanche.docx | |
File Size: | 112 kb |
File Type: | docx |
Passage Analysis Prompting Questions
- What is the symbolism of the meat?
- How does Williams use stage directions to characterize each individual? What do we learn about Stanley, Stella, and Blanche?
- How does Williams use concrete and abstract nouns to juxtapose Blanche's character and her surroundings?
- Blanche: "They told me to take a street-car named Desire, and then transfer to one called Cemeteries and ride six blocks and get off at--Elysian Fields!" (p.6).
What is the metaphorical significance of each stop on her route? - Blanche: "I'm looking for my sister, Stella DuBois. I mean--Mrs. Stanley Kowalski" (p. 6).
What significance does the contrast in surnames hold? - What is the purpose of this passage?
Scene 2
- Why is Blanche bathing at the start of scene two?
- What is the importance of the Napoleonic code for Stanley? What point is Williams trying to make about social classes? p.32
- To what extent does page 39 foreshadow later events?
- Reality versus illusion: Identify moments where Blanche and/or Stanley appear to be living in reality or an illusion.
Scene 3
- Describe the setting and atmosphere in this scene. What might this scene be exposing about class and society?
- What type of man is Mitch? How is he similar/different to Stanley?
- Find two references to light. Explain the symbolism of light in each example.
- In this scene, Stanley's personality and behaviors shift moment-by-moment. Identify some of his highs and lows.
Scene 4
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Inquiry Question: To what extent does Blanche live in her own illusion?
Psychological Realism
What is psychological realism? Wow, what a great question! Here are the nuts and bolts:
Psychological Realism
What is psychological realism? Wow, what a great question! Here are the nuts and bolts:
- A focus on the interior - aka the inside of a character's mind
- Often, writers or playwrights use flashbacks to focus on the character's memory and mind
- Emphasizes the perception of individual characters, portraying reality as it exists in the mind
- Characteristic: heavy imagery infused with sound and sight
STANLEY
Make a list of the activities in which Stanley participates. What do these activities imply about Stanley's character?
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BLANCHE
Make a list of the activities in which Blanche participates. What do these activities imply about Blanche's character? In what ways does Tennessee Williams use psychological realism to present Blanche?
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Click HERE for an AWESOME critical response on Streetcar. There are lots of insights on Blanche's character, the poker night, and Stanley's animalistic tendencies. I highly recommend reading and adding some annotations to your books.
Scene 6
Page 114-116 Examine this scene in relation to the rest of the play
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Scene 7
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Scene 8
Themes: The Decay of the American Dream
In what ways do the following quotations display the struggle to attain the American Dream?
What is Tennessee Williams' social commentary regarding the American Dream?
In what ways do the following quotations display the struggle to attain the American Dream?
What is Tennessee Williams' social commentary regarding the American Dream?
Instructions:
- Analyze the quotation in connection with the guiding questions above.
- Record your analysis on the blog
- Find 1-2 other corresponding quotations from different scenes that reveal similar themes. Your quotations can be connected to any character. In what ways do the new quotations display the struggle to attain the American Dream?
- Record your analysis of these quotations on the blog
STANLEY
That’s how I’ll clear the table! [He seizes her arm.] Don’t ever talk that way to me! "Pig – Polack – disgusting – vulgar – greasy!" – them kind of words have been on your tongue and your sister’s too much around here! What do you think you two are? A pair of queens? Remember what Huey Long said – "Every Man is a King!" And I am the King around here, so don’t forget it! [He hurls a cup and saucer to the floor] My place is cleared! You want me to clear your places? [Stella begins to cry weakly. Stanley stalks out on the porch and lights a cigarette] (Sc. 8, p. 131) |
BLANCHE
You healthy Polack, without a nerve in your body, of course you don't know what anxiety feels like! STANLEY I am not a Polack. People from Poland are Poles, not Polacks. But what I am is a one hundred percent American, born and raised in the greatest country on earth and proud as hell of it, so don't ever call me a Polack. (Sc. 8, p. 134) |
STANLEY
When we first met, me and you, you thought I was common. How right you was, baby. I was common as dirt. You showed me the snapshot of the place with the columns. I pulled you down off them columns and how you loved it, having them colored lights going! And wasn’t we happy together, wasn’t it all okay till she showed here? [Stella makes a slight movement. Her looks goes suddenly inward as if some interior voice had called her name. She begins a slow, shuffling progress from the bedroom to the kitchen, leaning and resting on the back of the chair and then on the edge of a table with a blind look and listening expression. Stanley, finishing with his shirt, is unaware of her reaction.] (Sc. 8, p. 137). |
Scene 9
Essential Questions:
How do Mitch and Blanche use light to conceal and reveal?
To what extent have these characters changed throughout the course of the play?
Using pages 144-145, create a character sketch of Blanche and Mitch. Include the following:
Essential Questions:
How do Mitch and Blanche use light to conceal and reveal?
To what extent have these characters changed throughout the course of the play?
Using pages 144-145, create a character sketch of Blanche and Mitch. Include the following:
- Adjectives to describe both him/her and his/her perspective
- Analysis of the light motif: What does it symbolize for each character?
- Two key quotations - be sure you can explain why you have chosen them.
- What do you think of the character?
Scene 10
- What is the significance of Blanche's clothing in the opening stage directions? Overall, what significance does clothing have in the play as a whole?
- How would you describe Stanley and Blanche in this scene? Choose 1-2 adjectives per character and support them with quotations from the scene.
- Describe the use and purpose of stage directions in this scene (specifically on pages 159-162).
- Why does the rape happen off stage?
- What could Williams be saying about gender relations in this play?
- How do we feel about Blanche? Has Williams created a character with whom you can sympathize? Why or why not?
Scene 11
- What could poker symbolize? - Literally, what is poker? Figuratively, what could poker symbolize?
- When Stella and Eunice are talking, Stella says, "I couldn't believe her [Blanche's] story and go on living with Stanley" (p. 165). What does she mean here and what do you think of Stella?
- When the doctor addresses Blanche as Miss DuBois, what changes? Why does Blanche suddenly comply? p. 177-179
- Why does the final scene begin and end with a poker game?
- How might the final image of the play reveal larger themes in the play? What might Williams be saying about society and morality?