A Streetcar
Named Desire
Then & Now
Style
Although A Streetcar Named
Desire is considered modern
American literature, the world was
a very different place in 1947.
How was it different???
1947
Today
• The Soviet Union seizes
Hungary.
• Anti-Communist
sentiment builds in the
U.S.
• The Truman Doctrine
announces plans to aid
Greece and Turkey and
proposes economic aid to
countries threatened by
Communist takeover.
• Congress authorizes the
CIA to thwart Soviet
efforts to establish local
Communist parties in
Western Europe.
• Communism has all but
broken down since the
collapse of the Berlin Wall.
• Revolutions in
Czechoslovakia, Poland,
and East Germany, as well
as the break-up of the Soviet
Union have eliminated
many of the barriers
between East and West.
• Eastern European countries
are now undergoing a slow
and difficult transformation
to a market economy.
1947
Today
• New technology: the first
commercial microwave oven is
introduced by the Raytheon
Co. of Waltham,
Massachusetts.
• Tubeless automobile tires,
which seal themselves when
punctured, are introduced by
B.F. Goodrich.
• Howard Hughes' new seaplane,
the Spruce Goose, the largest
plane ever built, takes off for a
one-mile flight across Long
Beach Harbor before it is
retired for good.
• Most American homes
have a microwave, as well
as toasters, coffee makers,
freezers, and numerous
other examples of
electrical gadgetry.
• Cars are commonplace
but their emissions, along
with those from airplanes
and heavy industry,
contribute to the global
problem of pollution.
1947
Today
• New consumable goods appear
as America begins to recover
from the effects of the Second
World War.
• Frozen orange juice
concentrate sales in the U.S.
reach seven million cans.
• Redi-Whip introduces whipped
cream in aerosol cans.
• Sugar rationing ends.
• Monosodium glutamate
(MSG) is marketed for the first
time, and butylated
hydroxyamsole (BHA) is
introduced commercially to
retard spoilage in foods.
• Annual sales of convenience
food reach new heights
every year.
• Processed and "fast" food is
readily available to
Americans; consumers who
maintain unhealthy diets and
sedentary lifestyles
significantly increase their
risk of contracting heart
disease and cancer.
• Additives are common in
food and new developments,
such as genetically
engineered foods, continue
to make headlines.
STYLE in
Streetcar…
•Scenes
•Motifs
•Music
Scenes
• Division into scenes rather than acts is the most
striking structural element.
• Each of the eleven scenes that make up the play
ends in a dramatic climax.
• The audience focuses on the emotions and actions
of Blanche—the only character to appear in every
scene.
• Since we know Blanche’s inner thoughts and
motivations, we are sympathetic to her…we pity
her.
• Note the dramatic irony that only the audience
knows how much alcohol she is drinking.
• Our sense of tragedy is heightened by
the organization of the scenes.
• We can see Blanche’s destruction
coming.
• Her destruction is inevitable, and we
await her final breakdown.
• This structure may be an indication of
Williams’ growing interest in film.
• Using cinematography, it is possible to
combine several visually dramatic
incidents into a coherent experience
using camera angle, composition,
continuity and close-up.
Motifs
• Williams repeats dramatic motifs and details of
the setting during the play to signal changes in
mood and tone and highlight the themes.
• This connects the separate incidents of Blanche’s
story.
• The streetcar is a motif that signifies the growth
of the suburbs, the urbanization of the play, and
the unrelenting and unforgiving continuation of
life itself.
• To arrive at Stella's apartment in New Orleans,
Blanche must transfer from a streetcar called
Desire to one called Cemeteries in order to get to
the slum known as Elysian Fields.
• Their careful combination
introduces the themes of
death and desire that
resonate through the play.
• An element of the play
which is always heard rather
than seen, the streetcar
nonetheless adds much to
the mood of the play and is a
continual but subtle
reminder of the play's
setting.
Music
• Music is an important part of the stagecraft of the
play.
• Two kinds of music dominate: the “blue piano”
and the polka called the “Varsouviana.”
• The “blue piano” denotes the blues that developed
into the signature music of New Orleans' bars and
night clubs.
• It suggests unrestrained physical pleasure, animal
strength and vitality.
• It is used during significant emotional moments
such as when Blanche tells of the loss of Belle
Reve and when she hears about Stella's
pregnancy.
• It is also heard during moments of leisure, when
people are drinking and having fun.
• The complexity and depth of the blues, however,
allows it to be used during darker moments of the
play too.
• Blue piano is used during the rape scene to signify
animal desires.
• It is also used at the end of the play when Stanley
is consoling Stella to help her forget about
Blanche.
• In contrast to blue piano, the polka known as the
Varsouviana is heard throughout the play…but
only by Blanche.
• It signals crucial moments in the development of
the plot.
• The audience can anticipate imminent disaster
once we realize that the Varsouviana reminds
Blanche of the scene in the ballroom when she
denounced her husband.
• This polka also accompanies moments of
cruelty, like Stanley's gift to Blanche of a busticket back home.
• Both kinds of music represent the situation
being played out on stage.
• The music is used to represent the past lives of
the characters and the present cultural context
of New Orleans.
Sources
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