Transcript of A Street Car Named Desire
A Streetcar Named Desire
Tennessee Williams
Historical Context
The play is set in 1947, in New Orleans
The history and culture of the setting embody the central concerns of the text
The French Quarter provides a rich background for the emotional events of the play (streetcars,
bars, entertainment, jazz and blues music)
The setting symbolises the changes that were ocurring after WW2, in American Society
The South
Louisiana is one of the Southern states of the USA.
The play represents the decline of the aristocratic families traditionally associated with the South.
The South's agricultural base was no longer able to compete with industrialization.
Once influential families lost their importance
Streetcar shows the conflict between traditional values: and old-world graciousness and
beauty running decoratively to seed versus the thrusting rough edged , physically
aggressive materialism of the new world.
Following WW1 and women gaining the right to vote in 1920, the male dominated Southern
aristocracy came to an end.
The structure of the workforce had altered radically to include women, immigrants and blacks.
The Role of Women
Only narrow roles were open to women, therefore Blanche is constrained in the play by the
expectations of Southern Society.
She needs men to lean on and to protect her.
Sexual freedom does not fit the chaste behaviour expected of a 'Southern Belle'.
Blanche fears rejection by males.
Throughout the play Blanche is destroyed as she struggles to cope with the contradictory
demands of society
This is symbolic of the destruction of the old South
The play begins with a well-known and enigmatic entrance speech from Blanche Dubois:
"BLANCHE (with faintly hysterical humour): They told me to take a streetcar named Desire,
and then transfer to one named CEMETERIES, and ride siz blocks and get of at - Elysian Fields!
Structure
These words act as a clue to the structural development and design of the play itself. They also
represents Blanche's fate.
Blanche's life before the play begins.
Blanche's experience during the play
itself.
Staging
It's important that we, the audience, can see everything that happens on stage
Look out for moments of dramatic irony, and how Williams uses this device to add tension to his
play
The Varsouviana
In scene one the music sets the mood for Blanche's unstable reaction to hearing about her dead
husband.
She cannot escape the memory of his death, and likewise the music...
...more on this later!
The Varsouviana Polka, on the other hand, appears when Blanche is being confronted with her
past and the truth, or when she talks about Allan. The reason for this seems obvious, for exactly
this polka had been played when her husband Allan committed suicide. The polka represents
death and foretells disaster. Blanche tells Mitch in scene six about Allan, and how she caught
him cheating on her: “Polka music sounds, in a minor key faint with distance”. When Stanley
gives her a ticket back to Laurel for a birthday presents, the situation means disaster for Blanche.
She realises that she is not wanted anymore, and that she has nowhere to go, for Laurel is an
unacceptable place to go to after all the incidents there: “The Varsouviana music steals in softly
and continues playing,”.
In scene eleven, the connection between the polka and Blanche’s state of mind and emotion
becomes even more obvious. She gets totally lost in her illusions about Shep Huntleigh and runs
into her room when the doctor arrives: “The Varsouviana is filtered into weird distortion,
accompanied by the cries and noises of the jungle”. Here, Williams uses the polka’s weird
distortion to matches the confusion in her mind.
In contrast to the butterfly, who lives during daytime, the moth mainly lives during the night,
which makes it a creature of the darkness, and the butterfly one of the light.
It seems as though—contrasting with her name—it is her fate to live in the darkness, Blanche
does not find a way out of it: at the end of the play she is being taken away to the mental
institution, which means that she finally does not conquer her fate.
Prof., Prof. h.c. Dr. Michael STEPPAT
“Only A Paper Moon” - The song symbolises Blanche's relationship with Mitch
In Scene Seven, Blanche sings this popular ballad while she bathes. The song’s lyrics describe
the way love turns the world into a “phony” fantasy. The speaker in the song says that if both
lovers believe in their imagined reality, then it’s no longer “make-believe.” These lyrics sum up
Blanche’s approach to life, and to Mitch. She believes that her 'act' is only her means of enjoying
a better way of life and is therefore essentially harmless.
As Blanche sits in the tub singing “It’s Only a Paper Moon,” Stanley tells Stella the details of
Blanche’s sexually corrupt past. Williams ironically juxtaposes Blanche’s fantastical
understanding of herself with Stanley’s description of Blanche’s real nature. In reality, Blanche
is a sham who feigns propriety and sexual modesty. Once Mitch learns the truth about Blanche,
he can no longer believe in Blanche’s tricks and lies.
(Spark Notes)
Throughout A Streetcar Named Desire, Blanche bathes herself. Her sexual experiences have
made her a hysterical woman, but these baths, as she says, calm her nerves. In light of her efforts
to forget and shed her illicit past in the new community of New Orleans, these baths represent
her efforts to cleanse herself of her odious history. Yet, just as she cannot erase the past, her
bathing is never done. Stanley also turns to water to undo a misdeed when he showers after
beating Stella. The shower serves to soothe his violent temper; afterward, he leaves the bathroom
feeling remorseful and calls out longingly for his wife.
Blanche DuBois
"Her appearance is incongruous to the setting. She is daintily dressed in a white suit with a fluffy
bodice, necklace and earrings of pearl, white gloves and hat, looking as if she were arriving at a
summer tea or cocktail party in the garden district."
"And turn that over-light off! Turn that off! I won’t be looked at in this merciless glare!"
"…You know I haven’t put on one ounce in ten years, Stella? I weigh what I weighed the
summer you left Belle Reve. The summer Dad died and you left us… "
Central Concerns
From the Land of the Sky-Blue Water
From the Land of Sky-blue Water,
They brought a captive maid,
And her eyes they are lit with lightnings,
Her heart is not afraid!
But I steal to her lodge at dawning,
I woo her with my flute;
She is sick for the Sky-blue Water,
The captive maid is mute.
Blanche sings in the bathroom in Scene 2
The lyrics of this eerie little folk song suggest a world of myth and legend which is certainly
commensurate with the fantasy world inhabited by Blanche DuBois.
voiced by an unknown male whose attitude towards the brave and virginal heroine is both
predatory and sinister
He describes her courage in the first stanza while acknowledging that a mysterious ‘they’ have
imprisoned her — much as Blanche is trapped by the restrictive social codes of Southern
society.
Ominously, the male speaker describes invading her ‘lodge’ just as Stanley will tear down the
fragile curtain which is all the protection Blanche has against him in the apartment, and a
Freudian reading of the speaker’s ambiguous remark ‘I woo her with my flute’ might well
suggest a sexual subtext
The fact that at the end of the song the ‘captive maid is mute’ may be seen to prefigure Stella’s
refusal to accept Blanche’s story about Stanley having raped her.
Illusion & reality
Death & Desire
Old America & New America (social class)
Marginality & Madness
Scene Breakdown
Scene 1
The arrival of the intruder...Blanche enters to disrupt the (apparent) harmony of Stella and
Stanley's life in New Orleans.
There is obvious tension between Blanche and her sister's husband, Stanley.
It is early May and a mood of dark comedy is established among the main characters.
Foreshadowing: Stanley throws his 'meat package' to Stella establishing his sexual dominance
in the play.
Scene 2
Tension grows as Stanley's makes clear he is suspicious of Blanche's story of what happened to
Belle Reve. Blanche hints to Stanley that the history of the DuBois family has been filled with
debauchery and death.
Scene 3
Stanley becomes more angry and aggressive displaying his physical strength and dominance.
Foreshadowing: Stanley's 'breakdown' at the Poker Game and the subsequent physical restraint
by his friends, prefigures the breakdown and restraint of Blanche before she is taken to the
asylum.
Scene 4
Scene 5
A swelteringly hot August evening
This is a scene of inexorably building tension. Stanley mentions the travelling salesman, Shaw to
Blanche who is visably terrified in case the act she has been putting on for Mitch's benefit begins
to unravel.
Blanche's behaviour with the young man clearly foreshadows the revelation of the real reason
she has left Laurel.
Scene 6
Blanche's willful self-dramatization is displayed by her scripting a scene with Mitch in which
they must pretend to be in a French cafe. Williams uses a Merging of aural and verbal symbolism
to disclose to the audience, Blanche's shocking past experience with Allan.
She chooses to withhold the information concerning her encounters with men, and as such she
foreshadows the end of her tentative relationship with Mitch, because what she decides must
remain hidden, Stanley will later shed light on.
Scene 7
Dramatic climax of scene: Blanche shouts at Stella, "You're lying! Something has!" The distant
piano goes into hectic breakdown.
Scene 8
Three quarters of an hour later.
Scene 10
Drunk and delusional, Blanche tries to call for help from the outside world, but it is presented as
a dangerous jungle. There is a tension between the immediate build up to Stanley's assault on
Blanche, which appears haphazard and unplanned, and its dramatic function - the inevitable
climax of their power struggle.
Stanley first rapes her emotionally and psychologically by demolishing her pathetic Shep
huntleigh fantasy. As she tries to get past him Stanley blocks her way; the terrified Blanche
smashes a bottle and heighten the tension when she threatens to slash him. At the scene's
dramatic close Stanley grabs Stella, carries her to the bed to rape her , declaring, "We've had this
date with each other from the beginning."
Scene 11
Dramatic climax of scene: Stella weeps in Stanley's arms and as her 'luxurious sobbing' and his
'sensual murmur' fade the 'blue piano' and the 'muted trumpet' are heard as Steve announces,
"This game is seven-card stud".
Symbolism
The Paper Lantern
Throughout the play the paper lantern represents Blanche's attempts at covering up the 'naked
truth' of her past. Blanche does not want to accept the truth of her past because she is ashamed of
what she has done. She uses the cover of darkness and the lantern to hide her aging beauty: "I
can’t stand a naked light bulb, any more than I can a rude remark or a vulgar action." Further,
when we consider her description of her young love with Allen, we can see that Blanche is not
only hiding herself from the world, but she is also hiding the world from herself. Since the
trauma of her husband's death, Blanche seems to have been inable to cope with reality and has
therefore used the lantern to cover up the harsh reality. Like the lantern, Blanche's illusion is
delicate and will not be able to remain covering the truth. Eventually, her facade is stripped away
.
Light
Throughout the play Blanche avoids being in direct light, both artificial and natural.
The first time that Blanche’s aversion to light becomes obvious is in scene one when she says to
Stella: “And turn that over-light off! Turn that off! I won’t be looked at in this merciless glare”.
In scene 5 she tells Stella that she must: "put on soft colours, the colours of butterfly wings, and
glow – make a little – temporary magic…"
"When I was sixteen, I made the discovery – love. All at once and much, much too completely. It
was like you suddenly turned a blinding light on something that had always been half in shadow,
that’s how it struck the world for me". There was a time in Blanche's life with light represented
love, but now it represents a destructive force that she must try to shield herself from.
represents reality
FlowersThe Moth
"There is something about her uncertain manner, as well as her white clothes, that suggests a
moth." (Scene 1, BLanche's arrival)
Dramatic climax of scene: Blanche sinks down, put her head in her hands and announces she is
going to be sick.
It's six o'clock the following day
Foreshadowing: Stanley rifles through Blanche's trunk without her consent, suggests he will
force himself upon her later in the play.
Dramatic climax of the scene: "The blind are - leading the blind!" Hot trumpet and Blue Piano
sound.
The Poker Night
Dramatic climax of the scene: Mitch comforts Blanche who declares, "I need kindness now."
Early the following morning
There is confusion in the street outside, reflecting Blanche's inability to understand the
Kowaliski's relationship.
Stella and Stanley show a united front as Blanche continues to create tension between the couple.
Stanley dominates the scene.
Dramatic climax of scene: Stella embraces Stanley as he grins at Blanche in triumph. The blue
piano, trumpet and drums are heard. (Dramatic Irony)
Dramatic Climax of scene: the young man leaves just in time, Blanche launches into her
Southern Belle act
2am the same evening...
Dramatic climax of scene: Blanche and Mitch embrace..."Sometimes...there's God...so quickly".
(An abrupt move in time) Late afternoon, mid September
The Autumn/fall of Blanche's life
The apparenly hopeful mood of this scene changes completely with the arrival of Stanley, thus
an intense dramatic contrast is established. Stanley reveals the cunning side of his character
when we learn that he has revealed all to Mitch.
The scene see Williams create a brilliant mismatch of black comedy with the disturbing picture
that unfolds on stage. Blanche's singing in the bathtub is juxtaposed with Stanley's remorseless
demolition of her fantasy future with Mitch creates a melodramatic, heightened tension.
Dramatic climax of scene: Stella goes into labour as the Varsouviana plays. Blanche sings 'El
pain de mais'. (Note how the music is used here to signify another defining crisis in Blanche's
life. It continues into the beginning of the next scene, 'rapid' and 'feverish'.
Dramatic climax of scene: After Mitch attempts to attack her, Blanche screams, "Fire! Fire!
Fire!" and falls to her knees. "The distant piano is slow and blue"
Behind the lantern...
In scene nine this aversion becomes even more obvious. When Mitch tears off the paper lantern
in order to take a closer look at her in the bright light, “she utters a frightened gasp” (Williams
203). Then she tells him:
"I don’t want realism…I’ll tell you what I want. Magic! Yes, yes, magic! I misrepresent things to
them. I don’t tell the truth. I tell what ought to be truth. And if that is sinful, then let me be
damned for it! – Don’t turn the light on".
This is Blanche’s first statement concerning her true intention and nature, and it is probably the
only time where she ever confesses that she builds up an illusory image of herself.
Stanley’s Affection for Light
Stanley has a different attitude concerning light and reality. He is very down to earth and realistic
and displays this with his brutal honesty. For Stanley, the bright light exposes everything for
what it is. He can only accept a literal truth, which can be experienced by his fanatic
investigation of Blanche’s past: “You showed me the snapshot of the place with the columns. I
pulled you down off them and how you loved it, having them coloured lights going” (Williams
199).
In this passage, Stanley tries to remind Stella of the fact that when they met she was just like
Blance, but that he made her face reality again. As already mentioned above, light is the opposite
of darkness and therefore the opposite of ignorance. Stanley considers himself to be knowing and
constantly tries to increase his knowledge, especially the one concerning Blanche’s past.
Blue Piano Music
The blue piano is first mentioned in the introductory stage directions of the first scene: “This
‘blue piano’ expresses the spirit of the life which goes on there” (Scene 1). Throughout the play,
the blue piano always appears when Blanche is talking about the loss of her family and Belle
Reve, but it is also present during her meeting and kissing the young newspaper man.
Therefore, the blue piano thus stands for depression, loneliness and her longing for love, which
the adjective blue already suggests. This quality is not identical with the colour symbolism of
blue. It describes Blanche’s emotions and represents her need for companionship and love, but
also her hope, as the scene with the paper-boy shows. Mitch tells her in scene nine that he will
not marry her due to her promiscuous past, “the distant piano is slow and blue". Later, in scene
ten, it grows louder when she is on the phone trying to get in touch with Shep Huntleigh. In this
situation, her hopes are rising, and so does the piano. In the last scene, Blanche is being taken
away to a mental institution, and Stanley and his friends play poker again: “The luxurious
sobbing, the sensual murmur fade away under the swelling music of the ‘blue piano’ and the
muted trumpet” (Scene 11). Here, the blue piano, accompanying the card game, symbolises
Stanley’s victory over Blanche.
Bathing
A few weeks later...
After the climactic rape scene, the final scene is a kind of coda - in many ways it is sombre and
downbeat.
All of the characters appear for only the second time, in a kind of grotesque inversion of the
poker night. The electrifying excitment of the drunken Stanley being wrestled into the shower by
his buddies, is horrifyingly re-enacted as the pitiful and terrified Blanche is wrestled to the floor
before being taken off to the asylum.
Following the last tense moments of the play, when Mitch begins to cry at Stanley, and the other
men mutter uncomfortably, Blanches leaves quietly.
Structure
Williams chose to structure 'A Streetcar Named Desire' into 11 scenes which trace the
development of the relationships between Blanche, Stanley and Stella over the space of a few
months. In the original stage production there were two intervals, the first after scene 4 (The
Poker Night) and the second after scene 6 (Blanche's date with Mitch). The play if therefore
divided into three sub sections and a coda:
Scenes 1-4, set in early May, establish a mood of dark comedy
Scenes 5 & 6, set on a swelteringly hot August evening, are melancholic, nostalgic and romantic
Scenes 7-10, set on the afternoon and evening of Blanche's birthday, 15th September, are
powerfully dramatic, climactic and tragic.
Lastly, Scene 11, set 'some weeks later', presumably in the early autumn works as a kind of
desolate tragic coda (afterthought/postscript)
Answers to questions on drama should address relevantly the central concern(s)/theme(s)
of the text and be supported by reference to appropriate dramatic techniques such as: conflict,
characterisation, key scene(s), dialogue, climax, exposition, dénouement, structure, plot,
setting, aspects of staging (such as lighting, music, stage set, stage directions . . .), soliloquy,
monologue . . .
During Scene 7 Stanley is driven crazy by Blanche's 'washing out of some things' and 'soaking in
a hot tub'in his bathroom. When she asks him to wait a little longer - "possess your soul with
patience" - he replies, "it's not my soul I'm worried about," implying that he needs the toilet.
Lurking underneath Stanley's crude humour is a sinister metaphorical wish to soil the place in
which Blanche seeks to purify herself.
The play's conflict is mounting towards the dramatic climax, as Stanley is determined to kick
Blanche out of the apartment. Tension grows between Stanley and Stella, who attacks his table
manners, his fury clearly demonstrates the social gulf between his own upbringing and that of the
sisters.
Williams, in Stanley's 'coloured lights' speech indicates that a jealous fear fuels his determination
to destroy Blanche.
Stella's potential rebellion against her husband is cut short when she goes into labour, a stroke of
luck for Stanley which leaves Blanche alone and unprotected in the apartment.
A While later that evening...
The light is turned onto Blanche as she admits the truth to Mitch. Williams uses again a blend of
black comedy, with the lyrical tragedy that unfold in this scene. Blanche's vivid dialogue
encompasses a scornful description of herself as a spider, eating its prey. The rejection from
Mitch signals the death of all her hopes for a secure future. With no-one left to lie to Blanche's
only audience is herself.
Scene 9
The sexual tension that has been building between Stanley and Blanche for months spirals out of
control.
Dramatic climax: "She sinks to her knees. He picks up her inert figure and carries her to the bed.
The hot trumpet and drums from the Four Deuces sound loudly."