Streetcar important contexts

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  • Context- Williams and external context ( historical)
    • clash between Stanley and blanche- due to declining aristocracy of the south which never fully recovered after defeat in civil war ( 1861-5)
      • men like Stanley came back after the world war 2- a greater sense of entitlement to share the countries wealth
        • Williams mother was a southern belle- blanche is a victim of the southern belle mythology
          • his sister Rose was mentally ill and given a lobotomy
            • Williams guilt about his sister's fate= stella's guilt about blanche in the end
              • Williams obsession with death and suicide- also intrigued by the social outsider
                • Willliams greatly influenced by IBSEN AND MILLAR - plastic theatre and expressionism
                  • Belle reve= beautiful dream
                    • Williams makes use of the unseen eavesdropper- e.g Mitch and stanley
                      • concealing a poor hand in poker= concealing truths and identities in streetcar
                        • Elysian fields= greek mythology paradise
                          • an earlier version of the play before fully produced was titles, "the moth"
                            • our attention is drawn to the music because of stage directions
                              • Elysian fields= greek mythology paradise
                                • an earlier version of the play before fully produced was titles, "the moth"
                                  • our attention is drawn to the music because of stage directions
                                  • Blanche in her red robe= the scarlett women- seductive/impure
                                    • Williams did actually see a streetcar with the name desire
                                  • Gilbert and Gubar- "Blanche is the complete opposite to a Kowalski"
                                    • "a victim of the mythology of the southern belle"- Samuel Tapp
                                      • Judith Thompson, "he has to assert control over others"
                                        • "stella adopts her own illusion"- J.M.McGlinn
                                          • Elia Kazan, "stella is a refined girl"- matches upper class of sister but has adpated
                            • Blanche in her red robe= the scarlett women- seductive/impure
                              • Williams did actually see a streetcar with the name desire
                            • Gilbert and Gubar- "Blanche is the complete opposite to a Kowalski"
                              • "a victim of the mythology of the southern belle"- Samuel Tapp
                                • Judith Thompson, "he has to assert control over others"
                                  • "stella adopts her own illusion"- J.M.McGlinn
                                    • Elia Kazan, "stella is a refined girl"- matches upper class of sister but has adpated
                        • "Rosenkavalier"- the knight of the rose"- blanche's culture and liking for fantasy
                        • homosexuality being illegal until the 1960s stella says, "degenerate"
                          • Huey Lung- stanleys reference to him- he was a corrupt American politician but reduced unemployment dramatically
                            • Stanley refers to his "luck in salerno"- nearly died in second world war- he clearly has great strength
                          • Williams- liked poetry
                            • physically and mentally effected by illness
                              • educational journey was not smooth- 3 unis
                                • glass menagerie in 1944- more autobiographical than streetcar
                              • lost reputation as playwright after 1960s
                                • he uses realistic characters drawn from real life
                                  • lyrical- there is one central idea developed throughout the entire play- plot not the focus
                                    • his language is able to combine realism with poetic diction
                                      • Williams assumed he was going to die- false diagnosed himself with cancer at some point
                                        • referred to as the, "wounded genius"
                                        • I WRITE OUT OF LOVE FOR THE SOUTH
                                          • much of the literature of the south thrived off the nostalgia of the past
                                            • great depression- economic tension- stella completely relies on stanley
                                              • Williams never found love
                                                • "I am not about to limit myself by writing about gay people"
                                            • streetcar, "a play of sexual politics"
                                              • uncle was a clergyman
                                                • Elia Kazan removed the homosexual element in the film- why?
                                                • Williams play, "focuses on anyone who has been treated unjustly"
                                                  • ethnic diversity- the Mexican women, "flores par los meurtos"
                                                    • Margaret Mitchell's 1936- Gone with the wind
                                                    • play first performed in 1947- two years after WW2
                                                      • Williams created a  "layered tragedy"
                                                        • this play conforms to aristotles unity of place - only about the physchological issues of chracters
                                                          • goes against unity of time- e.g we do not see blanche tell stella about ****
                                                            • blanche is not the typical tragic heroine- she represents the downfall of the actions of other people
                                      • Williams a sensitive being
                                        • melodrama- was a play with music but now we associate streetcar with one because it contains violence and wicked plot twists
                                        • Hart crane- epigraph of for the whole play- "The broken tower"
                                          • Williams portrayal of Stanley= 1940s males
                                            • in traditional tragedy, the protagonists fate is brought about by harmartia- the streetcar symbolises that actions lead to their own fate
                                              • Pathos
                                                • echo of time- Louisiana used to be French territory
                                                  • Blanche's speech, "rhetoric of the south"
                                                    • Mexican woman- reminds us of multi-cultural new Orleans, a microcosm of new america
                                                      • marriage as a diplomatic tool
                                                        • stella chooses marital security over blanche
                                                          • motifs for death get stronger throughout the play
                                                            • Williams claimed his work was , "psychotherapy"
                                                              • Harold clurman, "blanche is delicate and sensitive"
                                                                • conflict between Stanley and blanche is one between effeminate culture and masculine libido

    Comments

    Alisha_Ba

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    A lot of good stuff here and it was helpful. There was a lot here which made it slightly difficult to understand at times. :)

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