(Streetcar/Malfi) Status
- Created by: NHow02
- Created on: 24-02-19 15:35
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- Status
- Malfi
- 'Diamonds are of most value they say, that have passed through most jeweller's hands'
- Defined by materialism and wealth. (Webster fails to give her a name - a prize to be won)
- Highborn 'Renaissance marriages' were practical matters and used for alliances
- High Society dances 'silently behind crystal panels' suggesting 'a sort of transparent mirror'
- Webster uses this play to reflect the secrecy & corruption of the English court
- Of which the Duchess and her status is unavoidably a part of
- Webster's zealous & thematic use of jewel symbolism
- Webster uses this play to reflect the secrecy & corruption of the English court
- Hard jewels, representing durability & stability (also reflect light)
- The distinction between good & evil were important parts of Elizabethan society
- Elizabethan belief that fate was written in the stars/ predetermined by God
- 'Jeweller's hands' - moulded into a 'feminine ideal' OR her virtue is improved with sexual experience
- 'All the diamonds were changed to pearls'
- Duchess' status was a mask against life's harsh realities (only thing that protected her and she cast it aside)
- The Bible states that Adam & Eve wept a lake of pearls after being cast out of paradise
- Elizabeth I was often painted wearing pearls to present her as a 'virgin queen'
- Leggatt: 'variety and vitality of her nature as a whole.'
- However, still a well sought after jewel. Duchess retains her authority
- Leggatt: 'variety and vitality of her nature as a whole.'
- Defined by materialism and wealth. (Webster fails to give her a name - a prize to be won)
- 'Diamonds are of most value they say, that have passed through most jeweller's hands'
- Streetcar
- South
- 'Rhinestone tiara'
- Juxtaposition of cheapness with a royal symbol creates an affected effect
- Ironic image - wants to be seen as a 'queen' of high society
- Patriarchal/ social opinions would view her as of the lowest class, no better than a prostitute
- 'sunken treasures'
- Superiority stems from Southern upbringing at 'Belle Reve'
- After the Civil War, Southern wealth melted away as slave labour was abolished by Lincoln in 1863
- Stanley sees her as a 'pirate' as her existence violates his social views
- After the Civil War, Southern wealth melted away as slave labour was abolished by Lincoln in 1863
- Superiority stems from Southern upbringing at 'Belle Reve'
- 'Rhinestone tiara'
- Men
- 'primary colours'/'raw colours of childhood's spectrum'
- 'childhood' could suggest that for men, the world is a playground, and women are the victims
- Women have the most to lose, and are playing a rigged game
- The American Dream expressed equality of opportunity for any American
- 'raw' emphasis the idea of 'survival of the fittest'
- Eric Bentley: describes the play as a 'clash of species'
- The original title of the play was 'The Poker Night'
- Sense of competition between genders was introduced after WW2
- Women were deprived of their liberty/ autonomy in work after the men returned from war
- 'primary colours'/'raw colours of childhood's spectrum'
- South
- Malfi
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