A Streetcar Named Desire -GENRE-

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As a a play, 'A Streetcar Named Desire' could be said to obvserve several dramatic forms (genres).

THE UNITIES

In classical drama, there were three-so called unities, established by Aristotle, that made a play 'good'. 

  • That of time required the play to take place within 24 hours. 
  • The unity of place required a single setting throughout the play.
  • And the unity of action demanded that all action should be linear: centred around the main characters and not lead off into any subplots. 
  • From the 15th century onwards, these unities were critqued, observed and broken by playwrights. And although they did not have to be strictly adhered to, these rules still provide a framework within which a playwright can build a play.
  • Williams was apart of a movement that experimented with and pushed the boundaries of the unities. He continued to explore these trends while he worked for his University newspaper.
  • While the play corresponds to the unity of place and action (i.e. majjority of the play takes place within the Kowalski's apartment and the events of the play are centred around Blanche), Williams does not observe the unity of time, since the play takes place over a span of 5 months.

TRAGEDY

A tragedy traditionally focuses on a tragic hero or heroine. (Blanche)

  • The character is an essentially noble person (or an odinary person in a Modern Tragedy) whose downfall (hamartia) leads to their death
  • The significance of other characters lies in the way their behaviour will affect our heroine. Blanche's…

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