A Streetcar Named Desire quotes and analysis

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A Streetcar Named Desire

Themes

Music and sound:

· Varsouviana Polka reminds Blanche of the evening her husband committed suicide – plays when Stanley gives her the ticket to Laurel and when she talks to Mitch about the incident and near the end of the play = reminding her of her past and foreshadows her breakdown

· Blue piano – played when Blanche talks about the loss of Belle Reve and when she kisses the young man and loudest when she is being taken away to the asylum = played when Blanche is dreaming or in her own fantasy.

· Paper moon – “Say it’s only a paper moon, sailing over a cardboard sea – But it wouldn’t be make-believe if you believed in me” = image of fragility = paper moon and cardboard sea show how close Blanche is to breaking = links to the ‘paper lantern’ = ripped off to reveal reality – links to her fantasy of going on a cruise with Shep Huntleigh = she make-believes.

· Locomotives = modern impressive and raw = like Stanley = heard when he overhears the sisters’ conversation = the sound of the train evokes fear in Blanche = e.g grows louder in the **** scene = symbol of her fear and her desire to escape.

Light:

· After Stella nudges Blanche to move out of the light ‘Blanche moves back into the streak of light. She raises her arm and stretches, as she moved indolently back to the chair’ = she uses her sex appeal to gain influence over men; even the way she moves back into the chair is languorous as if she is depressed due to the lack of attention she’s getting.

· “Candles aren’t safe, that they burn out in little boys and girls’ eyes, or wind blows them out and after that happens, electric light bulbs go on and you see too plainly” = reflects her life, how she needs ‘softer’ lights on rather than naked bulbs = her distaste for electric bulbs symbolise her avoidance of the truth = ‘wind blows them out’ = a cover isn’t reliable and the wind can symbolise an unexpected event that can show who she really is as you can never determine when the wind is going to blow = ‘aren’t safe’ = when taken away, the ugly truth is revealed = her struggle to cope with modernity and their expectations about age.

· “I bought this adorable little coloured paper lantern” “I can’t stand a naked light-bulb” = shading her true self with an elegant cover = wants to hide away from truth and reality – then Mitch ‘tears the paper lantern off the light-bulb” = she is revealed and causes her reaction of shock and instability = mirror her fate at the end of the play.

· To Mitch: “Let’s leave the lights off” = Blanche thinks of Mitch as a future husband so she doesn’t want him to know her past or

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Pria

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Amazing, so helpful, love it