A Streetcar Named Desire, is one of the better known and much staged plays of Tennessee Williams. The play was first produced in New York and Boston in 1947. A film version directed by Elia Kazan followed in 1951. Set in New Orleans, Louisiana, shortly after World War II, the play explores the plight of impoverished Southern gentry and the rapid changes of Southern society in the industrial age. Williams turned to his personal life for the subject matter for his plays, …and yet there is a certain universality about them, for his own life aptly depicted the shattering of the American Dream and its effect on the American people. A

How do the street cars embody the play’s interlinked themes of desire and death? “Take a streetcar named Desire and transfer to one called Cemeteries …and get off at - Elysian Fields!” p.5 A Streetcar Named Desire pretty much explores the dreams and desires of people for what? What do they desire? What does Blanche desire? She dreams of better life not unlike the immigrants who have come to Elysian fields. However, the difference is that the others are willing to work hard for it. Her past this becomes a liability to herself. A respectable life, she could be running away from a past that society perceives to be shameful, disrespectful, she desires more than sexual companionship, desires a job, there seems to be struggle for survival at the most fundamental level

The Desire and Dream for a Better Life What do the characters in both plays desire or dream for? What does Blanche/Stella/Stanley/Mitch desire? Blanche dreams of a better life not unlike the immigrants who have come to Elysian fields. She desires more than sexual companionship…she desires a respectable life - human dignity and reputation are also key concerns in Othello – Iago strips Othello of his dignity and his reputation…he hides behind the curtain of shame after he murders Desdemona, Blanche avoids a strong light like a moth p. 5 Blanche is haunted by the very thing she runs away Desire to make a life, jobless there is struggle to survive at the most fundamental level Her past is depicted as a liability to herself. She does not know how to survive? To what extent is Othello’s past presented as a liability to himself? However, the difference is that the others are willing to work hard for it.

Commodification / Industrialisation and the gradual removal of the individual from society gradual removal of the individual from rural community into urban isolation culture industry does not accurately reflect true human needs; instead, it creates false needs—to own certain goods in order to belong as a functioning member of society—as opposed to fulfilling “true” human needs such as liberty, creativity, and community. In other words, the culture industry creates a commodity that it sells to society as a “need” (often through the effects of advertising); society purchases the commodity, which minimizes identity and creates new, similar needs for newer, similar goods. Countless literary characters feel painfully alienated from the social institutions that surround them. Some, like Jake Barnes in Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises, feel alienated from their own communities. Others, like Caddy Compson in William Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury, feel alienated from their closer connections, including family members and loved ones. Still others, like Stephen Dedalus in James Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, feel alienated by the religious institutions in which they have been raised; sometimes this type of alienation extends so far that the character or characters feel alienated from God himself. Perhaps the most extreme form of alienation lies in characters such as Meursault in Albert Camus’s The Stranger, who feels alienated from everything with which he comes into contact: his family, his society, and the whole of modern life. focus of production deflected from the human being, making him a minor part of the process => displacement, alienation, despondency and finally despair

{Conflict between the Old and New} Subtle hints of urban industrial life: Commodification of Sex “ You’ll hear them tapping on the shutters” Commodification of food: Street Vendors: “Red Hot! Red Hot” Commodification of space: rooms/spaces rented out Symbolises also the Mexican immigrant in search of the American Dream, Mexican flower seller “Warm breathe of the brown river…” subtle hints of the decay from industrial life The lyricism is like a smoke screen that deflects our attention from the atmosphere of decay…

The Great American Dream The Epic of America, James Truslow Adams coined the phrase the American dream, which is “that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement… It is a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position” The Epic of America, James Truslow Adams coined the phrase the American dream, which is “that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement. It is .╯.╯. a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position” (415). Within the whole of the American psyche, there lies an eternal hope that the nation’s citizens will be afforded the opportunity for both monetary growth and social advancement. Of course, hard work and industriousness are embedded within this concept: In the traditional American mindset, any man or woman can achieve whatever he or she wants as long as there is the drive and will to obtain it.

The Great American Dream May strip man of his humanity and dignity in spite of the promise of the great American Dream. Suggests perhaps that the desire, the dream comes at a cost.

Is the lure of the American dream presented as a destructive force rather than life giving one by Tennessee?

{Stanley Kowalski} Age: 25 Origin: Polish Descent Marital Status: Married Occupation: Factory Worker Hobbies: Bowling, Poker, Drinking Picture

Stanley Kowalski Embodies the Paradox of the new urban life Stanley Kowalski is a symbol of the new urban life: he is also portrayed as having a raffish charm; his crude ways are engaging and even attractive (compare with Iago and his banter with Desdemona with all the sexual connotations) But his actions are brutal and devoid of humanity as he violates Blanche sexually – “emblem of a gaudy seed bearer” p.14 His detachment and his lack of sympathy is evident as he strips the paper lantern to expose Blanche: stripping her of all her dignity in a final blow as she gets booted out of the Kowalski household. p.87

{Ambiguity} Yet, Stanley has a force of character which has been interpreted as excitingly life-giving on the one-hand, and brutally destructive on the other The child of immigrants, he is the new, untamed pioneer, who brings to the South, Williams seems to be saying, a power more exuberant than destructive, a sort of Power that the South may have lost. (J.H. Adler, in Tennessee Williams, A tribute, p.41)

{Life giving yet life denying} More laughter and shouts of parting come from the men. Stanley throws the screen door of the kitchen open and comes in. He is of medium height, about five feet eight or nine, and strongly, compactly built. Animal joy in his being is implicit in all his movements and attitudes. Since earliest manhood the centre of his life has been pleasure with women, the giving and taking of it, not with weak indulgence, dependently, but with the power and pride of a richly feathered male bird among hens. Branching out from this complete and satisfying centre are all the auxiliary channels of his life, such as his heartiness with men, his appreciation of rough humour, his love of good drink and food and games, his car, his radio, everything that is his, that bears his emblem of the gaudy seed-bearer. He saw women up at a glance, with sexual classifications, crude images flashing into his mind and determining the way he smiles at them. Note stage directions + exclamation, register Language – 2 levels, Stanley is introduced and then followed by Stella…

How is Alienation presented? What is the nature of alienation in the 2 texts? Is the alienation real or perceived, psychological or due to societal forces? How are characters alienated? To what extent do individuals have control over their lives? How is Alienation presented?

alienation from own communities? alienation from closer connections, including family and loved ones? alienation by religious institutions? alienation from God himself? Countless literary characters feel painfully alienated from the social institutions that surround them. Some, like Jake Barnes in Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises, feel alienated from their own communities. Others, like Caddy Compson in William Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury, feel alienated from their closer connections, including family members and loved ones. Still others, like Stephen Dedalus in James Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, feel alienated by the religious institutions in which they have been raised; sometimes this type of alienation extends so far that the character or characters feel alienated from God himself. Perhaps the most extreme form of alienation lies in characters such as Meursault in Albert Camus’s The Stranger, who feels alienated from everything with which he comes into contact: his family, his society, and the whole of modern life. most extreme form of alienation lies in those who feel alienated from everything: family, society, and the whole of modern life?

{Blanche DuBois} Age: 30 Hometown: Laurel, Mississippi Marital Status: Widow (married at 16) Occupation: English School Teacher Traits: Averse to light Past: Tragic Picture

{Blanche DuBois} Blanche – White DuBois – French origin, p. 30 Dubois “means woods and Blanche means white, so the two together means white woods. Like an orchard in spring!” Blanche’s name is symbolic. It symbolises the struggle faced by the Bourgeoisie as they lose their land and their entitlement… At first she seems to be innocent and pure, but later her past and her true nature can be discovered.

{Displacement} Blanche’s physical displacement from Laurel to New Orleans makes her an outsider in Stanley’s and Stella’s world Blanche: symbol of the plantation era which must inevitably bow to industrialization and newly confident “ethnic” adversaries – embodied in the Polish Kowalski Additionally, Williams exposes a patriarchal society in which women ceased to be valued once they lost their physical attractiveness or failed to conform to social and generally sexist mores A character who is stubbornly holding on the the values of the past and is unable to assimilate into her new environment A society that embraces values that she is far from familiar with

{Displacement/Alienation/Desire and Death} LAUREL Belle Reve NEW ORLEANS French Quarter Laurel is a real town in southeastern Mississippi Had a genteel, aristocratic Old South culture that was fast disappearing in the face of industrialisation Industrialised and urban A shabby part of the neighbourhood situated near railway tracks – evidence of rapid industrialisation and expansion of cities A conglomeration of cultures and migrants

NEW ORLEANS French Quarter {Contrast in Setting} LAUREL Belle Reve NEW ORLEANS French Quarter

{Blanche DuBois} Scene 1: development of Blanche’s character Blanche: Aware of social distinctions [note interaction with Eunice and neighbour’s acts] Vanity, need of flattery Pathos: fear of ageing, vulnerability Picture

{Blanche DuBois} Awareness of social distinctions: Monosyllybalic responses to Eunice and the Negro woman Blanche [wanting to get rid of her] Awareness of Stella’s apparent social regression: Eunice [defensively, noticing Blanche’s look]: It’s sort of messed up right now but when it’s clean it’s real sweet. Blanche: Is it? Picture

{Blanche DuBois} Awareness of social distinctions: Monosyllybalic responses to Eunice and the Negro woman Blanche [wanting to get rid of her] Awareness of Stella’s apparent social regression: Eunice [defensively, noticing Blanche’s look]: It’s sort of messed up right now but when it’s clean it’s real sweet. Blanche: Is it? Picture

{Stanley + Blanche} Scene 1: Two individuals from different societies and cultures who are set in sharp contrast Blanche: a refined woman from an southern aristocratic background, Stanley: a down-to-earth working man with crude manners, animal-like qualities Inability to empathise with each other set from the start They are from completely different worlds

{Stanley + Blanche} Scene 1: Blanche: represents the dying aristocratic culture, an upper class that threatens Stanley’s role as patriarchal head Stanley: embodies a crude, lower class which threatens her class superiority Essentially, in conflict with each other on almost every level Yet, there is a certain baser, animal attraction between each other Predator/Prey model would work, but is also complex They are from completely different worlds

{Scene 1} Scene introduces two of the prominent themes of the play, sex and death. Stella and Stanley – basis of love is sexual passion. Stanley - “male chauvinist” ? BUT they are happy in their own way, bound together by physical love. Blanche’s longest speech in this scene – death; note of morbidity continues throughout the play; excessive use of imagery of death in her speech Scene introduces two of the prominent themes of the play, sex and death. The basis of the love between Stella and Stanley is sexual passion. Although Stanley is what today might be called a “male chauvinist,” they are happy in their own way, bound together by physical love. On the other hand, Blanche’s longest speech in this scene is all about death. She gives Stella a long catalog of the deaths at the Belle Reve plantation, emphasizing the heartrending nature of death and the details of people’s last moments. The note of morbidity continues throughout the play.

{Scene 1} Important symbolic and visual elements in the opening scenes Stanley – undressing: signifying his elemental, animal-like strength and virility Blanche - bathing: a symbol of her attempts to wash away her past and project image of being beautiful and refined [in scene 2] Appearance/Reality; Illusion/Truth NOTE: However, she is associated with the sound of cats, undermining her attempts to present herself in this way There are also some important symbolic and visual elements in the opening scene. Stanley removes his shirt (which he will do often), signifying his elemental, animal-like strength and virility, whereas Blanche spends a lot of time bathing and freshening up, a symbol of her attempts to wash away her past and live up to her image of being beautiful and refined. However, she is twice in this scene associated with the raucous sound of cats, which tends to undermine her attempts to present herself in this way.

{Stanley+ Blanche} Aristocratic Old South White, Light, Purity Airy Feminine New Industrial Age Dark (but realistic) Masculine Solid Picture