1. A Street Car Named Desire Tennessee Williams A Study of Blanche DuBois

2. Background Info on the Author Born Thomas Lanier Williams in 1911 in Mississippi A near fatal childhood illness, coupled with a protective mother, kept him from the company of other children. His weak physical condition, combined with the influence of his delicate mother, earned him the ridicule of both other children and his highly masculine father, who nicknamed Williams, “Miss Nancy”.

3. Sister Rose Rose: elder Sister, emotionally disturbed and spent most of her life in mental institutions Closely attached to his sister, felt lonely after she was hospitalized, turned to writing for expression, began to publish at an early age.

4. A Master in the Making Williams turned to writing as an escape from the cruel world around him. In 1938 after receiving a degree from the University of Iowa, Williams moved to New Orleans, where he had his first homosexual experience. (His first and last affair with a woman had been at Iowa). This was the beginning of a life of sexual promiscuity, which also defines many of his characters (including Blanche).

5. Williams changed his name to Tennessee. By 1940, Williams’s sexual and social identity had been established. Williams—highly successful at this point in his life—floods his work with sex, violence, and personal destruction. His greatest characters are outcasts— usually because their sexual desires put them at odds with conventional society.

6. His major works The Glass Menagerie 1944 《玻璃动物园》 A Streetcar Named Desire 1947 《欲望号街车》 Cat on a Hot Tin Roof 1955 《热铁皮屋顶上的猫》

7. Awards Two Pulitzer Prizes (A Streetcar Named Desire, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof) The first playwright to receive in the same year (1947): The Pulitzer Prize for Drama, The Donaldson Award, The New York Drama Critics Circle Award

8. Williams became increasingly dependent on prescription drugs and alcohol, especially after the death of his long time partner, Frank Merlo. Williams died in 1963 in a NYC hotel room after choking on the top of a plastic pill bottle.

9. A Streetcar Named Desire

10. What is Streetcar Named Desire? A Streetcar Named Desire is a stage play with elements of tragedy and pathos. It was published and performed in 1947

11. WHAT IS DESIRE?

12. Definitions of desire: –the feeling that accompanies an unsatisfied state –feel or have a desire for; want strongly; "I want to go home now"; "I want my own room" –hope: expect and wish; "I trust you will behave better from now on"; "I hope she understands that she cannot expect a raise" –an inclination to want things; "a man of many desires" –something that is desired –express a desire for

13. “Desire” is a central word in Williams’s work, but not necessarily meaning lust; it is the struggle to attain, through sex, some psychological and spiritual state that is always unattainable. Blanche will say, “Death […] the opposite is desire.”

14. Major Characters in Streetcar BLANCH E STELL A STANLEY MITC H ALLA N SHEP HUNTLEIG H

15. Characters Blanche DuBois: Neurotic central character who lives in a fantasy world of Old South chivalry but cannot control her carnal desires. Stella Kowalski: Blanche’s down-to-earth sister who seems satisfied with her life as the wife of a factory worker

16. Stanley Kowalski: Stella’s churlish husband and the bane of Blanche’s existence Mitch, Steve, Pablo: Stanley’s poker partners. Mitch, Stanley’s best friend, woos Blanche until he finds out about her seamy past Eunice: Stanley and Blanche’s upstairs neighbor

17. Important Characters in Streetcar Blanche DuBois Stella- Blanche’s younger sister Stanley- Stella husband, a Polish immigrant Mitch- friend of Stanley’s and love interest of Blanche

18. Blanche comes to visit Play begins with Blanche coming to visit Stella (though the audience is unsure why). Although Blanche feels Stella has married “beneath” her (they were raised in a wealthy family) and constantly criticizes Stanley, Blanche longs for the love and intimacy that define Stella and Stanley’s relationship.

19. Taking the “Streetcars” Blanche’s first words of the play are symbolic of her journey in life: “They told me to take a streetcar named Desire, and then transfer to one called Cemeteries and ride six block and then get of at—Elysian Fields.”

20. The first part, “take a streetcar named Desire, and then transfer to one called Cemeteries” refers to the events in her life prior to the play. The second part, “Ride six blocks and then get off at—Elysian Fields” deals with the play itself.

21. A Life of Desire The audience learns that prior to the play, Blanche was married to Allan Grey. “When I was 16, I made the discovery—love…It was like you suddenly turned a blinding light on something that had always been half in the shadow.” This loving desire is the same that Stella and Stanley have for each other. However, her discovery of her young husband’s homosexuality [“ I saw! I know! You disgust me…”] causes his suicide, turning Blanche’s loving desire into hate and self-loathing.

22. Transferring to “Cemeteries” This disgust and self-hate result in her destructive lust for young men. The audience learns that she been fired from her former teaching position because of relations with a 17 year-old student. This lust ultimately leads to her downfall; Blanche has transferred to the streetcar named “Cemeteries”.

23. At this point in Blanche’s life, the play begins. Death (symbolized by the streetcar “Cemeteries”) can bring either heaven or hell. Blanche can either “ride six blocks and then get off at—Elysian Fields”, or she can continue, broken spirited, to her final “death”—a life without desire.

24. Blanche’s Possible Salvation (Elysian Fields) Blanche confesses to Mitch, with complete honesty, the story of how she destroyed her young husband. (Her honesty is significant because prior to this point, her relationship with Mitch is based solely on lies.) In response to Blanche’s outpouring of emotion, Mitch says, “You need somebody. And I need somebody, too. Could it be—you and me, Blanche?” Through her sobs, Blanche replies, “Sometimes— there’s God—so quickly!”

25. This concluded the sixth scene (the sixth block on Blanche’s ride to death), and Blanche is on the threshold of finding “Elysian Fields”, “God”, and her salvation. However, Mitch soon learns of Blanche’s promiscuity after Allan’s death (about which she has lied to him), and he confronts her. She finally admits: “Yes, I had many intimacies with strangers. After the death of Allan—intimacies with strangers was all I seemed able to fill my empty heart with…”

26. Flowers for the Dead Outside the house a Mexican woman is heard faintly, “Flores. Flores. Flores par los muertos…” Blanche hears the woman, goes to the door, opens it, and stares at the woman. When the woman asks Blanche “Flores para los muertos?” Blanche seems to understand the signficance; she slams the door, screaming, “No, no! Not now! Not now!”

27. The Opposite of Desire It is now that Blanche states, “Death […] the opposite is desire.” Blanche has missed her opportunity for love and intimacy with Mitch—all that is left for her is death. Blanche’s final, tragic collapse comes in the second to last scene when Stanley rapes Blanche. Her spirit breaks, and she “sinks to her knees. He picks up her inert figure and carries her to the bed.” She accepts her fate. Blanche becomes semi-delusional; she starts to believe that an old flame is coming to get her. The play ends as Blanche is lead away by a Doctor (sent for by Stella and Stanley) who takes her to a mental institution (implied).

28. Works Cited Berkman, Leonard. “The Tragic Downfall of Blanche DuBois.” Modern Drama Volume 10 1967: 249-257. Literature Resource Center. Gale Group Databases. George Walton Academy Libraries, Monroe, GA. 9 December 2004.. Mood, John J. “The Structure of A Streetcar Named Desire.” Ball State University Forum Volume 14 1973: 9- 10. Literature Resource Center. Gale Group Databases. George Walton Academy Libraries, Monroe, GA. 9 December 2004..

29. Scene One Blanche’s arrival at Elysian Fields and her encounter with Stanley. Four parts: –Meat scene: P 223-224 –Blanche with Eunice: P 224-226 –Blanche with Stella: P 226-231 –Blanche with Stanley: P 231-233

30. The Meat Symbol –animal instincts in Stanley –the harmonious sexual relation between Stanley and Stella.

31. Blanche’s appearance What is the reaction of Blanche at the first sight of Stella’s home? –Shocked disbelief What are the effects/impressions of her appearance? –Incongruous to the setting –Daintily dressed –Delicate beauty –Moth (fragile, doomed)

32. Blanche DuBois: The White Woods From the South, French ancestry, the gentry society, a lady. “a cultivated woman, a woman of intelligence and breeding” Can “enrich a man’s life immeasurably” ideal beau: Shep Huntleigh - rich and aristocratic, polite to women.

33. Blanche vs. Eunice Eunice: represents the local people –kind, warm-hearted, inquisitive, getting close with strangers quickly, not educated Blanche: out of place, incongruous, incompatible –Polite, educated, aristocratic, good manners, alert, keep the distance

34. Blanche & Stella Blanche is hysterical, talkative, active Stella is submissive, passive, silent The loss of Belle Reve (beautiful dream) –Their family background: From the South, genteel and rich, but the prosperity of aristocratic ancestry is collapsing, down-falling

35. Stanley Kowalski: the Polack Strong, compactly built Animal joy Pleasure with women Power, pride of a richly feathered bird among hens The gaudy seed-bearer

36. Scene Seven Lie Number One (Page 234-35) –The hotel of Flamingo –Not interfering in the private social life of the personalities there –Requested to turn in her room key – for permanently –Blanche’s reputation: ruined, notorious

37. Lie Number Two (Page 235) Practically told by the mayor to get out of town Kicked out of school Gotten mixed up with a 17-year-old boy Blanche’s sexuality is “perverse”, unacceptable to the society, doomed to be “kicked out”.

38. Finale: kindness of strangers

39. Streetcar Named “Desire” They told me to take a street-car named Desire, and then transfer to one called Cemeteries and ride six blocks and get off at — Elysian Fields! –DESIRE: pursuit of her sexual desires –CEMETRIES: loss of Belle Reve, expelled from Laurel –ELYSIAN FIELDS: raped and driven to madness

40. Rhetorical Techniques Prevailing Symbolism: Names, Meat, Moth, Lyrics… Comparison and Contrast Stage setting, light and music effects (Psychological Realism)

41. Text-based Questions What does the title of the play stand for? What is Stanley and Stella’s neighborhood like? What is Belle Reve? What does Stanley know about Blanche’s past?

42. General Questions If a friend of yours is happily dating someone and you find out something bad about that person, should you tell your friend? What is expected of a woman in today’s society? Consider career, marriage, family. Now consider what is expected of a man?

43. Further reading The Glass Menagerie, 1944 The Cambridge Companion to Tennessee Williams Modern American Drama 1945-2000

44. Homework With regard to the play, write a 400-word essay on one of the following topics: The reasons for Blanche’s tragedy Symbolism in A Streetcar Named Desire Civilization and Human Nature, which to choose?

45. Thank You