A Streetcar Named Desire

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 6

A Streetcar Named Desire

Today

- What did you think?

- Assignment

- Check together

What did you think?

First 30 minutes

In groups of four make a start on the assignment

We will disucss this in the second half of class

Background

- play

- first performed in 1947

- Written by Tennessee Williams (Thomas Williams)

- Societal isseus

- Troublesome life reflected in his plays

- Plays are therefore still relevant today

Societal Issues

Genre: Morality Play

- What's the moral of the story?

- What are the consequences?

Nowadays: A Streetcar Named Desire is a serious drama

Genre: Melodrama

- Lot's of music

- Subtle hints

The Title

It references the name of the streetcar Blanche mentions taking before the play begins. However, the title also works on a metaphorical level. Blanche's desires are what have brought her not just to New Orleans, but to her current lowly state in general. Later in the play, it is revealed that Blanche seduced a student at the high school where she taught English, causing her to lose her job and reputation.

Blanche - scene 1

"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."

Themes

Desire and Fate

Both Blanche and Stella are driven by desire that ultimately bring them to their fate? How? Quote?

Death

The streetcar to Desire was linked to another one going to cemeteries

To Williams desire and death is a logical sequence. In the play Blanche remembers vividely the ghastly deaths that she had to witness at Belle Reve. Her elderly relations died one by one with no one to nurse them but herself. She talks about death a lot. Her young husband committed suicide. 

Madness

Blanche’s fear of madness is hinted at in Scene 1: I cant be alone! Because: as you must have noticed- I’m – not very well..

All brutal acts break Blanche’s mind (rape in the end). But before that she was traumatised by the death of her late husband. She drank more and created a fantasy world.

Realism vs Magic

- What is real and what is magic?

Magic

Blanche's words about trying to give people magic, the truth they want, are the only instance in the play of her speaking plainly, truthfully about herself and its ironical that the man to whom she is speaking is quite incapable of understanding her. 

Sign of mental illness? 

QUIZZ

How does Mitch verify the stories Stanley tells him about Blanche?

1. He speaks with Stella
2. He speaks with the principal of Blanche's school
3. He speaks awith a supply man named Shaw and a merchant
4. He doesn't verify the stories.

What subject did Blanche teach?

1. English
2. Music
3. Social Studies
4. Math

What kind of music was playing when Blanche's young husband committed suicide?

1. An Irish Jig
2. A waltz
3. A polka
4. A fugue

Where is the story set?

1. Chicago
2. New Orleans
3. New York
4. San Fransisco

Why is Blanche grateful to the doctor in the final scene?

1. He found her missing keys
2. He agrees with her claim that Stanley is a scoundrel
3. He delivers Stella's baby
4. He's a kind stranger

What does Blanche get for her birthday?

1. A Tiara
2. A bowling jacket
3. A bus ticket