Streetcar Named Desire Essay Exam Questions

Performances: Claire Bloom’s performance of 1974 stressed the bitterness in
Blanche, as well as her vulnerability. In the 2002 revival, the choice of Glenn Close
as Blanche made a strong statement. Close, the vengeful ‘bunny boiler’ of the
film Fatal Attraction (1987) is hardly Tennessee Williams’s fluttering ‘moth’, though
she won praise for her performance from some reviewers.
A feature of Gillian Anderson’s 2014 performance was how well she captured
Blanche’s fragility from the outset, a habitual nervous laugh hinting at her
awkwardness and vulnerability. Anderson makes Blanche’s mental disintegration
something that occurs gradually from Scene One, even if it speeds up after her
rejection by Mitch, perhaps reflecting the more sensitive attitudes to mental illness
today.
In both F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby (1925) and John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and
Men (1936) the tragic central characters’ dreams are ended with a violent gunshot- present
dreams as transient and illusory, but rare and valuable nonetheless.



 2019: 3 Explore the extent to which Williams presents A Streetcar Named Desire as
tragedy. You must relate your discussion to relevant contextual factors. (Total for
Question 23 = 25 marks) OR
 2019: 24 Explore the ways in which Williams presents masculinity in A Streetcar
Named Desire. You must relate your discussion to relevant contextual factors. (Total
for Question 24 = 25 marks)
 24 Explore the ways in which Williams makes use of confrontation in A Streetcar
Named Desire. You must relate your discussion to relevant contextual factors. (Total
for Question 24 = 25 marks)
 23 Explore how Williams allows us to see different points of view in A Streetcar
Named Desire. You must relate your discussion to relevant contextual factors. (Total
for Question 23 = 25 marks) OR
 24 Explore the ways Williams portrays the rise of a new social order in A Streetcar
Named Desire. You must relate your discussion to relevant contextual factors. (Total
for Question 24 = 25 marks)
 Explore Williams’ dramatic presentation of vulnerability in A Streetcar Named Desire.
In your answer you must consider relevant contextual factors. (Total for Question 9 =
48 marks) OR
 Explore Williams’ dramatic presentation of death in A Streetcar Named Desire. In
your answer you must consider relevant contextual factors.
 Explore William’s presentation of self and identity in A Streetcar Named Desire. In your
answer, you must consider relevant contextual factors.
 Explore William’s presentation of time and place in A Streetcar Named Desire. In your
answer, you must consider relevant contextual factors.
 Explore William’s presentation of power in A Streetcar Named Desire. In your answer,
you must consider relevant contextual factors.
 Examine the view that the conflict between Stanley and Blanche is primarily based on
their difference in social class.
 Explore Williams’ presentation of secrets and their revelation in A Streetcar named
Desire.
 To what extent can Blanche DuBois be considered a victim in A Streetcar named Desire?
 Discuss the importance of the past in A Streetcar named Desire.