Desire and fate
The streetcar
❖ New Orleans streetcar carrying the words “desire” and “cemeteries”. Blanche's
journey first to desire and then cemeteries, sums up her life, driving by sexual
desire and eventually a living death of the asylum
❖ Symbol of the inescapability of fate
❖ S4 “rattle-trap streetcar” “haven't you ever ridden on that streetcar?” “it brought
me here”. Talking in metaphors
❖ Epigraph the sum up the misery of promiscuity
Promiscuity vs Security
❖ Blanche longs for Mitch to marry her not for a permanent sexual relationship but
the security of her own home. “The poor man's paradise - is a little peace”
❖ To be driven by desire is self destructive yet the victims are carried along
helplessly, unable to escape
❖ “men don’t even admit your existence unless they are making love to you.”
Williams exposes the reality of female entrapment; it is only when men see a
woman through a sexual lens that they are willing to acknowledge her existence.
❖ This is paradoxical; according to the double sexual standards of 1940s America,
a woman's sexual licentiousness would also make her morally bankrupt. Thus,
Blanche’s statement illustrates the trap women are in; their existence is only
acknowledged when they are sexually attractive or available, yet sexual
availability also brings loss of respect.
❖ Blanche’s sexuality would have been interpreted as abnormal or pathological to a
contemporary audience, since only men’s sexual drives were considered healthy.
❖ Blanche exposes her sexual side by appearing in a “dark red satin robe”.
❖ However, while she reclaims her sexuality, she is condemned for it, while
Stanley’s unapologetic sexual prowess is encouraged through being a “male bird
amongst hens” with no repercussions.
❖ Williams’ exploration of sexual pressure as intimately tied to the deterioration of
the female protagonist, reveals the immense power of a society that shapes,
shelters, and shames female sexuality.
Key quotes
❖ Blanche tells the young collector “You make my mouth water” - sexual innuendo
❖ Things that happen “between a man and a woman in the dark … make
everything else seem unimportant”
❖ Stanley scene 10“Maybe you wouldn't be bad to interfere with
Death
Belle Reve
❖ Blanche had to nurse elderly relations as they died one by one
, ❖ Body “burned like rubbish”
❖ “Grim reaper put a tent up in our doorstep”
❖ “Blood stained pillowslips”
Allan Grey
❖ The ostracization of anybody who doesn’t display hegemonic masculinity (in this
case due to Allan’s homosexuality) is clear through the damning of Blanche’s late
husband Allan Gray.
❖ Allan never appears in the play; he is simply a symbol of her traumatic past.
❖ Many psychologists and psychiatrists in 1940’s America, considered
homosexuality a mental illness
❖ Many argue that his elimination from the play is rooted in his outward defiance to
social norms of heterosexuality and masochistic exploitation, exposing the true
stagnance and progressive facade of this New South society
❖ Stella, describes Allan as a “beautiful and talented young man” but also a
“degenerate” (Scene Seven)
❖ Williams exposes the lack of progression in the New South; It is these
discriminatory views that inhibit social mobility, allowing only white heterosexual,
alpha males the privilege of the American Dream.
❖ Varsouviana polka music plays and ends with the shot that killed him
❖ Other characters inability to participate in this tragedy make Blanches memories
private and contributes to her isolation
Blanches metaphorical death
❖ Blanche’s fate as an outsider is sealed from the moment she enters New
Orleans, as“her appearance is incongruent to this setting”. This outsider status
never disappears for Blanche, and ultimately acts as a catalyst for her
metaphorical and social death that comes in the form of her ostracization from
society.
Madness
Blanches instability
❖ Blanche is “not very well” (S1)
❖ After her husbands suicide and the deaths at Belle Reve, she begun her descent
into promiscuity and alcoholism. As both increased she created a fantasy world
of adoring, respectful admirers, romantic songs and parties.
❖ “The shot! it always stops after that!” (S9) her pragmatism in dealing with
nightmares is terrifying, showing she has to accommodate these terrors to her
daily life.
❖ Stanley revealing her past, Mitch rejecting her and Stanley violating her all break
her. She retreats from an unbearable reality to a make-believe world making her
admission to an institution possible.
The streetcar
❖ New Orleans streetcar carrying the words “desire” and “cemeteries”. Blanche's
journey first to desire and then cemeteries, sums up her life, driving by sexual
desire and eventually a living death of the asylum
❖ Symbol of the inescapability of fate
❖ S4 “rattle-trap streetcar” “haven't you ever ridden on that streetcar?” “it brought
me here”. Talking in metaphors
❖ Epigraph the sum up the misery of promiscuity
Promiscuity vs Security
❖ Blanche longs for Mitch to marry her not for a permanent sexual relationship but
the security of her own home. “The poor man's paradise - is a little peace”
❖ To be driven by desire is self destructive yet the victims are carried along
helplessly, unable to escape
❖ “men don’t even admit your existence unless they are making love to you.”
Williams exposes the reality of female entrapment; it is only when men see a
woman through a sexual lens that they are willing to acknowledge her existence.
❖ This is paradoxical; according to the double sexual standards of 1940s America,
a woman's sexual licentiousness would also make her morally bankrupt. Thus,
Blanche’s statement illustrates the trap women are in; their existence is only
acknowledged when they are sexually attractive or available, yet sexual
availability also brings loss of respect.
❖ Blanche’s sexuality would have been interpreted as abnormal or pathological to a
contemporary audience, since only men’s sexual drives were considered healthy.
❖ Blanche exposes her sexual side by appearing in a “dark red satin robe”.
❖ However, while she reclaims her sexuality, she is condemned for it, while
Stanley’s unapologetic sexual prowess is encouraged through being a “male bird
amongst hens” with no repercussions.
❖ Williams’ exploration of sexual pressure as intimately tied to the deterioration of
the female protagonist, reveals the immense power of a society that shapes,
shelters, and shames female sexuality.
Key quotes
❖ Blanche tells the young collector “You make my mouth water” - sexual innuendo
❖ Things that happen “between a man and a woman in the dark … make
everything else seem unimportant”
❖ Stanley scene 10“Maybe you wouldn't be bad to interfere with
Death
Belle Reve
❖ Blanche had to nurse elderly relations as they died one by one
, ❖ Body “burned like rubbish”
❖ “Grim reaper put a tent up in our doorstep”
❖ “Blood stained pillowslips”
Allan Grey
❖ The ostracization of anybody who doesn’t display hegemonic masculinity (in this
case due to Allan’s homosexuality) is clear through the damning of Blanche’s late
husband Allan Gray.
❖ Allan never appears in the play; he is simply a symbol of her traumatic past.
❖ Many psychologists and psychiatrists in 1940’s America, considered
homosexuality a mental illness
❖ Many argue that his elimination from the play is rooted in his outward defiance to
social norms of heterosexuality and masochistic exploitation, exposing the true
stagnance and progressive facade of this New South society
❖ Stella, describes Allan as a “beautiful and talented young man” but also a
“degenerate” (Scene Seven)
❖ Williams exposes the lack of progression in the New South; It is these
discriminatory views that inhibit social mobility, allowing only white heterosexual,
alpha males the privilege of the American Dream.
❖ Varsouviana polka music plays and ends with the shot that killed him
❖ Other characters inability to participate in this tragedy make Blanches memories
private and contributes to her isolation
Blanches metaphorical death
❖ Blanche’s fate as an outsider is sealed from the moment she enters New
Orleans, as“her appearance is incongruent to this setting”. This outsider status
never disappears for Blanche, and ultimately acts as a catalyst for her
metaphorical and social death that comes in the form of her ostracization from
society.
Madness
Blanches instability
❖ Blanche is “not very well” (S1)
❖ After her husbands suicide and the deaths at Belle Reve, she begun her descent
into promiscuity and alcoholism. As both increased she created a fantasy world
of adoring, respectful admirers, romantic songs and parties.
❖ “The shot! it always stops after that!” (S9) her pragmatism in dealing with
nightmares is terrifying, showing she has to accommodate these terrors to her
daily life.
❖ Stanley revealing her past, Mitch rejecting her and Stanley violating her all break
her. She retreats from an unbearable reality to a make-believe world making her
admission to an institution possible.
