A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE - CONTEXT
SOCIAL AND HISTORICAL
THE OLD / ANTEBELLUM SOUTH
Much of the Antebellum south was rural, and in line with the plantation system, largely agricultural
The Antebellum era defines the decades leading up the American Civil war
From a cultural and social standpoint, the ‘Old South’ is used to describe the rural, agriculturally based, slavery reliant economy and
society in the Antebellum South, prior to the American civil war
The play can be seen to be exposing the moral decay of old southern values of rigid social hierarchy, aristocracy, culture, and etiquette
as well as showcasing ‘New Southern’ values embodied by Stanley, a working-class character that believes in a Darwinian survival of
the fittest struggle of the American dream and places no value on old class hierarchies
The antebellum south was an especially male dominated society. Southern men, particularly wealthy planters, were patriarchs and
sovereigns of their own household
- The ideal southern lady conformed to her prescribed gender role, a role that was largely domestic and subservient. While
responsibilities and experiences varied across different social tiers, women’s subordinate state in relation to the male
patriarch remained the same
Southern aristocracy – the planter class
During the antebellum years, wealthy southern planters formed an elite class that wielded most of the economic and political power
in the region
- They created their own standards of gentility and honour defining the ideals of southern white manhood and womanhood
and shaping the culture of the south
The planter class was a racial and socioeconomic class, consisting of those who owned or were financially connected to plantations,
large scale farms devoted to the production of crops in high demand across Euro-American markets
- These plantations were operated by slaves
The abolition of slavery led to a rapid decline in the fortunes of the planter class. By the 20 th century, the planter class ceased to be
politically and socially influential
For this class, maintaining appearances and reputation was supremely important
- Defending their honour and ensuring that they receive proper respect became preoccupations of whites in the slaveholding
south
THE INDUSTRIAL SOUTH AND THE FALL OF THE OLD SOUTH
The southern states of America were those which depended on plantation agriculture and slavery in the pre-civil war era. After the
civil war, although slavery had been abolished, segregation was still legal, and southern plantations still relied on cheap black labour
The northern states had a more liberal attitude towards integration, which created great antagonism between the north and south of
the US.
A streetcar named desire chronicles the defeat of an aristocratic southern belle by a new working-class society
What befalls Blanche is what befell many upper-class southerners as industrialisation swept away their traditional power base
From the 1920s through 1940s, industrialisation continued to expand in the south, and old southern class structure could not withstand
its effects. The composition of the labour force changed radically, with more black people, poor white people, and women working
than ever before
The aristocratic tradition, rooted in concepts of the social man as master and homebound woman as mother and nurturer, gave way
to a new social order, particularly after women gained the constitutional right to vote in 1920 and as divorce, employment, and
education became more readily available to them
By the 1940s southern wealth and influence had already shifted to the industrialists
THE TRADITIONAL SOUTHERN WOMAN AND THE CONSTRUCT OF THE SOUTHERN BELLE
The mythology of southern womanhood, developed most completely in the middle of the 19th century, elevated the white woman to
positive veneration. Nineteenth century southern gentility considered the southern lady to be a nonsexual creature, helpless and
fragile, unlike her black sisters.
In ‘the mind of the south’, W.J Cash described in detail the distinction between the black and white women, the black woman being
perceived as lusty and compliant, the white as puritanical and lily-pure.
- As a southern lady, Blanche’s narrowly defined social role has kept her from admitting her natural appetites and pursuing
them forthrightly. She felt obliged to lie to herself and to others.
Blanche’s southern version of puritanism probably contributed to her husband’s suicide, and her inability to comprehend her guilt led
to her promiscuity
, The southern lady was expected to be a model of virtue and a restraint on man’s natural vice and immorality. She was considered
inferior to men of her own race, while at the same time supposedly being virginal and morally superior to the male (less sinful than
him).
In her male dominated society, the southern woman was taught to look not to herself but to others for protection.
- Blanche does this in the play, appealing first to Stella and Stanley, then to Mitch, and in the final scene to the doctor
- ‘I have always depended on the kindness of strangers
The southern belle is a colloquialism for a debutante in the planter class of the Antebellum south
The appearance of the southern belle myth is tied to the southern antebellum chivalry and masculinity code which originated as an
attempt to preserve English moral standards in the US south
- They, based on the Victorian model of woman as an angel in house as well as on the small number of upper-class women
who were, thereby, considered ‘custodians of culture’, confirmed and authorised the hyper evaluation of upper-class
southern women
The belle was white and of aristocratic origin. They had few tasks other than to be obedient, to ride, to sew, and perhaps to learn
reading and writing
The belle's energies and skills were mainly directed to finding and marrying real southern gentlemen
The belle had to deny her sexuality and, at the same time, perform passion without taking part in it
Williams portrays blanche as the last representative of the old aristocracy who tries to survive in the modern world by escaping to
alcohol, madness, promiscuity, and whose memories are bitter since they are burdened by racial and sexual sins of her ancestors
There is a possible existence of two Blanches:
- The first is the passive and submissive Blanche who, as such, is the embodiment, and the symbol, of the southern belle hood
- The other is the victimised blanche who, by subverting the each and every trait of the southern belle hood, becomes its
antithesis
Blanche’s partaking in the southern belle performance:
- Blanche’s plantation origin marks her inescapably as the southern aristocrat
- Blanche is brought up in the southern tradition of idealisation of woman’s beauty and thus perceives herself as a beautiful
object which has to be properly decorated in order to sell well. As such, she depends heavily on exterior beauty markers
(dresses, hats, jewellery, perfumes and cosmetics)
- Blanche is educated. Her participation is education foregrounds the idea of a the time that college education presented
proper youthful behaviour of a young woman and a pleasant interlude on the way to growing up insofar as it was perceived
as an asset in the marriage market and the final polish necessary to gentility
- Blanche clings to the antebellum chivalry codes which obliged men to protect women in return for their contribution to
cultural and social capital, their attention, their love and, of course, wealth. She thus, in the tradition of the antebellum
southern belle, tries to save herself and her sister from inappropriate way of life at stanley’s home by looking for protection
in another man - her former beau Shep Huntleigh
Blanche’s behaviour that can be read as going against the culture that created the southern belle
- Her excessive alcohol consumption and in numerous love affairs
- Alcohol may operate as the means of encouragement against the humiliation of being an unwanted intruder and a fallen
role model in her own family
- Her sexuality and arrogance portray a sense of masculine energy
GENDER ROLES AND VIEWS OF WOMEN
Women were considered domestic caregivers, with sole responsibility for the home and child rearing
The creation of the ‘ideal woman’ gave a clear picture to women of what they were supposed to emulate as their proper gender role
in society. In effect, women began to construct their identities around this image
In the early 1940s, American society expected its men to adhere to specific characteristics that defined masculinity. In addition to
courage and bravery, men strove to develop traits such as aggression, competicism, stoicism, toughness, and independence in order
to prove to others that they were truly masculine
During the postwar years, Americans began to see the nuclear family as an entity capable of meeting the needs of all its members.
Americans elevated childbearing to a near spiritual duty
SOCIAL AND HISTORICAL
THE OLD / ANTEBELLUM SOUTH
Much of the Antebellum south was rural, and in line with the plantation system, largely agricultural
The Antebellum era defines the decades leading up the American Civil war
From a cultural and social standpoint, the ‘Old South’ is used to describe the rural, agriculturally based, slavery reliant economy and
society in the Antebellum South, prior to the American civil war
The play can be seen to be exposing the moral decay of old southern values of rigid social hierarchy, aristocracy, culture, and etiquette
as well as showcasing ‘New Southern’ values embodied by Stanley, a working-class character that believes in a Darwinian survival of
the fittest struggle of the American dream and places no value on old class hierarchies
The antebellum south was an especially male dominated society. Southern men, particularly wealthy planters, were patriarchs and
sovereigns of their own household
- The ideal southern lady conformed to her prescribed gender role, a role that was largely domestic and subservient. While
responsibilities and experiences varied across different social tiers, women’s subordinate state in relation to the male
patriarch remained the same
Southern aristocracy – the planter class
During the antebellum years, wealthy southern planters formed an elite class that wielded most of the economic and political power
in the region
- They created their own standards of gentility and honour defining the ideals of southern white manhood and womanhood
and shaping the culture of the south
The planter class was a racial and socioeconomic class, consisting of those who owned or were financially connected to plantations,
large scale farms devoted to the production of crops in high demand across Euro-American markets
- These plantations were operated by slaves
The abolition of slavery led to a rapid decline in the fortunes of the planter class. By the 20 th century, the planter class ceased to be
politically and socially influential
For this class, maintaining appearances and reputation was supremely important
- Defending their honour and ensuring that they receive proper respect became preoccupations of whites in the slaveholding
south
THE INDUSTRIAL SOUTH AND THE FALL OF THE OLD SOUTH
The southern states of America were those which depended on plantation agriculture and slavery in the pre-civil war era. After the
civil war, although slavery had been abolished, segregation was still legal, and southern plantations still relied on cheap black labour
The northern states had a more liberal attitude towards integration, which created great antagonism between the north and south of
the US.
A streetcar named desire chronicles the defeat of an aristocratic southern belle by a new working-class society
What befalls Blanche is what befell many upper-class southerners as industrialisation swept away their traditional power base
From the 1920s through 1940s, industrialisation continued to expand in the south, and old southern class structure could not withstand
its effects. The composition of the labour force changed radically, with more black people, poor white people, and women working
than ever before
The aristocratic tradition, rooted in concepts of the social man as master and homebound woman as mother and nurturer, gave way
to a new social order, particularly after women gained the constitutional right to vote in 1920 and as divorce, employment, and
education became more readily available to them
By the 1940s southern wealth and influence had already shifted to the industrialists
THE TRADITIONAL SOUTHERN WOMAN AND THE CONSTRUCT OF THE SOUTHERN BELLE
The mythology of southern womanhood, developed most completely in the middle of the 19th century, elevated the white woman to
positive veneration. Nineteenth century southern gentility considered the southern lady to be a nonsexual creature, helpless and
fragile, unlike her black sisters.
In ‘the mind of the south’, W.J Cash described in detail the distinction between the black and white women, the black woman being
perceived as lusty and compliant, the white as puritanical and lily-pure.
- As a southern lady, Blanche’s narrowly defined social role has kept her from admitting her natural appetites and pursuing
them forthrightly. She felt obliged to lie to herself and to others.
Blanche’s southern version of puritanism probably contributed to her husband’s suicide, and her inability to comprehend her guilt led
to her promiscuity
, The southern lady was expected to be a model of virtue and a restraint on man’s natural vice and immorality. She was considered
inferior to men of her own race, while at the same time supposedly being virginal and morally superior to the male (less sinful than
him).
In her male dominated society, the southern woman was taught to look not to herself but to others for protection.
- Blanche does this in the play, appealing first to Stella and Stanley, then to Mitch, and in the final scene to the doctor
- ‘I have always depended on the kindness of strangers
The southern belle is a colloquialism for a debutante in the planter class of the Antebellum south
The appearance of the southern belle myth is tied to the southern antebellum chivalry and masculinity code which originated as an
attempt to preserve English moral standards in the US south
- They, based on the Victorian model of woman as an angel in house as well as on the small number of upper-class women
who were, thereby, considered ‘custodians of culture’, confirmed and authorised the hyper evaluation of upper-class
southern women
The belle was white and of aristocratic origin. They had few tasks other than to be obedient, to ride, to sew, and perhaps to learn
reading and writing
The belle's energies and skills were mainly directed to finding and marrying real southern gentlemen
The belle had to deny her sexuality and, at the same time, perform passion without taking part in it
Williams portrays blanche as the last representative of the old aristocracy who tries to survive in the modern world by escaping to
alcohol, madness, promiscuity, and whose memories are bitter since they are burdened by racial and sexual sins of her ancestors
There is a possible existence of two Blanches:
- The first is the passive and submissive Blanche who, as such, is the embodiment, and the symbol, of the southern belle hood
- The other is the victimised blanche who, by subverting the each and every trait of the southern belle hood, becomes its
antithesis
Blanche’s partaking in the southern belle performance:
- Blanche’s plantation origin marks her inescapably as the southern aristocrat
- Blanche is brought up in the southern tradition of idealisation of woman’s beauty and thus perceives herself as a beautiful
object which has to be properly decorated in order to sell well. As such, she depends heavily on exterior beauty markers
(dresses, hats, jewellery, perfumes and cosmetics)
- Blanche is educated. Her participation is education foregrounds the idea of a the time that college education presented
proper youthful behaviour of a young woman and a pleasant interlude on the way to growing up insofar as it was perceived
as an asset in the marriage market and the final polish necessary to gentility
- Blanche clings to the antebellum chivalry codes which obliged men to protect women in return for their contribution to
cultural and social capital, their attention, their love and, of course, wealth. She thus, in the tradition of the antebellum
southern belle, tries to save herself and her sister from inappropriate way of life at stanley’s home by looking for protection
in another man - her former beau Shep Huntleigh
Blanche’s behaviour that can be read as going against the culture that created the southern belle
- Her excessive alcohol consumption and in numerous love affairs
- Alcohol may operate as the means of encouragement against the humiliation of being an unwanted intruder and a fallen
role model in her own family
- Her sexuality and arrogance portray a sense of masculine energy
GENDER ROLES AND VIEWS OF WOMEN
Women were considered domestic caregivers, with sole responsibility for the home and child rearing
The creation of the ‘ideal woman’ gave a clear picture to women of what they were supposed to emulate as their proper gender role
in society. In effect, women began to construct their identities around this image
In the early 1940s, American society expected its men to adhere to specific characteristics that defined masculinity. In addition to
courage and bravery, men strove to develop traits such as aggression, competicism, stoicism, toughness, and independence in order
to prove to others that they were truly masculine
During the postwar years, Americans began to see the nuclear family as an entity capable of meeting the needs of all its members.
Americans elevated childbearing to a near spiritual duty
