THEME: DEATH
Intro point: Death is presented as inevitable in the new 1950s American dream life of the
deep south. Williams portrays plastic theatre, such as the costumes and music as a symbolic
tool to represent the character’s fears about death and experiment with the audience’s
attitudes towards death. However, as a parallel to the non realistic characteristic of plastic
theatre, physical death as a cause for metaphorical death in the play, with a death of
innocence and death of love.
Literal death
- Williams presents Allan Grey dies (suicide) - as a result of not belonging to
society, due to homosexuality, ‘insert quote’ death becomes inevitable as
societal conditions become unliveable. Societal question from queer Williams
questioning do we want to live like this in society? Is it better to die than to stay
living? Which leads to a downfall in protagonist
- Chapter 1, death haunts Blanche (‘You were married once weren’t you? [the music
of the polka rises up, faint in the distance]’ - Williams uses polka music to represent
Blanche’s despair and remorse for Alan Grey. Innocent, friendly questioning
juxtaposed by the music demonstrates emphatic effect of Blanche
- ‘The boy - the boy died. [she sinks back down] I’m afraid I’m - going to be sick!’ -
stage action of sinking dramatically emphasising the feeling of loss and distress in
blanche as well as physically displaying her descent from happiness to sadness.
Hyphenated speech cuts the metre of her speech, creating a dramatic tone of speech
in front of the audience, showing effect of death
- Alternative production national theatre, present freeze frame of Blanche throwing up,
fixing focus on her sickness, showing how this death is frozen in her mind, and she is
unable to escape, as in theatre, character is unmoving
(not sure if necessary but parallel in scene 6, representing Blanche’s dismal despair
‘[Then the polka resumes in major key. He’d stuck the revolver into his mouth and
fired - so that the back of his head had been - blown away!’
Repeated use of hyphenated speech from Williams - motif and the use of polka
further repeated showing the everlasting effects of grief)
Death of love
- Mitch and Blanche’s romance scene 6 to 9 (further grow apart - end up rape)
‘[dropping his hands from her waist] You’re not clean enough to bring in the house
with my mother’ - verb dropping is fast paced, with lack of care, potential forced
physical contact - implicitly insinuating lack of respect severely contrasting scene 6
‘Could it be - you and me, Blanche?’ - before Mitch using clauses to be polite and
measured, now free speech expressing his disgust and emotion towards Blanche.
‘What do you want? ... [fumbling to embrace her]: What I been missing all summer’
Stage directions showing brute force of male dominating vulnerable women in 1950s
American society. Death of love not just as a result of Blanche’s trauma, but as a
result of the men in society as well
Intro point: Death is presented as inevitable in the new 1950s American dream life of the
deep south. Williams portrays plastic theatre, such as the costumes and music as a symbolic
tool to represent the character’s fears about death and experiment with the audience’s
attitudes towards death. However, as a parallel to the non realistic characteristic of plastic
theatre, physical death as a cause for metaphorical death in the play, with a death of
innocence and death of love.
Literal death
- Williams presents Allan Grey dies (suicide) - as a result of not belonging to
society, due to homosexuality, ‘insert quote’ death becomes inevitable as
societal conditions become unliveable. Societal question from queer Williams
questioning do we want to live like this in society? Is it better to die than to stay
living? Which leads to a downfall in protagonist
- Chapter 1, death haunts Blanche (‘You were married once weren’t you? [the music
of the polka rises up, faint in the distance]’ - Williams uses polka music to represent
Blanche’s despair and remorse for Alan Grey. Innocent, friendly questioning
juxtaposed by the music demonstrates emphatic effect of Blanche
- ‘The boy - the boy died. [she sinks back down] I’m afraid I’m - going to be sick!’ -
stage action of sinking dramatically emphasising the feeling of loss and distress in
blanche as well as physically displaying her descent from happiness to sadness.
Hyphenated speech cuts the metre of her speech, creating a dramatic tone of speech
in front of the audience, showing effect of death
- Alternative production national theatre, present freeze frame of Blanche throwing up,
fixing focus on her sickness, showing how this death is frozen in her mind, and she is
unable to escape, as in theatre, character is unmoving
(not sure if necessary but parallel in scene 6, representing Blanche’s dismal despair
‘[Then the polka resumes in major key. He’d stuck the revolver into his mouth and
fired - so that the back of his head had been - blown away!’
Repeated use of hyphenated speech from Williams - motif and the use of polka
further repeated showing the everlasting effects of grief)
Death of love
- Mitch and Blanche’s romance scene 6 to 9 (further grow apart - end up rape)
‘[dropping his hands from her waist] You’re not clean enough to bring in the house
with my mother’ - verb dropping is fast paced, with lack of care, potential forced
physical contact - implicitly insinuating lack of respect severely contrasting scene 6
‘Could it be - you and me, Blanche?’ - before Mitch using clauses to be polite and
measured, now free speech expressing his disgust and emotion towards Blanche.
‘What do you want? ... [fumbling to embrace her]: What I been missing all summer’
Stage directions showing brute force of male dominating vulnerable women in 1950s
American society. Death of love not just as a result of Blanche’s trauma, but as a
result of the men in society as well
