English Literature Paper 1 A Streetcar Named Desire – Tennessee Williams
Key Moments Significant quotations Questions, queries,
debates (‘Modernity’)
Scene 1
The sky that shows around the dim white building is a peculiarly tender Why is it significant that
Eunice and a Negro woman are relaxing on the steps of the building blue, almost a turquoise, which invests the scene with a kind of lyricism Williams sets his play in
when Stanley and his buddy Mitch show up. Stanley hollers for and gracefully attenuates the atmosphere of decay. a city that celebrates
Stella, who comes out onto the first-floor landing and replies calmly both its historical
to his tough, streetwise banter. He hurls a package of meat up to her New Orleans is a cosmopolitan city where there is a relatively warm and heritage and
and says that he and Mitch are going to meet Steve at the bowling easy intermingling of races in the old part of town. cosmopolitan
alley. They depart, and Stella soon follows to watch them. Eunice modernity?
and the Negro woman find something hilariously suggestive in the She looks at a slip of paper, then at the building, then again at the slip
meat-hurling episode, and their cackles indicate sexual innuendo. and again at the building. Her expression is one of shocked disbelief. How are the names of
Her appearance is incongruous to this setting. the streetcar and the
Soon after Stella leaves, her sister, Blanche, arrives, carrying a area ironic?
suitcase and looking with disbelief at a slip of paper in her hand and BLANCHE [with faintly hysterical humor]:
then at the building. Dressed in a fine white suit, Blanche moves They told me to take a streetcar named Desire, and then transfer to one
tentatively, looking and apparently feeling out of place in Stella’s called Cemeteries and ride six blocks and get off at--Elysian Fields!
neighbourhood. Eunice assures Blanche that the building is Stella’s
residence. When Blanche declines to go to the bowling alley, the BLANCHE:
Negro woman goes instead to tell Stella of her sister’s arrival. If you will excuse me. I'm just about to drop. Why is it significant that
EUNICE: Blanche offends Eunice
Eunice lets Blanche into the two-room flat, and Blanche investigates Sure, honey. Why don't you set down? with her manners?
the interior of the Kowalskis’ apartment. Making small talk, Eunice BLANCHE:
mentions what she knows of Blanche from Stella—that Blanche is What I meant was I'd like to be left alone.
from Mississippi, that she is a teacher, and that her family estate is EUNICE:
called Belle Reve. Tiring of Eunice’s questions, Blanche asks to be Aw. I'll make myself scarce, in that case.
left alone. Eunice, somewhat offended, leaves to fetch Stella. BLANCHE:
I didn't mean to be rude, but—
Alone, Blanche sits looking nervous and uncomfortable as she
surveys the messy, dingy surroundings. Spying a bottle of whiskey in BLANCHE [faintly to herself]:
the closet, she suddenly breaks out of her dejected stupor. She What is the significance
I've got to keep hold of myself!
pours a healthy shot, downs it immediately, replaces the bottle, of Blanche speaking to
cleans her tumbler, and returns to her original pose. BLANCHE: herself at this point?
Now, then, let me look at you. But don't you look at me, Stella, no, no,
Stella returns with excitement, and she and Blanche embrace. no, not till later, not till I've bathed and rested! And turn that over-light off! Why is Blanche so
Blanche talks feverishly and seems nearly hysterical. After initially Turn that off! I won't be looked at in this merciless glare! concerned with her
expressing her thrill at seeing her younger sister, Blanche lets slip a [Stella laughs and complies] appearance?
critical comment on the physical and social setting in which Stella Come back here now! Oh, my baby! Stella! Stella for Star!
lives. She tries to check her criticism, but the reunion begins on a [She embraces her again] Why does she share her
tense note. Blanche redirects the conversation by asking if Stella has I thought you would never come back to this horrible place! What am I opinions so openly?
any liquor in the flat. She claims she could use the drink to calm her saying? I didn't mean to say that. I meant to be nice about it and say--
,English Literature Paper 1 A Streetcar Named Desire – Tennessee Williams
nerves, but insists—without being asked—that she isn’t a drunk. Oh, what a convenient location and such--Haa-ha! Precious lamb! You
After the drink is poured, Blanche asks how Stella has allowed haven't said a word to me.
herself to stoop to such poor living conditions. Stella makes a light
effort to defend her present lifestyle, but she mostly lets Blanche do BLANCHE: What do Blanche’s
the talking. Oh, I'm not going to be hypocritical, I'm going to be honestly critical literary allusions
about it! Never, never, never in my worst dreams could I picture--Only
suggest?
Stella’s quietness unnerves Blanche, who suggests that Stella isn’t Poe! Only Mr. Edgar Allan Poe!--could do it justice! Out there I suppose
happy to see her. She then explains that she has come to New is the ghoul-haunted woodland of Weir!
Orleans because her nerves have forced her to take a leave of
absence from her job as a schoolteacher during the middle of the BLANCHE:
term. She asks Stella to tell her how she looks, fusses over Stella’s You haven't said a word about my appearance.
plumpness and disheveled appearance, and is surprised to learn that STELLA: Why has Williams
Stella has no maid. You look just fine. chosen for Stella to be
BLANCHE: pregnant?
Blanche takes another drink, and then worries about the privacy and God love you for a liar! Daylight never exposed so total a ruin! But you--
decency of her staying in the apartment with no door to separate her you've put on some weight, yes, you're just as plump as a little partridge!
from Stella and Stanley in the next room. She worries that Stanley And it's so becoming to you!
won’t like her, and she makes several disparaging comments about
Stanley’s lower-class status, focusing on his Polish background. BLANCHE:
Stella warns Blanche that Stanley is very different from the men with Well--anyhow--I brought nice clothes and I'll wear them. I guess you're
whom Blanche is familiar back home. hoping I'll say I'll put up at a hotel, but I'm not going to put up at a hotel. I What does this reveal?
want to be near you, got to be with somebody, I can't be alone!
In an outburst that builds to a crescendo of hysteria, Blanche reveals Because--as you must have noticed--I'm-not very well....
that she has lost Belle Reve, the family’s ancestral home. She [Her voice drops and her look is frightened.]
recounts how she suffered through the agonizingly slow deaths of
their parents and relatives, and points the finger at Stella for running BLANCHE
off to New Orleans and leaving all familial woes behind. Stella finally I, I, I took the blows in my face and my body! All of those deaths! The What do you think this
cuts her off and leaves the room, crying. Stanley’s return interrupts long parade to the graveyard! Father, mother! Margaret, that dreadful sudden outburst of
Blanche’s apology. way!... Yes, accuse me! Sit there and stare at me, thinking I let the place resentment and
go! I let the place go? Where were you! In bed with your--Polack! prejudice really
Outside the apartment, Stanley discusses plans for poker the demonstrate?
following day with Steve and Mitch. Mitch discourages their [Blanche, at the sound of voices, retires in the bedroom. She picks up
discussion of borrowing money and refuses to host poker at his Stanley's photo from dressing table, looks at it, puts it down. When
mother’s house. The men settle on playing poker at Stanley’s, and Stanley enters the apartment, she darts and hides behind the screen at
Steve and Mitch leave. the head of bed.]
What does this
Meanwhile, Blanche has been nervously moving through the …the power and pride of a richly feathered male bird among hens. description achieve as
apartment in anticipation of meeting Stanley. He enters the a first impression of
apartment, sizes Blanche up, and makes small talk with her, treating BLANCHE: Stanley?
her casually while she nervously tries to engage with him. Stanley The boy--the boy died.
pulls the whiskey bottle out of the closet and notices that it is running [She sinks back down] What does this
low. He offers Blanche a drink, but she declines, saying that she I'm afraid I'm-going to be sick! revelation and reaction
, English Literature Paper 1 A Streetcar Named Desire – Tennessee Williams
rarely drinks. Stanley proceeds to change his sweaty T-shirt in front [Her head falls on her arms.] show us?
of Blanche, offending her modesty. All the while, Stella still hasn’t
emerged from the bathroom. When Stanley abruptly asks what
happened to Blanche’s marriage, Blanche replies haltingly that the
“boy” died, then plops down and declares that she feels ill.
Scene 2 STANLEY:
What's all this monkey doings?
It is six o’clock in the evening on the day following Blanche’s arrival. Why is Stanley’s
Blanche is offstage, taking a bath to soothe her nerves. When [She jumps up and kisses him which he accepts with lordly composure] language so coarse but
Stanley walks in the door, Stella tells him that in order to spare also comic?
Blanche the company of Stanley’s poker buddies in the apartment BLANCHE [singing in the bathroom]:
that night, she wants to take Blanche out, to New Orleans’s French "From the land of the sky blue water, They brought a captive maid!"
Quarter. Stella explains Blanche’s ordeal of losing Belle Reve and What might the
asks that Stanley be kind to Blanche by flattering her appearance. STELLA: significance of Blache’s
She also instructs Stanley not to mention the baby. And admire her dress and tell her she's looking wonderful. That's singing be?
important with Blanche. Her little weakness!
Stanley is more interested in the bill of sale from Belle Reve. Stella’s
mention of the loss of Belle Reve seems to convince Stanley that STANLEY:
Blanche’s emotional frailty is an act contrived to hide theft. He thinks In the state of Louisiana we have the Napoleonic code according to
Blanche has swindled Stella out of her rightful share of the estate, which what belongs to the wife belongs to the husband and vice versa.
which means that he has been swindled. In order to prove his own For instance if I had a piece of property, or you had a piece of property— What attitude towards
victimization, he refers to the Napoleonic code, a code of law women and marriage
recognized in New Orleans from the days of French rule that places STANLEY: does this represent?
women’s property in the hands of their husbands. All right, I'll wait till she gets through soaking in a hot tub and then I'll
inquire if she is acquainted with the Napoleonic code. It looks to me like Why does Stanley’s
Looking for a bill of sale, Stanley angrily pulls all of Blanche’s you have been swindled, baby, and when you're swindled under the being insulted show us?
belongings out of her trunk. To him, Blanche’s glitzy evening Napoleonic code I'm swindled too. And I don't like to be swindled.
dresses, feather boas, fur stoles, and costume jewelry look
expensive, and he assumes she has spent the family fortune on STANLEY:
them. He claims he’ll have his friend come over to appraise the value Look at these feathers and furs that she come here to preen herself in!
of the trunk’s contents. Enraged at Stanley’s actions and ignorance, What's this here? A solid-gold dress, I believe! And this one! What is
What might these
Stella storms out onto the porch. these here? Fox-pieces!
[He blows on them] accoutrements
Blanche finishes her bath and appears before Stanley in the kitchen Genuine fox fur-pieces, a half a mile long! Where are your fox-pieces, represent?
wearing a red satin robe. She says that she feels clean and fresh, Stella? Bushy snow-white ones, no less! Where are your white fox-
then closes the curtains to the bedroom in order to dress out of pieces? What is the significance
Stanley’s sight. Stanley replies gruffly to Blanche’s idle chatter. When And what have we here? The treasure chest of a pirate!# of Stanley’s reaction?
she unashamedly asks him to come and fasten her buttons, he
refuses. He begins to question sarcastically how Blanche came to Pearls! Ropes of them! What is this sister of yours, a deep-sea diver
acquire so many fancy dress items, and he rejects Blanche’s who brings up sunken treasure? Or is she the champion safe-cracker of
flirtatious bids to make the conversation more kind-spirited. Sensing all time! Bracelets of solid gold, too! Where are your pearls and gold What do these
Key Moments Significant quotations Questions, queries,
debates (‘Modernity’)
Scene 1
The sky that shows around the dim white building is a peculiarly tender Why is it significant that
Eunice and a Negro woman are relaxing on the steps of the building blue, almost a turquoise, which invests the scene with a kind of lyricism Williams sets his play in
when Stanley and his buddy Mitch show up. Stanley hollers for and gracefully attenuates the atmosphere of decay. a city that celebrates
Stella, who comes out onto the first-floor landing and replies calmly both its historical
to his tough, streetwise banter. He hurls a package of meat up to her New Orleans is a cosmopolitan city where there is a relatively warm and heritage and
and says that he and Mitch are going to meet Steve at the bowling easy intermingling of races in the old part of town. cosmopolitan
alley. They depart, and Stella soon follows to watch them. Eunice modernity?
and the Negro woman find something hilariously suggestive in the She looks at a slip of paper, then at the building, then again at the slip
meat-hurling episode, and their cackles indicate sexual innuendo. and again at the building. Her expression is one of shocked disbelief. How are the names of
Her appearance is incongruous to this setting. the streetcar and the
Soon after Stella leaves, her sister, Blanche, arrives, carrying a area ironic?
suitcase and looking with disbelief at a slip of paper in her hand and BLANCHE [with faintly hysterical humor]:
then at the building. Dressed in a fine white suit, Blanche moves They told me to take a streetcar named Desire, and then transfer to one
tentatively, looking and apparently feeling out of place in Stella’s called Cemeteries and ride six blocks and get off at--Elysian Fields!
neighbourhood. Eunice assures Blanche that the building is Stella’s
residence. When Blanche declines to go to the bowling alley, the BLANCHE:
Negro woman goes instead to tell Stella of her sister’s arrival. If you will excuse me. I'm just about to drop. Why is it significant that
EUNICE: Blanche offends Eunice
Eunice lets Blanche into the two-room flat, and Blanche investigates Sure, honey. Why don't you set down? with her manners?
the interior of the Kowalskis’ apartment. Making small talk, Eunice BLANCHE:
mentions what she knows of Blanche from Stella—that Blanche is What I meant was I'd like to be left alone.
from Mississippi, that she is a teacher, and that her family estate is EUNICE:
called Belle Reve. Tiring of Eunice’s questions, Blanche asks to be Aw. I'll make myself scarce, in that case.
left alone. Eunice, somewhat offended, leaves to fetch Stella. BLANCHE:
I didn't mean to be rude, but—
Alone, Blanche sits looking nervous and uncomfortable as she
surveys the messy, dingy surroundings. Spying a bottle of whiskey in BLANCHE [faintly to herself]:
the closet, she suddenly breaks out of her dejected stupor. She What is the significance
I've got to keep hold of myself!
pours a healthy shot, downs it immediately, replaces the bottle, of Blanche speaking to
cleans her tumbler, and returns to her original pose. BLANCHE: herself at this point?
Now, then, let me look at you. But don't you look at me, Stella, no, no,
Stella returns with excitement, and she and Blanche embrace. no, not till later, not till I've bathed and rested! And turn that over-light off! Why is Blanche so
Blanche talks feverishly and seems nearly hysterical. After initially Turn that off! I won't be looked at in this merciless glare! concerned with her
expressing her thrill at seeing her younger sister, Blanche lets slip a [Stella laughs and complies] appearance?
critical comment on the physical and social setting in which Stella Come back here now! Oh, my baby! Stella! Stella for Star!
lives. She tries to check her criticism, but the reunion begins on a [She embraces her again] Why does she share her
tense note. Blanche redirects the conversation by asking if Stella has I thought you would never come back to this horrible place! What am I opinions so openly?
any liquor in the flat. She claims she could use the drink to calm her saying? I didn't mean to say that. I meant to be nice about it and say--
,English Literature Paper 1 A Streetcar Named Desire – Tennessee Williams
nerves, but insists—without being asked—that she isn’t a drunk. Oh, what a convenient location and such--Haa-ha! Precious lamb! You
After the drink is poured, Blanche asks how Stella has allowed haven't said a word to me.
herself to stoop to such poor living conditions. Stella makes a light
effort to defend her present lifestyle, but she mostly lets Blanche do BLANCHE: What do Blanche’s
the talking. Oh, I'm not going to be hypocritical, I'm going to be honestly critical literary allusions
about it! Never, never, never in my worst dreams could I picture--Only
suggest?
Stella’s quietness unnerves Blanche, who suggests that Stella isn’t Poe! Only Mr. Edgar Allan Poe!--could do it justice! Out there I suppose
happy to see her. She then explains that she has come to New is the ghoul-haunted woodland of Weir!
Orleans because her nerves have forced her to take a leave of
absence from her job as a schoolteacher during the middle of the BLANCHE:
term. She asks Stella to tell her how she looks, fusses over Stella’s You haven't said a word about my appearance.
plumpness and disheveled appearance, and is surprised to learn that STELLA: Why has Williams
Stella has no maid. You look just fine. chosen for Stella to be
BLANCHE: pregnant?
Blanche takes another drink, and then worries about the privacy and God love you for a liar! Daylight never exposed so total a ruin! But you--
decency of her staying in the apartment with no door to separate her you've put on some weight, yes, you're just as plump as a little partridge!
from Stella and Stanley in the next room. She worries that Stanley And it's so becoming to you!
won’t like her, and she makes several disparaging comments about
Stanley’s lower-class status, focusing on his Polish background. BLANCHE:
Stella warns Blanche that Stanley is very different from the men with Well--anyhow--I brought nice clothes and I'll wear them. I guess you're
whom Blanche is familiar back home. hoping I'll say I'll put up at a hotel, but I'm not going to put up at a hotel. I What does this reveal?
want to be near you, got to be with somebody, I can't be alone!
In an outburst that builds to a crescendo of hysteria, Blanche reveals Because--as you must have noticed--I'm-not very well....
that she has lost Belle Reve, the family’s ancestral home. She [Her voice drops and her look is frightened.]
recounts how she suffered through the agonizingly slow deaths of
their parents and relatives, and points the finger at Stella for running BLANCHE
off to New Orleans and leaving all familial woes behind. Stella finally I, I, I took the blows in my face and my body! All of those deaths! The What do you think this
cuts her off and leaves the room, crying. Stanley’s return interrupts long parade to the graveyard! Father, mother! Margaret, that dreadful sudden outburst of
Blanche’s apology. way!... Yes, accuse me! Sit there and stare at me, thinking I let the place resentment and
go! I let the place go? Where were you! In bed with your--Polack! prejudice really
Outside the apartment, Stanley discusses plans for poker the demonstrate?
following day with Steve and Mitch. Mitch discourages their [Blanche, at the sound of voices, retires in the bedroom. She picks up
discussion of borrowing money and refuses to host poker at his Stanley's photo from dressing table, looks at it, puts it down. When
mother’s house. The men settle on playing poker at Stanley’s, and Stanley enters the apartment, she darts and hides behind the screen at
Steve and Mitch leave. the head of bed.]
What does this
Meanwhile, Blanche has been nervously moving through the …the power and pride of a richly feathered male bird among hens. description achieve as
apartment in anticipation of meeting Stanley. He enters the a first impression of
apartment, sizes Blanche up, and makes small talk with her, treating BLANCHE: Stanley?
her casually while she nervously tries to engage with him. Stanley The boy--the boy died.
pulls the whiskey bottle out of the closet and notices that it is running [She sinks back down] What does this
low. He offers Blanche a drink, but she declines, saying that she I'm afraid I'm-going to be sick! revelation and reaction
, English Literature Paper 1 A Streetcar Named Desire – Tennessee Williams
rarely drinks. Stanley proceeds to change his sweaty T-shirt in front [Her head falls on her arms.] show us?
of Blanche, offending her modesty. All the while, Stella still hasn’t
emerged from the bathroom. When Stanley abruptly asks what
happened to Blanche’s marriage, Blanche replies haltingly that the
“boy” died, then plops down and declares that she feels ill.
Scene 2 STANLEY:
What's all this monkey doings?
It is six o’clock in the evening on the day following Blanche’s arrival. Why is Stanley’s
Blanche is offstage, taking a bath to soothe her nerves. When [She jumps up and kisses him which he accepts with lordly composure] language so coarse but
Stanley walks in the door, Stella tells him that in order to spare also comic?
Blanche the company of Stanley’s poker buddies in the apartment BLANCHE [singing in the bathroom]:
that night, she wants to take Blanche out, to New Orleans’s French "From the land of the sky blue water, They brought a captive maid!"
Quarter. Stella explains Blanche’s ordeal of losing Belle Reve and What might the
asks that Stanley be kind to Blanche by flattering her appearance. STELLA: significance of Blache’s
She also instructs Stanley not to mention the baby. And admire her dress and tell her she's looking wonderful. That's singing be?
important with Blanche. Her little weakness!
Stanley is more interested in the bill of sale from Belle Reve. Stella’s
mention of the loss of Belle Reve seems to convince Stanley that STANLEY:
Blanche’s emotional frailty is an act contrived to hide theft. He thinks In the state of Louisiana we have the Napoleonic code according to
Blanche has swindled Stella out of her rightful share of the estate, which what belongs to the wife belongs to the husband and vice versa.
which means that he has been swindled. In order to prove his own For instance if I had a piece of property, or you had a piece of property— What attitude towards
victimization, he refers to the Napoleonic code, a code of law women and marriage
recognized in New Orleans from the days of French rule that places STANLEY: does this represent?
women’s property in the hands of their husbands. All right, I'll wait till she gets through soaking in a hot tub and then I'll
inquire if she is acquainted with the Napoleonic code. It looks to me like Why does Stanley’s
Looking for a bill of sale, Stanley angrily pulls all of Blanche’s you have been swindled, baby, and when you're swindled under the being insulted show us?
belongings out of her trunk. To him, Blanche’s glitzy evening Napoleonic code I'm swindled too. And I don't like to be swindled.
dresses, feather boas, fur stoles, and costume jewelry look
expensive, and he assumes she has spent the family fortune on STANLEY:
them. He claims he’ll have his friend come over to appraise the value Look at these feathers and furs that she come here to preen herself in!
of the trunk’s contents. Enraged at Stanley’s actions and ignorance, What's this here? A solid-gold dress, I believe! And this one! What is
What might these
Stella storms out onto the porch. these here? Fox-pieces!
[He blows on them] accoutrements
Blanche finishes her bath and appears before Stanley in the kitchen Genuine fox fur-pieces, a half a mile long! Where are your fox-pieces, represent?
wearing a red satin robe. She says that she feels clean and fresh, Stella? Bushy snow-white ones, no less! Where are your white fox-
then closes the curtains to the bedroom in order to dress out of pieces? What is the significance
Stanley’s sight. Stanley replies gruffly to Blanche’s idle chatter. When And what have we here? The treasure chest of a pirate!# of Stanley’s reaction?
she unashamedly asks him to come and fasten her buttons, he
refuses. He begins to question sarcastically how Blanche came to Pearls! Ropes of them! What is this sister of yours, a deep-sea diver
acquire so many fancy dress items, and he rejects Blanche’s who brings up sunken treasure? Or is she the champion safe-cracker of
flirtatious bids to make the conversation more kind-spirited. Sensing all time! Bracelets of solid gold, too! Where are your pearls and gold What do these
