Streetcar - thematics
Intro
- 1946-7
- Dramatic naturalism period
- Psychological drama
- Set in new orleans
- Antagonist - stanley kolwalski - microcosmic of the uprisin new social order
-
Overhauling themes
Sexuality and homosexuality
- Williams was a gay man during his period, which was seen as taboo as it contrasted
societal norms.
- Excessive oversexuality causes Blanche's downfall.
- Oversexually charcters often contrast with the shy and more reserved characters, blacneh
masks her hypersexuality with a facade of innocence and purity to drive men away from
her deeper truth.s
- Mitch uses his individuality to display himself as a chauvinistic and family-centred m.an
- Blanche announces her disgust for homosexuality, allan never appears onstage - displaying
the expectation of homosexuality having ot be hidden from the real world , effcets of
straying outside tradition, allans death marked the enmd of Blanche's sexual innocence
- ‘This beautiful and talented man was a degenerate ’ , degenerat wwas a derogatory term
for homosexuals , allna is still dehumanised in his death , being condensed as a indivudal
due to his sexuality , williams
- I think blanche dint jsu tlove him but she worshipped the ground he walked on - religious
connotations of worship insinuates how blanche percieved allan almost as a god ,
infatuated with him , his dreath would hav enee talem as a destruction of her entire belief
system - the immense impact of his death on blanches psychological stability can be
understood due to her disiciple-esque devotion to him
Reality v fantasy
- Blanche is stuck in a world of fantasy and is aiming
- Fantasies are used as a defence mechanism - being a Southern belle with a troubled past
has led to her being shielded from the harsh realities of her situation, embellishing her
past with the facade of romance and tranquillity
- The argument that there isn't a clear distinction between reality and fantasy blanches
demise into madness
- Towards the end of the play, the barrier between reality and fantasy is permeable, the
power of delusion
- Fantasy is altered into reality
Loss of innocence
- Blanche has trauma-induced dissociation
- Blanche and constantly bathing, semantic field of cleanliness
Intro
- 1946-7
- Dramatic naturalism period
- Psychological drama
- Set in new orleans
- Antagonist - stanley kolwalski - microcosmic of the uprisin new social order
-
Overhauling themes
Sexuality and homosexuality
- Williams was a gay man during his period, which was seen as taboo as it contrasted
societal norms.
- Excessive oversexuality causes Blanche's downfall.
- Oversexually charcters often contrast with the shy and more reserved characters, blacneh
masks her hypersexuality with a facade of innocence and purity to drive men away from
her deeper truth.s
- Mitch uses his individuality to display himself as a chauvinistic and family-centred m.an
- Blanche announces her disgust for homosexuality, allan never appears onstage - displaying
the expectation of homosexuality having ot be hidden from the real world , effcets of
straying outside tradition, allans death marked the enmd of Blanche's sexual innocence
- ‘This beautiful and talented man was a degenerate ’ , degenerat wwas a derogatory term
for homosexuals , allna is still dehumanised in his death , being condensed as a indivudal
due to his sexuality , williams
- I think blanche dint jsu tlove him but she worshipped the ground he walked on - religious
connotations of worship insinuates how blanche percieved allan almost as a god ,
infatuated with him , his dreath would hav enee talem as a destruction of her entire belief
system - the immense impact of his death on blanches psychological stability can be
understood due to her disiciple-esque devotion to him
Reality v fantasy
- Blanche is stuck in a world of fantasy and is aiming
- Fantasies are used as a defence mechanism - being a Southern belle with a troubled past
has led to her being shielded from the harsh realities of her situation, embellishing her
past with the facade of romance and tranquillity
- The argument that there isn't a clear distinction between reality and fantasy blanches
demise into madness
- Towards the end of the play, the barrier between reality and fantasy is permeable, the
power of delusion
- Fantasy is altered into reality
Loss of innocence
- Blanche has trauma-induced dissociation
- Blanche and constantly bathing, semantic field of cleanliness
