Streetcar scene 1-3 notes PDF

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A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE

SCENE 1 BLANCHE -

Blanche is initially portrayed in a negative manner. She comes across as a frivolous, hysterical, insensitive and self-obsessed individual who derides her sister’s lesser social status

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From early on in the play we are made aware of Blanche’s craving for drink, though her attempts to disguise her drinking immediately portray her as dishonest

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Blanche is also portrayed as being aware of social distinctions. She is offhand with both Eunice and the neighbour. To Blanche these women are not being kind, they are simply behaving in the way Blanche would expect her social inferiors to behave. Her attitude towards these women foreshadows her condemnation of Stella’s way of life and therefore implicitly her husband

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Another aspect of Blanche’s character revealed in this scene is her vanity and her need of flattery.

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Blanche is afraid of growing old and losing her looks. She relies on flattery to banish these terrors

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Blanche is clearly vulnerable, yet she is very much the older sister, treating Stella as a child and expecting her to run errands. Her superficiality and her haughtiness portray her in a negative light in the minds of the audience

STANLEY KOWALSKI -

Though we do not see much of Stanley in this scene, he definitely makes an impact

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The description contained within the stage direction “gaudy seed-bearer” conveys his sexual magnetism and his masculinity

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His entrance with the package of meat symbolises his primitive qualities as it is if he were bringing it back to his cave fresh from the kill

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Stanley’s cocky interactions with Blanche show him to be insensitive as he barely lets Blanche get a word in edgeways as he quickly assesses her beauty

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Yet, the audience is more likely to sympathise with Stanley rather than Blanche as his unpretentiousness and zest for life contrasts sharply with her snobbish values

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His entrance also underscores the intense sexual bond between himself and Stella

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He yells “Catch” as he throws the package. A moment later the Negro woman shouts “Catch what?” Eunice and the Negro woman see something sexual and hilarious in Stanley’s act of tossing the meat to a breathlessly delighted Stella

SETTING - NEW ORLEANS -

New Orleans is immediately portrayed as a cosmopolitan city where all races mingle freely. Here blacks mingle with whites and members of ethnic groups play poker and bowl together. This is the changing face of the new America, clearly represented by the character of Stanley

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Elysian Fields is the name of the rundown street. The irony is obvious as in classical mythology Elysian Fields are the equivalent of paradise or the home of the blessed dead

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The irony is continued in the fact that Stanley is clearly at home in Elysian Fields, but the Kowalskis’ home and neighbourhood are certainly not Blanche’s idea of heaven

SETTING - THE APARTMENT -

Throughout scene one the windows and door of the apartment are left open. This symbolises the way in which Stanley and the others leave everything out in the open

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Belle Reve which is the name of the Dubois family’s former plantation translates as “beautiful dream”. This is appropriate as the “dream” is now all that remains of it

STAGE DIRECTIONS -

The blue piano music is used to symbolise the Elysian Fields area of New Orleans

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The polka music (that only Blanche and the audience can hear) is obviously important and its importance is made clear in Scene 6

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Williams’ directions are precise in their use of imagery and contrast sharply with the language used by most of the characters on the stage ( with the exception of Blanche and Stella). They therefore serve to underline the uneducated speech of most of the people on the stage.

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In contrast Blanche’s quotation from Poe’s poem reminds us that she is an English teacher

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The stage directions are also used to draw our attention to the two main characters – Blanche and Stanley

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Remember Blanche’s arrival as though “dressed for a garden party” and her fluttering manner reminding us of a moth

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Remember Stanley’s description as “the gaudy seed bearer”

SYMBOLISM/IMAGERY -

Blanche’s white clothes ironically suggest virginal connotations

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Blanche’s constant drinking symbolises her inability to cope with reality and her desire to forget the past

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Blanche’s representation as aristocratic and sensitive symbolises the old South

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Blanche hearing the Polka symbolises her thinking about her dead husband

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Blanche’s obsession with her appearance symbolises her inability to cope with reality. We all become old and lose our looks

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Stanley’s animal sexuality is symbolised by numerous stage directions

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Stanley’s butcher’s package symbolises blood, danger, violence and his primitive qualities

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Stanley’s being brash, loud and arrogant is symbolic of the New South

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The music of the blue piano symbolises the vitality and pleasure of the French Quarter of New Orleans

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The cramped apartment is symbolic of all the characters being thrown together and the claustrophobic lives they lead

A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE-SCENE TWO

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This scene is important as in this scene the groundwork is laid for the conflicts which follow:

Stanley’s jealousy and suspicion

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Blanche’s ignorance of the effect her behaviour has on people

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Both the motive and means for Blanche’s destruction are now becoming clear as Williams prepares the ground for the inevitable calamity

: BLANCHE -

The audience’s compassion for Blanche increases as Williams reveals just how destitute she is by showing that all her belongings in the world amount to a trunk full of cheap dresses, fake furs and costume jewellery

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Blanche takes the first of many baths in this scene. She says that steaming hot baths are necessary to calm her nerves. Yet, Blanche’s constant need to wash her body symbolises her need for emotional, spiritual and mental cleansing.

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On one level this habit is extremely irritating to the other inhabitants of the apartment and will significantly increase the tension. On another level, her bathing foreshadows the

eventual revelation of her sordid past. She desires to rid herself of her social blemishes and start over again after leaving Laurel -

The second part of the scene begins with Blanche making an appearance in her red bath robe. Her flirting manner arouses Stanley’s suspicions as he senses that her provocative behaviour is more fitting for a prostitute than a schoolteacher, “If I didn’t know that you were my wife’s sister I’d get ideas about you!”

STANLEY -

In this scene Stanley’s antagonism to Blanche grows as do his suspicions about her

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Stanley’s hostility is rooted in his sharp awareness of the class differences between himself and Blanche (and by implication Stella) and his instinctive reaction is to pull her down to his level

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This class antagonism is intensified by Stanley’s suspicions that Blanche has cheated both he and Stella

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He is unaware that Blanche’s costume jewellery is fake and his resentment grows when Stella mocks him

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Stanley’s repeated references to the Napoleonic Code show that he is ignorant of legal technicalities because Belle Reve being in Mississippi would not fall under New Orleans jurisdiction

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However, these repeated references highlight the fact that his conflict with Blanche is also a gender showdown. Stanley feels that as a man whatever Stella has belongs to him. He also hates Blanche as a woman and as a person with a far more prestigious family name. He therefore suspects that her business dealings have been dishonest

SYMBOLISM/IMAGERY -

Blanche posturing in her red robe is symbolic of the scarlet woman of the Bible (Revelation 17)

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Blanche’s reference to “The blind are leading the blind” is symbolic of Matthew 15:14 which reads “And if the blind shall lead the blind, both shall fall into a ditch”. The implication here is of impending disaster

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Blanche’s constant bathing

SCENE THREE - Scene three cements Stanley’s identity as the villain

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Scene three highlights the primal nature of Stanley and Stella’s relationship

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Scene three illustrates Stanley’s domination over his friends as he makes all the decisions about the game

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Scene three illustrates his friends devotion as they look after him tenderly when he is drunk

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Scene three is when Stella first chooses Stanley over Blanche. This foreshadows events later in the play. Stella has already decided whose side she is on

BLANCHE -

Her vanity makes her lie about Stella’s age

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Her inability to deal with reality makes her claim that she has come to help out because Stella has not been well

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Yet, none of her lies are malicious. She tells lies in order to protect herself from reality and the tragedies she has to endure

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Her seductive posturing half undressed in the gap in the curtains appears instinctive when men are around. This highlights the contradictions in her character : the genteel Southern lady who expects men to stand up when she comes in and who cannot bear a rude remark or vulgar action and the cheap seductress

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Blanche’s purchase of the Chinese lantern to put over the light bulb is again symbolic of her inability to face reality. Both literally and metaphorically light threatens to reveal Blanche’s lies

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Blanche’s determination to take Stella away from Stanley is not forgiven or forgotten by Stanley and makes him all the more determined to be rid of his unwanted visitor

STANLEY -

Stanley’s loud and domineering behaviour during the poker game as well as his loud shirts emphasise his manliness

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Stanley throwing down the watermelon emphasises his disregard both for the house and for Stella. It foreshadows the radio incident and hints at his capacity for violence

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Stanley’s drinking symbolises destructive behaviour as he commits domestic violence

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His shower symbolises his attempts to wash away his sins i.e. hitting Stella

STANLEY AND STELLA -

Stella and Stanley’s reunion conveys the extent of their desire for each other. Stella’s desire for Stanley is so great that she is prepared to forgive him anything

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Their “animal-like” moans when they embrace on the front steps illustrates their animal-like passion for each other

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There is a sense of King Kong in Stanley picking up Stella and carrying her away. This reminds us of his primitive/ape like qualities

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Stella choosing Stanley foreshadows the outcome of the play. She has decided whose side she is on

BLANCHE AND MITCH -

Mitch is the complete opposite of Stanley. He is kind, understanding, sympathetic and shy

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Blanche’s conversation with Mitch at the end of the scene emphasises the class differences between them and highlights the efforts he is making to overcome them

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The description of their dancing symbolises thart ultimately they are ill-suited to each other “Mitch dances clumsily, mimicking Blanche’s grand movements”

STAGECRAFT -

The harsh, jarring discordant piano sounds highlight the harshness of what is happening on stage – Stanley’s violence...