Streetcar AO2

• Greek tragedy terms

  • Hamartia - Ignorance of a particular fact or set of facts, a 'tragic flaw'
  • Pathos - acts destructive to life, must be combined with hamartia
  • Peripeteia - a reversal of action/intent
  • Anagnorisis - recognition of ignorance
• Plastic theatre - blue piano

  • "The music from the blue piano grows louder"
  • Enhances dream like feel of the play
  • Used when Blanche recalls loosing Belle Reeve and when she kisses the young man
  • Is loudest when Blanche is sent away to the asylum
  • The use of it the first scene and last scene emphasises cyclical structure and shows Blanche's need for companionship
• Plastic theatre - shadows

  • Light represents truth, this is why Blanche uses an artificial lantern on the light bulb and is never seen in the daylight
  • Odd shadows on the walls during Blanche and Stanley's fight heightens her breakdown
• Plastic theatre - jungle noises

  • "low animal moans"
  • "The inhuman jungle voices rise up"
  • Shows the animals inside humans
  • Highlights the brutality of the rape scene
• Plastic theatre - 'It's only paper moon!' song

  • The song that Blanche sings when Stanley learns of her promiscuity
  • The louder he insists on the undeniable facts about Blanche, the louder she sings
  • Song is about how if both lovers believe in their imagined reality, then it's no longer "make-believe"
  • Shows how she believes that her lying is harmless, as she tires to weave harmony with her lies
• Plastic theatre - locomotive sounds

  • "A locomotive is heard approaching outside"
  • Sound associated with Stanley (modern, impressive and raw)
  • Played when Blanche reveals the truth
  • S4 - he overhears the conversation of the sisters and there is a sound of an approaching train
  • S6 - when Blanche is telling Mitch of her past she harrowed by the sound and memory of a locomotive
  • S10 - Before rape the sounds get louder
  • May also represent Blanche's desire to escape
• Plastic theatre - Varsouviana Polka

  • "The music of the polka rises up, faint in the distance"
  • Arouses a sense of loss and regret for Blanche
  • S1 - when Stanley questions her about her husband
  • S6 - when she tells Mitch about Allan's suicide
  • S8 - when Stanley gives her the Greyhound ticket
  • Draws upon the mental deterioration of Blanche and is used to bring bout her loss of the grip of reality
• Plastic theatre - costume design

  • Men's dominance shown through bold colours, compared to women's softer tones - "blue denim work clothes"
  • Clothes used to represent class background
  • Blanche confesses to Mitch in a "scarlet satin robe" which has sinful connotations as it's associated with the biblical 'whore of Babylon'
• Theme - sexual desire

  • Blanche's conception of herself in the world relies on male sexual desire for her, seen with her flirting with Stanley, Mitch and the young man
  • Stanley's sexual desire is linked to his masculinity as it asserts itself in a violent way over both Stella and Blanche
  • Sexual desire is linked to destruction as it is responsible for domestic violence between Stella and Stanley, Steve and Eunice, the rape of Blanche, the isolation of Blanche from society in the South and Allan's suicide
• Theme - masculinity

  • Stanley presented as a brute through his aggression and animalistic physicality
  • Men contrast women with bold colours in their costumes
  • Asserting masculinity psychologically, seen when he digs into Blanche's past life
  • Asserting masculinity through his response to femininity, like his pride after learning of Stella's pregnancy
  • Mitch represents manhood as a place of comfort and refuge, which attracts Blanche. However he still uses his physical presence to attract
  • Allan is defined by his 'lack of' masculinity
• Plastic theatre - echoes

  • "The greeting is echoed and re-echoed by other mysterious voices"
  • "The echo sounds in threatening whispers"
  • "Lured reflections"
  • Shows Blanche's declining mental health
  • Shows how her narrative and ending has been influenced by other voices, like Stanley