structure

• divisions in the play

  dramatists had to take into account costs and difficulties and expenses of changing scenery

  expected to limit settings to a few= change of scenery= new act

  explains why Williams a-typically limits his play to 11 scenes with no break for an interval indicated

  no change of scene= pointless

  also, increases the dramatic tension= each act ends with a dramtic punchline or gesture= if the play was broken up into 3 acts (as conventional) the audience might become less absorbed in the action as each break would effectively take them out of it
• Williams grew up in the 'golden age of cinema'


  hyper aware of the film industry= was a critic in high school

  consciously, or unconsciously absorbing different ways of structuring movies

  1944: 'The Glass Menagerie'= Williams established his preference for the multi-scene format vs 3 acts
• structuring of the scenes

  1-6: 1st few days of blanches visit in may= events move more slowly= set the stage for the oncoming calamities

  sense of restraint (excluding stanleys violent outburst)= a muted sense of anticipation of disaster= audience aware of the likeliness of an unhappy ending

  7-10: violence of these scenes moves the play at a faster rate= increases the dramatic tension= all takes play in one day in sept (may-sept= tension has had time to build between stanley and blanche)
• a-typical of dramatic conventions


  the climax takes place right before the end of the play (scene 10)= no more hope for blanche

  antebellum is literally and metaphorically dominated= also increases dramatic irony= infers Blanche had the chance to be saved right until the last moment, but was ultimately denied this chance
• importance of the 3rd scene


  Williams thought about naming the play "The Poker Party"= highlights scene 3's importance to the rest of the play
• scene 9


  the symbolic or expressionist figure of the Mexican flower seller

  reminds blanche of all of the deaths in her past

  mitch's attempts to have sex with blanche= could foreshadow the events in scene 10
• scene 11


  maintains the illusion of humdrum everyday activities, which is shattered by blanche's attempt to escape before being restored to the illusion of calm

  shows how the real world can exist before and after blanche/ the antebellum= merely just a blip in the middle that had to be destroyed??? (stanley as justified??)
• stella's pregnancy

  runs parallel to the events of the play

  underlines stanley's sexual dominance

  balances out blanches downfall/ destruction with the birth of new life= symbolic of new beginnings, e.g. post-war society

  pregnancy as justification for stella not believing blanche?? she has her own future and security to protect