Surrealism and Violence 25/11/15

Surrealism and Violence

Surrealism or expressionistic drama:

• using symbolic or abstract representations of reality and non-naturalistic techniques
• and a technique of distorting objects and events in order to present them as they are perceived by a character in a literary work

Scene 3:

• The stage directions emphasise bold, primary colours
• Mention of Van Gogh who had a very turbulent life and was mentally unstable
• His painting mentioned in the scene is vivid, uncomfortably bright and quite surreal
• Brightly coloured shirts clash and also show alpha male struggle

Foreshadowing of Violence:

• Light "spills"
• "whisky bottles"- alcohol is prominent
• "wild"- first mention in the scene
• Stanley's language is aggressive as he orders characters around "Ante up"
•  His actions are threatening "He lurches up and tosses watermelon rind to the floor"

Poker is a game of strategy and its aim is to bluff and pretend.

In the play, all the characters do this to a certain extent.

The play was originally going to be called 'The Poker Night'.

"I can't stand a naked light bulb"- focus on nakedness and when she bathes she is trying to purify herself

Clarinet moans- surreal piece of music to represent desire

John Mcrae

John Mcrae

Scene One:

• Elysian fields- Heaven in Greek mythology
• Play is set through May to September- it goes through summer so it is very hot
• Presence of characters- represents whole of society- music in background, people walking up and down stairs etc
• Integration of white and black people- New Orleans is a very developed state compared to what Blanche is used to
• Therefore, it is a multi-cultural and multi-cultural
• "Red hot! Red hots!" and "Blue Moon cocktail"- colours clash and could represent Stanley and Blanche
• "Money"- right at the start, Mitch is characterised about money
• Stanley represents movement but Blanche is a static character- binary pair
• "incongruous to this"- Blanche can immediately be identified as a fish out of water
• "moth"- Blanche is described as a moth which is delicate but also drawn to flame so it destroys itself.
• Moths also destroy clothes so she could be seen as destroying everything around her
• Eunice "we own this place"- Blanche owns nothing
• The French society of the past contrasts with the multi-cultural New Orleans
• There is a complex and sympathetic relationship between the audience and Blanche- the audience knows her secrets like how much she likes to drink though she pretends the opposite to the other characters

Scene Two:

• The paperwork symbolises the past and how it is catching up with the future
• Blanche's past is represented by the documents and how her Southern society has faded/ been sold off
• Stella's baby represents the future and how the modern American society is progressing forward, even without money
• Some critics say Blanche is childless in the way gay people cannot have kids
• However, Blanche is not childless in a tragic way, it is because she is the end of the line
• Blanche says "epic fornications" which shows it runs in the family and this has lead to two very different sisters with very different career paths
• Stella is seen in a positive light- she will stick with Stanley but is loyal to Blanche
• Is Blanche a lost cause already? She goes past Cemetaries in Scene One so is she alive but dead
• How dead is Blanche? At the end she latches onto the doctors as a last hope for survival
• Napoleonic code links to French background
• Property- Blanche does not own anything so her body is very important to her
• She is constantly bathing and washing her hair but she is fading
• She tells Stella up front "I was flirting with your husband"- This is the only thing she knows how to do and thinks that is what all men want
• She is irresponsible- she does not know how to be responsible so she makes up for it by flirting with men
• It becomes tragic because she is noble in her own way

Scene Three:

• The poker game is exclusive and is all about masculinity and violence
• When Steve tells a joke it's a male joke and it is about sex. A rooster gives up sex for food which means this is centred around priority
• What priorities are there in the play? Priority of sex over food, sex over money...
• Male rivalry- Mitch goes away from poker game to Blanche
• Blanche refers to the toilet in front of Mitch as the "Little Boys' Room" because she is playing on her femininity which contrasts with the men who have all been drinking beer
• Mitch and Blanche's relaationship begins with a physical need
• Mitch lives alone with his mum and many critics say he symbolises stability- I don't think he does
• Alan, Blanche's husband is gay, Mitch is not
• The tragedy for Mitch is that he will be disappointed with Blanche's past
• Mitch and Blanche talk about "gallantry" which is old fashioned
• There is an echo of 'Gone with the Wind' in the film as Blanche is played by the same actress who played Scarlett O'Hara- this is symbolic as it was set in the American Civil War
• The play is about how America grows up- though Blanche does not
• The poker game explodes with violence- it is a clash of masculine egos and values that are at stake
• Mitch tells Blanche that "There's nothing to be scared of. They're crazy about each other"
• But Blanche cannot connect with their rough relationship as she is used to gallantry

Scene Four:

• This scene runs straight on from the previous
• "There is a confusion of street cries like a choral chant"- Williams likes the idea of a choral chant where everything outside like sound, movement, light and dark creates a choral commentary like a Greek tragedy
• This symbolises that life goes on- even for Blanche
• So how much is it a tragedy? Is it because she survives or the fact that she keeps going? Is it someone else's tragedy?
• Mitch becomes the emblem of unfulfilled desire
• The key word in this scene is "desire"
• There is the idea of Blanche being a moth again
• Blanche always has the dream of finding a nice guy who will help her out
• Shep Huntleigh could be seen as imaginary as he is the perfect escape for Blanche as he is very rich
• "that is your job not mine"- Blanche's view on how to live with men
• However, she says "job" and not role so it makes it sound like a money transaction
• Blanche talks about flags which is a sign of identity- the Confederate flag is still flown in some states in America

Essay Presentations 19/11/15

Essays

Setting:

• It was set in 1947, the same year it was written.
• The environment is very busy and there is lots of background noise.
• It is set mainly in the house which makes it very intimate and dark,oppressive.
• This means that when the tension builds, there is nowhere for it go.
• This is reflected in the rape scene where Blanche cannot escape Stanley because of the tight space.
• It also symbolises entrapment in the domestic sphere.
• The summer is very hot and creates a suffocating atmosphere.
• It helps create a sexual tension between Stanley and Blanche because Stanley takes his top off.
• Also, the heat has a connotation to animals in heat.

Lights, Music, Action:

• Elysian Fields- Heaven in Greek mythology,
• Streetcar Named Desire- Blanche's desire was what drove her to Elysian Fields in the first place which inevitably destroys her,
• External music- Blues music which was modern at the time.
• Second music- Polka European music (it is old fashioned and only Blanche hears it).
• Polka music is what Blanche dances to with her husband before he shoots himself- which is where she loses her innocence.
• Sound of trains- allows Stanley to eavesdrop on Stella and Blanche.
• It is also heard when Stanley rapes Blanche and is then overwhelmed by blues music.
• Bright light- antithesis of fantasy
• Blanche uses light as a metaphor when Alan Gray killed himself
• Blanche has a white dress at the start but in Scene Five coke is spilled over her skirt and it is crumpled. This symbolises how her past has caught up to her and her innocence is ruined.

Gender, Language and Culture:

• Sociolinguistics theory in 1970's.
• Expletives- Blanche avoids them "What in Heaven are you thinking of?".
• Stanley drops his pleases and thank yous.
• Empty adjectives- Blanche uses them "That's a pretty, pretty little case there".
• Lexical hedges- Blanche uses a lot of hedges which shows she is uncertain but also does not want the blame to be linked back to her. "I guess that is what it is meant to be in love" and "I guess you're hoping I'll say I'll put up at a hotel".
• Super polite forms- "If you'll excuse me I'm just about to drop" and at the end "Please don't get up I'm just passing through".
• Blanche and Stanley are trapped in the gender stereotypes thrust upon them and what language they are supposed to use.
• Blanche is described as wearing a white dress while Stanley wears bold colours.
• In the play, lower class people are represented by bold colours whereas higher class is represented by dull colours.
• Blanche says she likes bold colours which suggests she is either growing more accustomed to a lower class environment or she is just pretending to be

Williams' Mother 18/11/15

Williams' Mother

Williams' mother was a Southern Belle and he was raised in a world alike to Blanche's. Furthermore, Edwina's personality appears to be similar to Blanche's.

Williams' brother, Dakin, stated that their mother "liked to focus the attention on herself by talking" when describing her. This is similar to Blanche when she points out Stella has not said anything and Stella explains that is because "You haven't given me a chance to, honey!". This is the first interaction Blanche and Stella have in the play so the constant talking is one of the first aspects of Blanche's personality the audience learns. Furthermore, Blanche is obviously nervous but uses language as a tool to express power as she does not want to seem weak. She is using language to prevent Stella from seeing how powerless she truly is. The pet name "honey" that Stella uses implies affection and familiarity which suggests Stella is used to this behaviour.

Key quotes about Edwina:

" 'She was always talking,' Dakin said. 'There was never any silence. You would step in the room, and she immediately started.' "

"Eloquence was a show of power amid her powerlessness"

" 'Miss Edwina will still be talking for at least an hour after she's laid to rest,'n Williams wrote in his essay "Let It All Hang Out"' "

" 'I always like to forget the unpleasant' Edwina wrote"