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The notes include:
- Scene summary
- Highly detailed section on Themes and Ideas
- Detailed section about Characters, Symbolism and Dramatic techniques.
A Streetcar Named Desire
Scenes summary
Scene 1
• Stella goes to watch Stanley and Mitch bowling
• Blanche arrives at Elysian Fields and waits inside for her sister
• Stella returns and they greet each other
• Blanche talks about losing Belle Reve and the deaths of her family members
• Stanley meets Blanche; there is an awkward tension as it’s clear that they’re very different types
of people
• Blanche reveals her husband died when they were young
Scene 2
• Blanche is bathing
• Stanley demands to know what happened to Belle Reve
• Stella attempts to defend Blanche
• Stella leaves and Blanche finishes bathing
• Stanley confronts Blanche, and Blanche attempts to flirt with Stanley
• Stella’s pregnancy is revealed
Scene 3
• The poker night: Stanley and his friends play poker, and are drinking
• Stella and Blanche returns from an evening out
• Blanche meets Mitch
• Stanley becomes violent with Stella
• Stella and Blanche retreat to the apartment upstairs
• Stella returns to Stanley and they make love
Scene 4
• Blanche and Stella discuss the previous night; Blanche is shocked at Stella’s acceptance of
Stanley’s behaviour
• Blanche criticises Stanley
• Stanley is secretly listening to Blanche’s criticism
Scene 5
• Upstairs, Eunice and Steve fight
• Stanley hints at the knowledge of Blanche’s promiscuous past
• Blanche flirts with a young man who collects newspaper subscriptions
• Mitch arrives and they go on their date
Scene 6
• Blanche and Mitch come back from their date
• They have a conversation that highlights their differences
• Blanche tells the story of how her husband committed suicide after she discovered him in bed
with a man
,• Mitch comforts her and they discuss marriage
Scene 7
• Months later; it is mid-September and Blanche’s birthday
• Stanley reveals Blanche’s past to Stella
• Blanche realises that there is a change in atmosphere
Scene 8
• Stanley, Stella and Blanche celebrate the latter’s birthday with a meal; Mitch hadn’t arrived
• Stanley becomes violent again, before presenting Blanche with a bus ticket back home as a
supposed birthday gift
• Stella complains at his cruelty, but then goes into labour
• Stanley takes her to the hospital
Scene 9
• Both Blanche and Mitch have been drinking
• Mitch visits Blanche and tells her he knows about her past
• Blanche tried to explain but he dismisses her and attempts to rape her
• She shouts “Fire!” and he leaves
Scene 10
• Blanche is in a drunken state; her mental instability is shown through her actions
• Stanley returns home from the hospital and celebrates the birth of his child
• Stanley uncovers Blanche’s true nature and proceeds to rape her
Scene 11
• Stella packs Blanche’s suitcase; she does not believe the story of the rape
• Blanche dresses in preparation for what she believes is a trip with an admirer
• The Doctor and the Matron arrives
• Both Stella and Mitch are distressed
• Blanche is taken away
• It is hinted at that Stanley has sex with Stella in an attempt to comfort her
, Themes and Ideas
• Domestic abuse
o shown between all the couple in the play – Stella and Stanley, Eunice and Steve, Blanche and
Steve – which implies that domestic abuse is common throughout all American households
o reflects Williams’ upbringing and how his father was an alcoholic who beat his mother
o main critic: Susan Koprince, discussed domestic abuse in Streetcar
o Helene Deutsch, a Freudian psychologist, said abused women were masochists – they
provoked the abuse and enjoyed it
o critics’ views changed over time; at first, no one remarked on it as it was accepted as the
norm
o Susan Koprince remarks that domestic violence in households was ignored until the 1970s
o modern readings finally declare that Stanley is “not just a charming man prone to violence”
o Lenore Walker’s book, The Battered Woman (1979) introduced the domestic violence cycle –
tension building, acute incident, period of loving contrition – this theory is reflected in the
play
o quotes:
▪ “[Stanley gives a loud whack of his hand on her thigh.]” “I hate it when he does that in
front of people.”
▪ “[Stanley charges after Stella.]”
▪ “[There is the sound of a blow. Stella cries out.]”
▪ Stanley: “My baby doll’s left me!” “[He breaks into sobs]” “I want my baby!” “Stell-
ahhhhh!”
• Racism
o all the ethnic minorities had a lack of identity – as if they don’t contribute to society, despite
how all of them had ‘service’ jobs
o Blanche shows how, despite the abolishment of slavery, there was still white superiority and
a racial difference: “couldn’t we get a coloured girl to do it?”
o the poker group makes jokes about an “ole n-word”
▪ in the production we watched, the racial slur was replaced by the word “farmer” – shows
how views have changed over time
• Homosexuality and homophobia
o Williams was homosexual and ashamed of it – he was called a “sissy”
o many psychologists and psychiatrists considered homosexuality a mental illness in 1940s
o The American Psychiatric Association listed homosexuality as a sociopathic personality
disturbance
o the only gay character, Allan Grey, doesn’t appear for long – is more of an omnipresent
character and part of someone’s backstory rather than an actual character
o J.M. Clum: “invisible homosexuals […] in Williams’ plays […] always die a grotesque death […]
as a victim of rejection by those closest to them.”
o Christopher Isherwood and others maintain that he hated being a homosexual and could not
accept those who came to terms with their sexual orientations
o John. S. Bak: “Blanche betrays her loyalty to Allan by exposing his homosexuality, just as
Stanley does her promiscuity.”
o Stella: “this beautiful ad talented young man was a degenerate.”
o Blanche: “there was something different about the boy,” “unable to stop myself – I’d
suddenly said – ‘I know! I know! You disgust me…’”
• Sexism – male dominance and female submission
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