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p1339_p_v8_ab (Diction/Syntax ("Let the rut go of me, you sons of…
Characters
Eunice Hubbell
Lower class family
Loves her husband despite faults
"I always did say that men are callous things with no feelings, but this does beat anything. Making
pigs of yourselves."
Stella Kowalski
Takes husband's side over sister's
"What have I done to my sister? Oh god what have I done to my sister?"
Blanche's younger sister
Stanley's wife
Stanley Kowalski
Knows what he wants in life
His chief amusements are gambling, bowling, sex, and drinking, and he lacks ideals and imagination.
The alpha male
Stanley throws packages of meat at his wife, and doesn't take her bowling with him and his friends.
loves Stella but she doesn't
“He acts like an animal, has an animal’s habits”(72)
Steve Hubbell
Steve plays poker with Stanley
"Hey, are we playin' poker tomorrow"?
lives upstairs with Eunice his wife
"Steve's arm is around Eunice's shoulder and she is
sobbing luxuriously and he is cooing love-words"
Harold Mitchell
Blanche's boyfriend for a time
Dumps Blanche after her lies are revealed
Mitch: "You lied to me, Blanche."
Nicer than Stanley
Mitch: "How do you do, Miss DuBois?"
Blanche Dubois
Vulnerable
Stanley raped her because he knew that there was nothing she could do and he knew that Stella would stay with him because she was pregnant with his baby.
Manipulative
" I think of myself as a very very rich woman! But I have been foolish casting my pearls before swine!" This works as evidence because she has manipulated those around her into thinking she is still rich
Symbols
Cries
The sounds that Blanche hears as she slowly descends into madness
little breathless cries and peals of laughter are heard as
if a child were frolicking in the tub. (p. 108)
The Varsouviana Polka
She tells Mitch that it ends only after she hears the sound of a gunshot in her head. she feels guilty about Allen's death.
We danced the Varsouviana! Suddenly in the middle of the dance the boy I had married broke away from me and ran out of the casino. A few moments later--a shot! (p. 103)
Shadows
The people crowding her as she accuses Stanley of obscenity.
Lurid reflections appear on the wall around Blanche. The shadows are of a grotesque and menacing form She catches her breath, crosses to the phone and jiggles the hook. Stanley goes
into the bathroom and closes the door. (p. 138)
“It’s Only a Paper Moon”
This is the song that Blanche sings to drown out the sounds of her sexually active past.
"Say, it's only a paper moon, Sailing over a cardboard sea--But it wouldn't be make-believe If you believed in me!"
Literary Devices
Imagery
"The surrounding areas dim as the interior lightens."
Foreshadowing
Blanche says not talking is "A good habit to get into" meaning I think Stella wont say something about what happens later on.
Diction/Syntax
"Let the
rut
go of me, you sons of bitches" (Williams 58)
"You stinker! You
whelp
of a Polack, you! (Williams 60)
Whelp refers to a wild animal
Rut refers to a habitual mode of behavior
Stanley always calls Stella his doll, meaning he thinks of her as beautiful, but at the same time thinks that he is in possession of her.
Juxtaposition: "You can't beat on a woman an' then call 'er back!" (Williams 60)
Quick, sadly, blue, firmly, still, slow, wet, indistinguishable, shrill, dissonant, dark, night light, half-dressed, baying
"Eunice? I want my baby. (59)
"I want my baby down here. Stella, Stella!" (59)
"I want my girl to come down with me!" (60)
Eunice has the control that Stanley seeks
Plot Events
Setting- Right after WW2 , New Orleans, Lousiana ,nice neighboorhood
Stella Kowalski sister Blanche Dubois moves from a small town in Mississippi to Stella's apartment in Lousiana.
Stanley hits Stella , uneasy relationship.
Blanche and Mitch's relationship doesn't work out.
Stanley rape's Blanche.
Blanche gets put in a insane asylum.
Themes: Crime Solver
New vs Old: Blanche told Stella that when she moved away everything changed.
The author conveys a theme that even though things may change that there is no such thing as staying the same. Everything a person does changes them.
Fantasy Vs Reality: Blanche feels as if she thinks Stella will stay with her instead of Stanley because Stanley raped her and they were sisters but Stella decided to be with Stanley.
In a streetcar named desire Williams shows the theme of reality and fantasy by showing that just because a person may want to have something that doesn't mean you will get your way. Individuals choose their own paths.
Dependence: Stella said that she wants to be with Stanley because if she left with Blanche then she would not be financially stable.
Lastly the dependence of men plays an extremely large role in this play. Williams uses Blanche’s and Stella’s dependence on men to expose and critique the treatment of women during the transition from the old to the new South. Both Blanche and Stella see male companions as their only means to achieve happiness, and they depend on men for both their sustenance and their self-image.
Connotation
The women feel as if even though their men leave they might survive without them but it wont be easy.
Stella loves blanche but only stays with Stanley because he is her babies father.
The reason that Blanche feels as if she needs stella is because she never made it on her own.
Denotation
A woman's dependence on a man is whether or a not a woman can live without a man in her life.
Fantasy is what a person dreams of and reality is what is actually happening.
The Old south was what it was before and the New is what it is now.
