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Street car planning - Coggle Diagram
Street car planning
Explore the ways in which Williams makes use of confrontation in A Streetcar Named
Desire.
Confrontation with mitch
Williams utilises this confrontation to force blanche to confront the extent of her delusions
She tries to maintain them, but Mitch no longer plays along shown by "I don't decent to the level of such cheap accusations to answer them even" vs "huh", difference in length and sophistication shows disconnect between her and mitch, between illusion and reality
when he turn s the light on, he is symbolically forcing blanche to confront the true nature of her illusions, "I don't want realism...Magic! yes yes Magic.
Dichotomy between the "magic" and "realism", and as well as ironic in that her most honest moment in the play is processing her need for lies euphemistically referred to as "what ought to be truth" - further level of disconnect with reality
Context of women in the 40s, valued primarily for their chastity and faithfulness, which blanche does not possess. Apart from her relations with minors, the apparently sexually liberated new south will not accept Blanche's actioons. Not only does this scene show confrontation within blanche herself, but also withing hte values of the new south
Then mitch not only weakens her illusions about love and chivalry by trying to rape her, but also shatters her illusions about herself "your not clean enough to bring in the house with my mother"
"Clean enough" not only objectifies blanche as something dirty to be "brought" (no agency), also ironic considering blanche's bathing habit
However this confrontation has the main purpose of illustrating the importance of Blanche;s illusions to her, as after this she manages to assert her self easily over Mitch by crying "wildly". She dehumanised and panicked, but still is powerful, made so by the maintenance of her illusions
Confrontation with stanley
This confrontation is hinted at from the beginning, portrayed fatalistically.
Through stanly's line "we've had this date with each other from the beginning", characterisation of rape as a date shows his awful dominance and lack of respect for women. The line could be referring to blanche's many insults towards him such as "polak" "brute" ''primitive", but more likely is refering to their diametirically opposed nature symbolised through their appearances.
plastic theater. B's "white" and "mothlike" stanley is "rough" and "blue" and "richly feathered male bird"
portrays blanche as weak and him as strong
Sets him up as a symbol of the new asouth and her as a smbol of the old south
This conflict may have been fated because through these characters williams explores the doomed nature of the old south, the blue of stanly's clothes even linking to the blue of the blue piano that provides a sound track to B's mental decline
confrontation with the doctor
This confrontation shows blanches ultimate refusal to confront reality
Before hand the similie "an ocean as blue as my first love's eyes" shows us that she is holding on the the past and links her idea of rest with the last time she was happy, in a relationship built on a lie
Expressionist theater is used in the "Jungle noises" to create a sense of power and danger that includes the audience, making ti clear to hem how complete this destruction is, harkening back to the rape scene. This portrays reality to the audience in a manner as harsh and as threatening as blanche finds it.
violence in "springs up" etc shows intensity of B's refusal to confront reality
This shows the doomed nature of the old south and the fact that it was dying without the slavery and both ore people going to the cities. It was driving people away with its holding onto it's dated way of life
Ironically, the actions of the doctor, a symbol of reality confirm that the way of life B was holding onto was an illusion, because he trats her with ehe respect she was looking for, but she only recieves it after she has gone mad.
Williams utilises confrontation in the play a street car named desire to reveal truths about the main character blanche and to explore realities at the time of writing