A street car named desire.

Scene 1:
"They told me to take a street car named desire, and transfer to one named cementeries and ride six blocks and
get off at Elysian Fields"
Allegorical version of her life up to that point in time:
Her persuit of a sexual life led her not only to a social death but also, its a reference to her husbands
death, and then, her being expulsed from her town, ending her in a seedy district likened to a pagan
heaven, beginning a sort of afterlife (hell) where she lives the consequences to her actions.

Scene 2:
"There are thousands of papers, stretching back over hundreds of years, affecting Belle Reve as, piece by piece,
our improvident grandfathers and father and uncles and brothers" p.28
Speech from Blanche to Stanley to tell what happened to Belle Reve, the tone shows her personality.
"Oh, I guess he´s just not the one that goes for jasmine perfume, but maybe he´s what we need to miz with our
blood now that we´ve lost Belle Reve" p.30
Blanche talks about Stanley:
How he lacks refinement and that which would normally make her be opposed to the relationship,
makes her believe that they can no longer afford luxuries and that lifestyle is what they need in order to
survive.

Scene 3:
"yellow linoleum" + "solid blue, purple, red and white"
Primary colors:
The author makes an equivalent scene to the billiard parlour night from Van Gogh, this being in the
kitchen when there is a poker night takes place.
Plastic Theatre: Direct connection to the men who are at the "peak of their physical man
hood", as coarse and direct and powerful as the primary colors.
The four men wear different colours to stand out, Mitch, on the other hand, has a two colored t-shirt: red
and WHITE.
They speak in primary words (monosilables) then they insult the only one with feelings (Mitch) and then
do a sex joke.
"You are standing in the light!"
"White Radio" = Blanche

Scene 4:
Motifs:
"coral chants" p.46
sets the atmosphere as harmonious and calm.
Animal/ ape-like
Blanche´s description of Stanley
Drinking:
Alluding to something Blanceh is not.
Symbols:
Belle Reve p.52
Dream of how life should be.
Curtains
Representative of Stella separating Stanley and Blanche -> Animal and the moth.
Locomotive Sounds
Stanley - Desire p.53
Kleenex and Eyebrow sound
femininity p.51
Bromo
 Drink to relax herself, overstressed.
Fix the radio
Stanley tries to give a nice gesture after what he did.
Foreshadowing:
The curtains animal and moth
Blanches alcoholism.

Scene 5:
Virgo is the Virgin"
Holds the notion of virginal and innocent because she is the opposite
"Hotel Flamingo"
Not a classy place, a hotel where people go to have sex.
"perfume and handkerchief"
Plastic Theatre: Perfume is used to cover up bad odor, this shows that she is trying to hide something,
covering the truth.
"What have you heard about me?"
Sounds almost desperate to know if Stella knows about her "one night shelter".
"There are joyous calls from above. Trumpet and drums are heard from around the corner"
Symbol: associated with Stanley / loud/ masculinity?

Scene 6:

"What have you heard about me?"

Sounds almost desperate to know if Stella knows about her "one night shelter".
"There are joyous calls from above. Trumpet and drums are heard from around the corner"
Symbol: associated with Stanley / loud/ masculinity?
" Sure this doesnt always work.
Blanche: Its temperamental?" p.65
A light described just like Blanche.
She is like a child predator:
Taking the predatory role of a man.
"I have to take my hands of the kids these days"

"I was just obeying the law of nature"

Which law is that?
The one that says the lady must entertain the gentleman- or no dice!"p.68
Gender
"I do that a single girl, a girl alone in the world, has got to keep a firm hold on her emotions or she´ll be
lost"
"Let´s leave the lights off. Shall we?"
She does not want to be exposed.
Mitch is compared to a lamb indirectly as he has all the descriptions of one while Blanche is
condescenting and predatory. Mitch is a pretty honest guy he is uneasy at all the facade Blanche is
putting on a facade
"It was like you suddently turned a blinding light on something that had been half in shadow" p.75
She finds out that his husband was gay and explains how he comitted suicide.
The light of love she felt once doesnt allow her to hit her anymore.

Scene 7:
"Flamingo"
"Dame Blanche" - Mocking tone, to make fun of her so called purity.
"Paper moon" song - Motif: creating a fantasy.
"say, it´s only a paper moon, Sailing over a cardboard sea-
 "say, it´s only a paper moon, Sailing over a cardboard sea-
But it wouldn´t be make-believe If you believed in me!"
She creates a fake world where her lies are true and if you believed her your world would be fake too.
Fantasizing about Mitch. An the idea of them being together.
The fact that she baths all the time could mean she is trying to cleanse herself from all her impurities as she tries
to be pure.
Juxtaposition between Stanleys yelling and Blanche´s singing.
degenerate - gay
"who wrote poetry"
Shows views of society on being gay.
"Killed her illusions "
The illusions that one can be loved in this world.
A non violent guy can love her.
"Is Mitch through with her?"
Mitch is the only hope Blanche has.
Italics emphasize the importance of Mitch.
"the distant piano goes into a hectic breakdown"

Scene 8: (p.87-94)
GENDER ROLES ARE REALLY IMPORTANT IN THIS SCENE

"A torch of sunlight blazes on the side of a big water tank"

Very strong light
Juxtaposition with candles over TORCH
""pierced by pin points of lighted windows reflecting sunsets"
Stella: embarassed
Stanley: sullen
Blanche: artificial smile
Stanley cruelty: envelope makes Blanche have a breakdown.
Varsouviana: fierce and rapid
Looses her sanity.
Blanche associates the polka with her young husband’s suicide. Blanche and her husband were dancing the
polka when she lashed out at him for his homosexual behavior, and he left the dance floor and shot himself.
The music plays when Blanche is reminded of her husband in specific or when she is particularly disturbed
by the past in general. The polka continues until some event in the real world distracts her or until a gunshot
goes off in her memory. Although the polka plays in Blanche’s mind, and she is the only character onstage
who hears the tune, the audience also hears the polka when she hears it.

Blanche wants Stellas child to have eyes like candles becuase she wants him to be gentle like her illusion of a
man.
"Im the king" reinforcing gender roles.
Stanley: "ripping off his shirt"
The fact that he ripps off his shirt shows his masculine role as it is a very aggressive action. This also shows
that he does not respect Stella as according to their relationship and each of their roles in it, she is going to
end up being the one that has to fix it.

Scene 9:
"The rapid, feverish polka tune"
The Varsouviana is always in her mind
"She is drinking to escape it"
Varsouviana triggers the worst moment in her life (when the husband dies)
"She has on her scarlet satin robe"
Plastic Theatre: danger
 Light Motif:
"I like it dark. The dark is comforting to me"
"Tears paper lantern off the lightbulb"
"Lets turn the light on"
"her delicate beauty must avoid a strong light"
Direct connection to scene I. Foreshadowing.
"Fire"
"Ill tell you what I like. Magic!"
"I don´t like realism"
Theme: Illusions.
"You are not clean enough to bring into the house with my mother"
"Everything gone but the...[...] Death - [...] The opposite is desire."
deus aux machina:
Deus aux machina is a plot device whereby a seemingly unsolvable problem in a story is suddenly abruptly
resolved by an unexpected and seemingly unlikely occurrence, typically so much as to seem contrived.
"What do you think you are? A pair of queens?"
"I am the king around here, so dont you forget it!"
By using the word what instead of who, Stanley is dehumanizing them. Also they can not be queens, and
have power while he can be a king, this shows hypocresy and also that he believes that he is the only one
with some form of power.
He is being grotesque in his masculinity.
When he uses dont you forget it, like a warning.

Scene 10:
"you never know what is coming"
foreshadowing p.106
"close the curtains before you undress any further"
"red letter night" p.107
"I always break out on a special ocasion like this! The silk pijamas I wore on my wedding night" p.107
Bottle opener" p.106
Swine --> men

Scene 11:
Blanche needs an illusion, this is shown through her attempt to stay away from the primary colors.
cool yellow, silver and turquoise, artificial violets.
Tragic radiance.
close the curtains before I come out.
Conspiratory atmosphere. They are trying to manioulate her, they are stalin for time.

Illusions and Fantasy:

Illusions and Fantasy are used throughout the play, characters using this to fool the others around them and be
able to cope through their hardhips and continue living their lives.