Exam (elaborations)
A Streetcar Named Desire: Example Answer
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- A-Level English Language And Literature
An example answer to a practice question for the English Language and Literature A-Level.
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Refer to scene 11Beginning, “Hello Blanche”
Ending “This game is seven-card stud”
This interaction occurs near the end of scene 11. Blanche is being taken to the psychiatric ward.
Referring to these lines and other parts of the play, examine how and why the ending is
considered a tragedy.
Within this scene and the wider play, Williams presents the play as a modern tragedy due to the
mental breakdown Blanche experiences and the way in which she is brought to her demise by her
desire.
An example in which we see the play being presented as a modern tragedy can be seen in scene 11
through the presentation of Blanche’s mental breakdown. ‘The greeting is echoed and re-echoed by
other mysterious voices behind the walls’ The use of plastic theatre here and the verbs ‘echoed’ and
‘re-echoed’ depict Blanche as being mentally instable and threatened by the matron within this
scene. The pre-modifier ‘mysterious’ enhances this as it makes the voices sound dangerous and
ambiguous. Furthermore, this representation of Blanche’s mental breakdown links to the idea of a
modern tragedy due to the setting in which it takes place. In scene 1 we see Blanche state ‘They told
me to take a streetcar named desire, and then transfer to one called Cemeteries and ride six blocks
and get off at – Elysian Fields.’ This is a metaphor for Blanche’s downfall and mental breakdown as it
is her desire that brings her to her demise and ‘Elysian Fields’ is the paradise where gods and nobles
spend eternity in the afterlife, which is ironic as the people in Elysian Fields are far from noble gods
however it also suggests that Blanche has metaphorically died as she is sent away to a mental
asylum and therefore loses her ability to live a life in the real world.
A scene in which we see Blanche’s desire being presented in the play to depict her downfall over
time and add to the genre of a modern tragedy can be seen in scene 4. In scene 4 Blanche states ‘I
think of money in terms of what it does for you. But he could do it, he could certainly do it!’ The
declarative ‘I think of money in terms of what it does for you’ and the exclamative ‘he could certainly
do it!’ portrays Blanche’s desire to be wealthy and how she uses the façade of meeting Shep
Huntleigh to convince herself and Stella that there is a way-out of their situation. In addition to this,
the idea of Shep Huntleigh shows how Blanche as her position as a woman is unable to sustain
herself financially and has to rely on men for income, this also links to her heritage as an upper class
old southern lady and how as a result of her upbringing she desires and values money. Another
scene in which we can see this is in scene 5 where Blanche uses her own façade to present herself as
an upper-class virtuous woman in front of Mitch. ‘Bow to me first! Now present them.’ The
exclamative imperative ‘Bow to me first!’ depicts Blanche as having power over Mitch as a result of
her social status as an upper class woman, however this is a façade from Blanche and in reality
Blanche has no money or status due to her immoral past as a prostitute and paedophile The reason
as to why Blanche presents herself in this way is due to the fact that she wants to ask Mitch to marry
her so that she can have a source of income and stability as she is unable to support herself
financially.
In addition to this, we see blanche contradict this façade of herself prior to her meeting Mitch during
her interaction with the young man. The imperative ‘I’ve got to be good and keep my hands off
children.’ Depicts Blanche as a paedophile and shows how her sexual desire is also an element
within the play that brings her to her downfall as in scene 7 we see Stanley reveal to Stella that
Blanche was fired from her teaching position due to ‘A seventeen year old boy – she’d gotten mixed
up with!’. The exclamative here shows how despite Stanley himself being a cruel and perverted
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