These are revision documents that I used for my A* in English A'level, summarising and analysing key parts of the Streetcar text. These really helped my exam answers, and got me the grades I needed for Cambridge - hopefully these will help you too!
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Sc Quotation Theme Analysis Device
en
e
2 Blanche is bathing Like Lady Macbeth, cleansing herself of
impurities
2 Blanche’s dress, a Girly, feminine pattern
flowered print, is laid Visual clue that Blanche will be raped in
out on Stella’s bed S10
Statement of ownership
2 lordly composure Shows that Stanley is the alpha male and
ruler of the flat
2 Galatoire’s French name perhaps hints at their
cold plate on ice Huguenot origins and their upper class
Stella is neglecting her ‘duties’ as a wife
2 give me some money Stella is financially dependent on Stanley
2 soaking in a hot tub Water Motif
to quiet her nerves
2 Don’t mention the Aristotle: ‘drama comes from revelation’
baby Stanley ignores this demand, suggesting
that he is still in control of his territory
2 From the land of sky Reality Songs about escaping reality Song
blue water ‘Maid’ - virgin - ironic for B
They brought a ‘Captive’ - like at the end of the play
captive maid Perhaps shows B’s status as an
otherworldly outsider in modern New
Orleans
2 small place Insulting Stanley’s manliness
2 Napoleonic code Patriarchal and sexist explanation
Let me enlighten you ‘Baby’ is infantilising
on a point or two, Structurally, he has more lines than Stella,
baby showing how he dominates her
2 My head is Stella accepts that she is less clever than
swimming! her husband, although with her upper
class origins she would have been better
educated
2 swindled x4 Repetition suggests that Stanley fears
being cheated - perhaps he values
honesty?
2 ridiculous you are Drama comes out of reversal - she defends
being her sister, despite S1 presenting her as a
husband-worshipping wife. Rude
2 lost, lost! Play about loss. Belle Reve represents
several types of loss.
-loss and decline of Old South
, -loss of loved ones
2 stalks into bedroom Animalistic
imagery
2 jerks out an armful Violence, foreshadows rape
of dresses
2 feathers and furs Deceptio Ostentatious but the audience learns it is
solid-gold dress n not real, showing Blanche’s deception and
fox fur-pieces how she wishes to appear rich
Cheap + tacky
Interesting that she dresses herself as an
animal - links to how Stanley is presented
as a predator
2 snow-white Virginity
2 thousands of dollars Delusional (like Blanche) - he wants to
think he was cheated
2 hurls the furs to the Violence, anticipates rape
daybed
2 Pearls! Blanche is associated with sea imagery Sea imagery
deep-sea diver
2 What’s rhinestone? Shows class difference between the couple
Next door to glass
2 stupid and horrible Rude, conflict with Stanley
you’re being!
2 kicks the trunk partly Act of aggression as she will know that he
closed looked in her affairs (in both senses of the
word!)
2 The Kowalskis and Important idea: could be in terms of race,
DuBois have modernity, class. Which category does
different notions Stella fall into?
2 Since when do you Stanley perhaps views Blanche as a threat
give me orders? because she weakens his control over
Stella
2 red satin robe Sensual and sexual. Contrasts with the
white costumes she wears before. Like in
Tess of the d’Urbervilles
2 He lights a cigarette Fuse of anger. Phallic and sexual like a
post-coital cigarette
2 pretty new dress ‘New’ - how could Blanche have bought it?
Stanley perhaps suspects that it was with
money from Belle Reve
2 we ladies Perhaps elevating herself
2 throws off her dress Dramatic and sexual - perhaps shows B in
control too
2 buttons in back Flirtation
2 smouldering look Echoes the cigarette. Perhaps shows his
anger but could also be his desire and
passion.
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