Streetcar Named Desire Context

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  • Created on: 18-02-24 17:04
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  • A Streetcar Named Desire Context
    • The American Dream
      • ‘The ideal by which equality of opportunity is avaliable to any American, allowing the highest aspirations and goals to be achieved’
        • Closely associated with Stanley, believes that by working hard, he is able to move up in society - what he promised Stella? - this is why Blanche and Stan do not get on
      • ‘All men are equal’
      • Closely associated with Stanley, believes that by working hard, he is able to move up in society - what he promised Stella? - this is why Blanche and Stan do not get on
    • The Old South
      • Rural, agriculturally -based and slave reliant economies and societies
      • Due to the  Civil War, Southern families began to collapse and die out.
        • Belle Reve - a plantation of slaves which collapses
      • Play is set in the aftermath of the Civil war - this is where the Northern + Southern States fought - with the North  winning
    • Tennessee Williams
      • Edwina Williams, his mother, was a typical Southern Belle, but was prone to hysterical breakdowns
        • C.C abused Edwina - had very unstable marriage
      • After Williams mental breakdown in the 1960s, he turned to alcohol as a vice and form of escape - just like Blanche
    • Gender Roles
      • While stereotypes against women are explicitly shown by Williams throughout the play, the stereotypes against men are nshown more implicitly
      • Men were expected to provide for their family - going to work, being the bread winners, and women were expected to take care of the domestic sphere
      • Societal gender norms negatively affect all the main characters throughout the play - driving them towards death, moral or mental destruction
      • Men see eachother as competition ‘survival of the fittest’ -(gaudy seed bearer) - Mitch + Stanley
    • The New South
      • Focused on The American Dream + Individualism
        • The American Dream
          • ‘The ideal by which equality of opportunity is avaliable to any American, allowing the highest aspirations and goals to be achieved’
            • ‘All men are equal’
        • Focused on Industrialisation of America
        • Play is set in the aftermath of the Civil war - this is where the Northern + Southern States fought - with the North  winning

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