What techniques are used in A Streetcar Named Desire?
A Streetcar Named Desire is a play driven by characterisation and Williams uses a range of techniques to establish character including dialogue, costume, stage directions, juxtaposition, imagery and symbolism, all of which are discussed in the AO2 Dramatic Methods section of this chapter.
What kinds of literary techniques does this scene USE A Streetcar Named Desire?
Terms in this set (6)
- Foreshadowing. In Scene One, Blanche takes a streetcar named Desire through Cemeteries to reach Elysian Fields, where Stella and Stanley live.
- Symbolism. Blue Piano = sex, lust, animal desire.
- Irony.
- Enjambement.
- Lateral Consonance.
- Dysphemism.
How is lighting used in A Streetcar Named Desire?
Williams uses light to represent truth within the play, in particular Blanche’s fear of the truth about her being revealed or her own fear of facing reality. William’s use of light to represent Blanche’s past and how Blanche’s fear and attraction to light represents how Blanche desires a return to her former self.
What imagery does Williams use in his depiction of Elysian Fields?
In the opening stage direction Williams illustrates the area around Elysian Fields. He uses personification to describe “the warm breath of the brown river” (P1). I think this creates an atmosphere that is decaying yet at the same time welcoming and affectionate.
What is the style of A Streetcar Named Desire?
Tennessee Williams used a lyrical writing style that incorporated elements of the Southern Gothic style. The Southern Gothic style often involves making archetypes of southern literature such as the chivalrous hero or the beautiful damsel flawed or grotesque in nature.
How are sound effects used in A Streetcar Named Desire?
Sound effects are similarly employed to convey an atmosphere: there is the blue piano with its vague message of the irrepressible, pleasure-loving spirit of the quarter; the Varsouviana polka which calls up and accompanies Blanche’s guilty memories of her husband; and perhaps also the roar of the locomotive in Scenes …
What does the paper lantern symbolize in A Streetcar Named Desire?
Williams makes it clear that light represents truth, both in relationships and in the self. The paper lantern therefore demonstrates Blanche’s attempts to conceal the truth, and instead craft ‘magic,’ or the illusion that she feels she needs to adopt in order to survive.
What does the Varsouviana polka symbolize?
The polka and the moment it evokes represent Blanche’s loss of innocence. The suicide of the young husband Blanche loved dearly was the event that triggered her mental decline. Since then, Blanche hears the Varsouviana whenever she panics and loses her grip on reality.
What does light and darkness symbolize in A Streetcar Named Desire?
Search for Symbols in Scene Nine, A Streetcar Named Desire Of course, the light represents Blanche’s fear of coming to terms with her age. She prefers the darkness as a shield to her true age. The dark also perpetuates her illusionary life and the difficult time Blanche has grasping reality.
What symbols are used in A Streetcar Named Desire?
A Streetcar Named Desire Symbols
- The Streetcar. Williams called the streetcar the “ideal metaphor for the human condition.”
- Varsouviana Polka. Blanche associates the polka with her young husband’s suicide.
- Bathing.
- Paper Lantern and Paper Moon.
- Alcohol and Drunkenness.
- Shadows.
What does the polka music symbolize for Blanche?
Is Blanche dynamic or static character?
Blache Dubois as the main character in A Streetcar Named Desire is static character. From the beginning until the end of the story, her character does not change. In the beginning, Blanche is introduced as an unstable woman. It is because of her nerve and heavy burden of her past life.
WHAT IS A Streetcar Named Desire a metaphor for?
Williams called the streetcar the “ideal metaphor for the human condition.” The play’s title refers not only to a real streetcar line in New Orleans but also symbolically to the power of desire as the driving force behind the characters’ actions.
How is blue piano used in Streetcar Named Desire?
The confrontation of the colours red and blue, symbolises the confrontation between femininity and masculinity. The blue piano is first mentioned in the introductory stage directions of the first scene: “This ‘blue piano’ expresses the spirit of the life which goes on there” (Williams 115).
Why does Blanche cry out and cover her face when Mitch tears off the paper lantern and turns on the light?
She begs him not to turn the light on, but he says that he wants to be “realistic.” Blanche cries that she doesn’t like realism and “want[s] magic.” She explains that her policy is to say what “ought” to be true. Mitch switches the light on, and Blanche lets out a cry and covers her face. He turns the light off.
Why is Blanche compared to a moth?
The Moth Motif Williams describes Blanche as a moth, for she is flighty in movement and frail in appearance. Like a moth flitting around, Blanche makes senseless, nervous gestures, displaying the fact she is tense and high-strung. She also has delicate features and wears light, airy clothing.
What is the significance of the blue piano in Streetcar?
The blue piano, accompanying the card game, symbolises Stanley ‘s victory over Blanche. The Varsouviana Polka on the other hand appears when Blanche is being confronted with her past and the truth, or when she talks about Allan.
What does Blanche’s light represent?
Through all of Blanche’s inconsequential sexual affairs with other men, she has experienced only dim light. Bright light, therefore, represents Blanche’s youthful sexual innocence, while poor light represents her sexual maturity and disillusionment.
What does the polka represent?
The polka and the moment it evokes represent Blanche’s loss of innocence. The suicide of the young husband Blanche loved dearly was the event that triggered her mental decline.
Is A Streetcar Named Desire a play or movie?
A Streetcar Named Desire is a 1951 American drama film, adapted from Tennessee Williams ‘s Pulitzer Prize -winning 1947 play of the same name.
How does Tennessee Williams create dramatic tension in A Streetcar Named Desire?
Tennessee Williams uses a variety of techniques to produce a strong sense of dramatic tension throughout A Streetcar Named Desire, as he mainly focuses on the interactions between characters to create an edgy mood.
Should streetcar be adapted to the screen?
Hollywood’s Breen Office, charged by the studios with policing their projects for what we now call “family values,” let it be known that Streetcar, no matter how potentially profitable, would be the diciest of properties to adapt to the screen.