Who is the protagonist of this play?
The protagonist of A Streetcar Named Desire is Blanche DuBois. Blanche is the main character who’s story ends in a tragedy.
What are his/her character traits? Weaknesses? Virtues?
Blanche is Stella’s sister. She slowly becomes separated from reality due to what we believe is a mental illness. Her troubled life has not help her either, her husband committed suicide has she found he was gay and a school scandal had her forced out of town. She was an english schoolteacher from a wealthy family, but she was evicted from her family home, Belle Reve, after the deaths of several family members wiped out her and Stella's inheritance. She has multiple personalities as she is trying to imagine a new life.
What is the character’s goal?
At the start of the play Blanche travel to live with her sister Stella. Because she was bankrupt she is just trying to stay on her feet by living with Stella.
Who stands in the way of this character’s goal (the antagonist) and how?
Stanly is the antagonist since he does not believe Blanche’s story of how she had to leave her hometown.
Is the antagonist a complex (or “rounded”) character (mixture of good and bad)? How so?
The antagonist Stanley is a rounded character. While most of the story we see Stanley as rude to both Stella, Blanche, and sometimes his friends, he has a soft side to himself. After Stanley sobers up after the poker game, we find him sobbing outside calling for Stella. However, we learn how terrible he is after he rape’s Blanche. Stanley has both a good and bad side to his character.
In classical tragedy, the main character has a “tragic flaw” (weakness, moral defect, or an error in judgment). Is the protagonist noble enough to win your admiration and sympathy despite his/her shortcomings?
The character Blanche won my sympathy as she slowly drove herself out of reality. I am sympathetic since her entire family died recently and her home was taken away from her. Her desire for a better life that is magical is admirable. As she is trying to forget and escape this reality, by lying and acting as someone else, other events such as Stanley raping her do not help her at all to get better.
What technique does the playwright use to help develop the characters? Stage directions, self-revelation by monologue/dialogue? Actions? Comments by other characters? Give one example from the script.
The dialogue that the character make about each other help develop the characters. In the script it mentions, “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 exchanged the land for their epic fornications”. Blanche responds to Stanley after he accuses her of spending all of the family inheritance and not giving any to Stella. This speech help develops the character Stella since we learned more about what happen in Belle Reve.
Does the playwright try to give minor characters well-rounded personalities? Are there any stereotypical characters?
The character Mitch is a minor character with well-rounded personalities. He is a man taking care of his sick mother and seems to be more sensitive than the other men playing poker. He is kind to Stella and even shows his silver case with a transcription of an engraved with a quote from a sonnet. Mitch would have the man to help Blanche but a the world that treat women lower, he is unable to successfully help her.
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What are the main plot elements? Provide a short ORIGINAL explanation of the plot of the play in a few sentences. If a friend asked you, “What’s this play about?”
The plot of A Streetcar named Desire is the tragedy of Blanche DuBois. This is a story that shows how Blanche travels to New Orleans to live with her sister Stella and her husband Stanley. Blanche moves in with the two and is criticized by Stanley not believing her story of why she came. Over time, we see actions of Blanche’s flirtatious Southern-belle presence and how she causes problems for Stella and Stanley, who already have a troublesome relations.
Into how many “chapters of action” is the play divided, regardless of the act or scene divisions?
There are three chapters of action. The first chapter is where we are introduced to the characters like Blanche, Stella, and Stanley. The second chapter is poker scene where we see how the character interact with each other and the conflicts the Blanche faces. The third chapter is during and after Stella birth. We see the tragedy of Blanche and her downfall to escape reality. Each chapter slowly reveals more information into her troubled life.
Is the progress of the action clear? Provide an example.
The progress of the action is clear as the story continues. At the start the reader is told by Blanche how she is taking a leave of absence from her job as a teacher. We learn later how she was kicked out of town because she was having a relationship with a seventeen-year-old boy.
What brings on the dramatic conflict? Where does the play really begin?
Blanche lying brings the dramatic conflict and when she is perceiving different events. The play begins when Blanche starts lying about her past, later on she will confess to her lies but the conflict of her lying at the start of the play is where the play really begins. More conflicts arise when Blanche believes she is in a different place.
How are time gaps treated? How much time elapses during the play and how is that handled?
The time gaps are treated at the end of each scene. There are eleven scenes in the play and during the movie a jumpcut to a later point in time is used. The time gaps are either by a couple hours like at the beginning when the scene ends and starts up later at night. The last scene jumps to around three weeks later when the doctor and nurse came to take Blanche away.
Is the resolution inevitable, or is the denouement brought on by coincidence? Is there dramatic irony present? To what degree? What does it achieve (or tell us about this world)?
The last line by Stella “Whoever you are, I have always depended on the kindness of strangers”. She perceives the doctor as a gentleman coming to take her away. This is ironic because the doctor is not the chivalric Shep Huntleigh Blanche believe’s. Blanche’s dependence on the kindness of strangers rather than herself is the reason why she has not fared well in life.
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What is the moral or human significance of the play? How do the theme, plot and characters reflect this universal significance? Does it attempt to stimulate thought about any important problems of life? Does it supply answers by implication or direct statement?
The a major significance of the play is to never lie to others. In a Streetcar Named Desire, the character Blanche constantly lies to gain a perception of a being of higher class. After living as a wealthy southerner she lives in a state of perpetual panic about her fading beauty. Her constant lying causes people to not trust her and will not be kind to her. Stanley is one of the first people who does not believes her lies and questions her. The story of Blanche lying shows how more problem happens when you do not tell the truth.
Does the play clearly reveal any over-all view of the universe on the part of the playwright? Is his or her view sentimental, cynical, religious, humanist, romantic, etc? Does the playwright leave conclusions up to the read or use devices to help form the reader’s conclusions?
The play reveal that abuse is never appropriate. Stanley is very abusive towards Stella. Stella forgives Stanley and she feels as if nothing is wrong with going back to an abusive man. During one of Stanley’s poker nights, he is so drunk that when he becomes mad, he charges after Stella. She makes excuses for this act and always goes back to Stanley. Blanche tries to talk to Stella about it the night after he beats her by saying, “You’re married to a madman”, but Stella never listens. Stanley’s abusiveness is never solved in the story, but the playwrights humanist idea that people should be treated better are seen in the story.
What is an example of a “motif” used in the play and what does it symbolize?
A motif in the story are the lights. Blanche avoids appearing in direct, bright light, especially, Mitch. She also refuses to reveal her age, and it is clear that she avoids light in order to prevent him from seeing the reality of her fading beauty.
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Is the language elevated or close to that of real life?
Is the language used by each character especially adapted to him/her? Is it used to reveal character? Give an example.
Using the types of plays covered in Chapter 11, what is the genre of the play (tragedy, melodrama, comedy, etc.)? How well does the play fit the definition of the genre?
Would you read the play a second or third time? Why or Why not? Would you watch the film again?
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