A Streetcar Named Desire

A streetcar: tram uncontrollable desire, inexorable force of sexual desire/ passion leading one on the rail to self-destruction = a machine on rails which do not bend = picks up speed Desire: a wish, a need, lust, request... ex: sexual desire / passion opposite of emotionless, dead, emptiness. Expressionism: a movement in American theatre which expresses the psyche / mind graphically on stage by means of various techniques such as vivid colors, music and other sounds. The techniques can reflect what a character is thinking.

Scene 1: description of Elysian Fields, craving for drink, loss of Belle Reve, horror of Death Stage Directions: 1) Setting of play = Elysian Fields = Paradise, heaven (Greek Underworld) 2) Blue/ Turquoise = lyricism. 3) Tinny piano & fluency of brown fingers a mixture of whites and blacks African Americans, sense of sound. Improvisation, blues, plays really well, play fluently on piano, lively music Sense of smell = bananas and coffee = Air of exoticism, bananas or foreign, smell of coffee= exotic. A raffish charm = decadent, run-down. 4) A cosmopolitan city, community is open-minded, lively. Portraying a changing world. Blues reflect spirit of the city. Stanley = Blue denim trousers = Class statement = The working class Red-stained package = red meat = predator, carnivore. Relations with women = machismo Compared to richly feathered bird = rooster among hen (proud, sexual, smug) Materialistic: possessions (car, radio) Air of confidence, male animal. Impulsive, strong personality, wants to be noticed. Physical mid-height, strong, robust, muscular. Very sexual represents a playboy (in modern terms) Personality = pride of male bird richly feathered, rooster, shows off his manliness or masculinity. Blanche: she disapproves Stellas living quarters. White suit / fluffy bodice, jewelry & furs odd, out of place. Incongruous to this setting. Like a moth = vulnerability, delicate. Projects an image of innocence, image of a lady. Blanche drinking whisky = calming her nerves, ill at ease. Tension between Stella and blanche = air of false gaiety. Scene 2: Stanleys suspicions of Blanche, furious at the loss of Belle Reve, Blanche flirting with Stanley in a red robe, Blanche taking a long bath Blanche Genteel Southern aristocratic class on the decline. Loss of Belle Reve, not much money. Fake, only teacher. 1st theme theme of death (uncles and aunts dead) = loss of house and family / relatives + lost her husband. Sibling rivalry Stella married, blanche alone. = Jealousy. Morally disapproves her sister. Blanches trauma (gesture going o be sick) Stanley = aware of material reality Napoleonic code. Blanche --< southern aristocratic girl, belle (tiara) Project image. But Fake identity, Pathos, side full of pathos. Clothes for reassurance, only illusion, she is caught in a fantasy world.

Red hots suggests passion, something in her life about desire as well. Scene 3: Poker night: Stanleys domination over his friends, drunken rage, violent behavior, radio, Blanches seductive posture 1) Vivid Raw colors of childhood spectrum / green glass shades / primary colors gaudy, raw, stand out. Not secondary colors. Red & which check, light green. Colored shirts, solid blues and a purple. Men / colors represent their brute nature, animal nature, physical manhood. Primitive compared to Blanche Contrast with vivid colors of men. Vivid behavior, manly behavior, course, raw: gambling. 2) Stanley gives orders, domination = dominating ego, his house and his territory. Shut up, come her in some way, rude language + language of Poker game cards, chips, seven card stud (= last line of play). Gambling world of men philosophy behind poker: Deceit, tricks, defeat & winning you either win or lose, Stanley has to win. Stanley is aggressive, brutal Persuasive, competitive, no scruples, merciless & ruthless (= step on anybody to win), hiding his best cards. Male world. Joke: Rooster puts his hunger before his need for women. = Greed for money even more than for female conquest. Stanleys point of view/ world = dominant, philosophy of winning, ruthless, aggressive, primitive 3) Blanches behavior looking for attention & compliments. Apartment is only one room, confined. Blanche goes behind the portiere gets undressed, changes her clothes. Stella says youre standing in the light = shadows, people can still see her silhouette; Gesture she is flaunting herself, in a flirtation mood. She deliberately undresses in the light, looking for attention (unbuttoning her dress). Southern aristocratic, but she tries to seduce, also seductress, spends a lot of time in the bathroom cleansing ritual. 4) Dialogue between Mitch and Blanche. Stella is telling her that Mitch is interesting: single and different. Interested in each other. Men arguing while she is talking to Mitch. - Blanche (here) = coy, plays coyly with him. Playing innocent virtuous vulnerable women. Jokes about her profession. Appeals to her artistic intent but she is an English teacher. - Herself as a person: Calls her students bobby soxers and drugstore Romeos they socialize; they are still innocent kids, playful innocence among one another. Touching to see them discover the first love she married her first love, important for her. 5) She wants to hang up a Chinese lantern asks Mitch. Magical lantern, colored shade around an electric light bulb color created an atmosphere (romantic), dimming the light = dont see her clearly so she doesnt look old. 6) Compulsive liar she is older than Stella in reality + Stella is run-down but she, in fact, is the rundown one. Covering up reality, need fantasy, imaginary world. Different aspects of Blanche: Coy, timid, need to have fantasy, romance, obsessed by first love: playacting (week women men are gallant, put up the lantern) Blanches point of view / world = way to get attention, flirtatious, plays the Southern Belle. Teasing men in the apartment, flirting with Mitch. 7) Scene ends in violence Stanley is annoyed, got drunk = more aggressive. In his house, Blanche is using his radio. Flips in, turns it off, doesnt say anything throws radio out the window, obsessed with the domination of his territory. -Violent end women shouldnt interfere. Throwing radio out of window = Alfa male, he decides of what happens. - He slaps / hits Stella, she is pregnant! Dont slap women, everything is out of control, everything is going wrong.

 End Stella forgives Stanley, comes back, crawls back to him. He carries her back to the flat dramatic scene + dramatic music. Acting like a hero, suggests that he got her back, his belonging primitive scene, animal-like action. Role of music / clarinet = animal moans, instinct, attraction, sexual passion. Despite Stanleys brutality, Stella is attracted by him. -Blanch realizes her sister went back with him, confused / shocked. So much confusion she is confused, she needs kindness or love. She sees that her sister loves her husband. Blanche is only on outsider, much more complicated that she thought. Scene 4: Key speech on the Ape Man: Blanches failure to understand Stellas passionate relationship 1) Stellas behavior = reading a comic strip, on her bed forgot everything, totally relaxed = happens often, she accepts his violence. Comic strip = childish, different from Blanche who reads novels. Different lifestyles, not interested in literature, comic strip = relax, entertainment. Blanche is preoccupied, in opposition to Stella who is all right with the situation, superficial, no worry in her life. Blanche = tortuous, tormented character. 2) Stella common occurrence with her husband. Accepts violence. She admires his physical violence instead of being afraid of it. Destructive passion? She is getting a thrill out of it. Passion is blinding her rationality; Desire blinds her to violence. 3) Blanches view of sexuality = dangerous, lead you to your doom. Blanche is jealous from Stella = sister rivalry. Blanche wants to protect her sister. Stella gives $5 to her sister = condescending. 4) Streetcar Desire. Sexual desire is like a streetcar = goes forward on rails, cant turn back, have to keep on going Terminus, cant do a U turn! = Destiny, faith / fate. Sexual desire leads to your doom. Blanche has ridden on it in her past and is now ashamed of it. Stella is not going to leave Stanley, Blanche is worried, knows what desire can do. At same moment, Train goes by; Desire comes nearby, as well as Stanley. 5) The Ape speech: Stanley hears everything. For Blanche, Stanley = caveman, ape-like, ape that you see in anthropological studies. Studies of evolution of civilization, he is stupid, she compares him to an ape. Not refined, has not evolved. Stanley had his shirt stained with grease = contrast between Stanley and Blanche. Stanley = working class coming back to his wife & hears speech. He is animal-like. Blanche = threat to his lordship, biting speech. He is going to hate her. - Gesture of licking his lips Ready to attack, going to kill her off = predator attitude. Take revenge power of language vs. power of brute force. Scene 5: hostility between Stanley and Stella about Blanches past, Blanche and Mitchs date, Blanche admits her liaisons to Mitch, her flirtation with the newspaper boy - Through connection in Laurel connection with her past = brought men back into the hotel, hotel Flamingo Not so good reputation. - Blanche is bathing all the time get rid of her bad things, obsessive behavior, cleansing or cleaning her body, wiping something off her, morally. State of mind. traditional conservative society, dont talk about your problems, trapped, cant talk about her past she needs help, she is anxious, feels guilty, regrets, remorse = psychological trauma, impulsive desire. Stella defends her sister Blanche she says that shes a very sensible girl; she knows a bit about her past later on, excuses it, sense of protection. Coming out of bathroom = Stanley is hostile to her, while she is all happy. Blanches flirting with the Newspaper vendor: She kisses him and says Run away now, little boy, I got to be good and keep my hands off children very unstable, confused, bewilderment but sort of lucidity Shes on a dangerous path. Cf. story with boy, 17 years old student. Impulse. She is going on a date with Mitch just before, kisses the boy. She couldve destroyed the relationship. Mitch = simple, down to earth, refined manners.

 She doesnt know where she is, Mitch = security, needs to find a husband. Mitch = potential husband. Traditional guy with flowers. Two situations= kind of ironic.

Scene 6: Failure of the date, revelation of Blanches past husbands death Awkward feeling, awful and catastrophic date, disaster = failed date. Not really meant for one another? Hes not used to taking out that kind of women different backgrounds. = Nothing in common. She invites Mitch for a drink, needs it as a crutch to make it better, apologize. The truth comes out when they are drinking. Truth about Blanches husband seems to be homosexual / gay. Desire is destructive. He comes out for help, but she doesnt know how to deal with this desire, he was sinking. They ran away and came back (eloped), her 1st and young love = already complicated. They go dancing, drunk. She says you disgust me he runs out and commits suicide desire leads to suicide, nothing good or positive. They were young, overwhelmed, didnt know how to handle it. Blanche said this because she didnt know how she was feeling, confused in her feelings. Says something stupid. Blanche = guilty, thinks she is responsible. Brutal suicide = shocking, psychological trauma. = Understanding of Blanches trauma, major trauma. - Imagery of light = light of love reduced to a kitchen candle, light = fading, smaller and weaker. She needs comfort near a man to escape from this fading light, fading life as well as fading aristocratic class on the decline. Her whole identity, socially and emotionally of physically is dying, passing out. last line sometimes, theres - a god - so quickly god = providence, yearning for security, gift of god. Needs to find someone. Need for solution. She is yearning for transcendence of her situation, plight. -Belief in providence? Sense of desperation Mitch and Blanche dont really match, not a lot in common, desperate from each part, not really convincing = safety net. Need for a husband, he offers her security and a home. Even not perfect or smart of loving, could be all right, nice person. Scene 7: Stella and Stanley, Blanche singing while bathing Stanley found out some information on Blanche (Flamingo Hotel) Blanche bathing: childish vs. Stanley revealing her past, the truth. Song= better world if they believed in her, need for love and fantasy vs. ugly reality. Illusion, looking for love vs. lost job, men at Flamingo hotel. -Stella tries to defend her she says that her husband was a degenerate or homosexual, wrote poetry, artistic poetry image. Stanley looks bad negative, bringing up her past. Predator that has something of her. -Song = innocence, only a child. Stanley = angry because she called him an ape, scared that Blanche takes his Stella away, has to defend his territory. 1) Why fell in love with 17 years old boy? Recreating her young, first love. 2) Why men at Flamingo? Needs love because love = security, love or desire is the opposite of death. Need for friendship & love = impulse for comfort, to ease her trauma. Dont stay because unstable. Cant have a proper relationship, nothing works because of what happened. Stellas point of view Defense normal because of what she has lived in the past. Stanley is missing half of the information, the rots of the problem. Scene 8: Birthday Scene - B-day present from Stanley = 1 way ticket back to Laurel ejecting her from his house. Cruel because nowhere to go, out in the street. + Mitch didnt come Joke about parrot, not funny, only she laughs. Cold, hostile atmosphere, ill at ease. Clash between Stella / Blanche vs. Stanley tries to get his wife back, putting whole blame on Blanche. Say they were good together, ideal couple, making love, fulfilled, healthy relationship = sexually fulfilled. Hurls plate on the floor not pigs, Pollack, = 100% American. Defending himself, doesnt like superior airs of Blanche. Defending his right as an American, asserting his right as an American.

 Blanche = hoity toity: superior airs, Stanley vs. Blanche = social warfare / American pole vs. Aristocratic background on the decline. Stanley Blanches background: took it, pulling her down I pulled you down of these columns and you loved it she was on top of society, columns= palace, colonial house, he pulled her down from it she ignores her own class, his existence is almost better than hers (= new world, rising working class) wants to save his wife and kick out that sister. Stellas behavior cries, confused, weakened. Torn between her sister and her husband --< but baby = link Stanley-Stella, she is choosing Stanley (baby = interior voice), baby will bind them together. Stanleys world will be perpetuated but Blanches world will die. - Varsouviana music music when Blanches husband dies. Thinks of Pollack music = wants her husband, mind is unstable; she is traumatized tries to drown her trauma in alcohol.

Scene 9: Mitch turns around: Blanches heavy drinking, reminiscence of the past with the polka music, Mexican woman selling flowers, Mitch working clothes going to treat Blanche like dirt, doesnt care about his appearance Your dont have music in your head (Varsouviana) Mitch doesnt have the same problems as Blanche, the same emotions she has. She speaks In Vino Veritas alcohol brings out truth. - Blanches version sleeping with men = protection. Different versions, points of view of what she did pathos, feel sorry for her. - Tarantula arms hotel big spider who brings back her victims Blanche says this to Mitch, not Flamingo. Ironic, making fun of her argument, she was vulnerable, she mocks his lack of understanding. Ironic despair. Shows Mitchs lack of intelligence. I tell what ought to be the truth, I want magic Why, Forget ugly reality of her husbands suicide. Need magic = feels like she needs to escape the ugly reality in a means of surviving. Otherwise, death will take her away. KQ Mexican women selling flowers for the dead Flores, Flores Para los muertos! Blanche, remembering death of people, of her relatives, of her husband = omnipresence of death in her life. Reminds her of dying women. Graphic image of death, blood stained pillowslips, spitting blood sickness of relatives, remembers trauma and nursing. Maid to do it? No = poor, no money, aristocracy on the decline. - Night nursing dead relatives Desire: has an adventure with soldiers, sometimes slips out window. Why? Opposite of death = desire, desire is keeping her alive, motivation, needs change, impulse to escape from death (no life force), to escape horror of death. Impulse to survive, sexual desire is important because = that you are alive. Irrational force, traumatized needs security in men. Cant control it = impulse; life opposite to death. She never faces death, but escapes it. - Mitch doesnt understand. They dont really suit one another. She is afraid that Mitch rapes her screams fire. You are not clean enough to enter my mothers house absurd and cruel, hypocritical, he finally turns out to be like every other and tries to abuse her he cant understand her trauma, cant go along with it. = She Loses Mitch. Scene 10: The Rape Scene: menace by light effects, Shep Huntleigh -Nightgown white satin dress but soiled crumpled -. Blanche is drunk, trying to boost her ego. Innocence pretty dress but soiled. = Princess in distress shes loosing it. Pity, Pathos. -Stanley comes around the corner still has bowling shirt, silk (vivid green) symbol = not on decline, = game, king of bowling associated with wining, competitive player hes going to bowl her out. -Telegram to Shep Huntleigh making it up, she knew a Shep Huntleigh but certainly not true, mixture of reality and pure fantasy. Caribbean = excuse, disturbs, fantasy world. Trying to get her fantasy. Trying to get her fantasy world, her dignity back = pathos. Trying to flee mentally to somewhere where she feels in security because she is rejected from the Elysian fields and cannot go back to Laurel, banished in some way, not a secure place, too much memories and hatred, not welcome anywhere. Stanley makes fun of her firemans ball, diamond tiara? no, only rhinestone Sarcastically, putting her fantasy to pieces, forces her to face the ugly reality that represents death for her. - Offering beer = peace? No, more sarcastically, only to make her more drunk. Stanley destroys her lies no telegram or millionaire, no roses. Destroys her fantasy world.

Mitch and roses = vision in her fantasy world, wanted it to happen but it didnt happen. - Cast pearl before swine shes giving pearls to pigs, they dont deserve it pigs wallow in dirt and oink all day. Shes pearl and theyre all swine. - Mitch: different background, realize that they are incompatible (mix of truth and lies) - Stanley making fun of her imagination and fantasy crushing all her dreams, she feels in danger with Stanley, insecure prostitute = underworld, poor negro women = jungle, cries of the jungle, anarchy. World of violence, stealing, difficult, hard world. Policeman separate policeman and drunkard no policeman, she is alone with Stanley, feels threatened. Grin of aggressively / predator snake = tongue between teeth, tiger hot trumpets = Stanleys music, Rape. Scene 11: Dramatic conclusion: Blanches bathing and retreat into a fantasy world, her leave to a mental asylum Blue and Red Robe Blue, purity, jacket. Red = desire. Virgin Mary = Madonna, always dressed in blue. Looking for protection, yearning for purity & innocence = blue Della Robia Jacket, Virgin Mary, purity. Blue covers red satin robe, symbolic of her past desire. Innocence attached to Blanche, to show that its not entirely her fault, buy also the fault of society who pushed her to desire, in order to survive and not succumb to death. Sense of music beauty, lyricism. Appeal to Death. Cathedral bells. She wants a pure, clean death. Speech on death die of an unwashed grape = absurd, imagination, entering fantasy world, so fragile (raped by Stanley = psychically wounded) anything can kill her, even the smallest thing. Sense of poetry and imagination. Lyrical speech purity (Madonna, chimes, church, etc), lyrical yearning for a certain death. She takes refuge in her madness (psychically wounded). She imagines a clean death white sack & blue oceans = pure colors. Cathedral chimes suggest a funeral bell, a momentous occasion. A yearning for religious transcendence = crossing the barrier, escaping from ugly reality to reach for an ideal. Repetition of sea, colors blue, cathedral chimes = part of poetic lyricism. The speech gives Blanche the dignity of a tragic heroine. The doctor and matron represent the grim ominous world of the mental asylum a place which crushes the individual and its identity = an alienation place ugly reality. Blanche realizes that she has always depended on the kindness of strangers. She takes the doctor for a gentleman and this implies she has entered a fantasy world. Does he remind her of Shep Huntleigh? She escapes the ugly reality by retreating in her imagination. (The ugly reality of the apartment) The statement could also be an ironic pique at Stellas betrayal = she cannot depend on her closest relatives / family. = A statement which underlines her loneliness and alienation. She does not look back at her sister. Stella she has chosen her husband over her sister. She does not want to believe in Blanches rape. She wants to save her marriage, has chosen fantasy out of her best interest. Stellas confusion and agony at the end she cries with inhuman abandon suggests her despair a mixture of relief and despair? She is upset, feels guilty: what have I done to my sister? The audience feels empathy with Blanche Her fate = the cruel confinement of a mental institution Her vulnerability and uneasiness in the presence of the poker players. Stanleys voice and behavior = he rips off the paper lantern. Blanch commands a tragic dignity despite her downfall the men are forced to stand up and Mitch sobs / cries = a sense of inferiority and superiority of Blanche. Stanley To hold front of this rat-race, youve got to believe youre lucky = His philosophy of life, based on competition & survival the idea of luck, he is devoid of moral judgment or values concerning his fellow man. = The survival of the fittest (believes in) Alfa male, rooster, tiger = only strong ones will survive, get rid of the weakest. He represents the ruthless new society emerging Blanche has no place in this world. - Stanleys world = aggressive, ruthless, rising working class

Blanches world = genteel southern aristocratic class on the decline Old fashioned conservative, out of place. Stanleys gesture of tearing the Chinese lantern = a symbol of his physical violation of Blanche. She screams = he destroys her mind. The formation of a new family trio, subversion of the religious image of the trinity = birth of a new world, ruthless world, based on competition and the survival of the fittest. His relationship is strengthened by Desire. He finds the opening of Stellas blouse he cements the hold over her by expressing his desire. Seven Card Stud = game of luck (stud = poker game + a pun on un etalon) Aggressive male spirit of Stanley triumphs over the poetic sensitivity of a psychically wounded Blanche. Two worlds confront one another. The play heralds the dawning of a new era, new age: that of a ruthless, competitive society, which rejects the individual who lives on the margins of society (ill-fitting individuals) A pessimistic or bleak view of society. Class warfare + a Sexual warfare. -

Themes of the Play

Theme of Desire / destructive desire 1st time put on scene sexuality and desire = major piece. The contrast between illusion / Fantasy vs. Reality (appearance and reality). Battle of the sexes = sexual warfare = gender warfare. Battle of the classes = inter-related, inextricable linked with battle of sexes. The inevitability of fate (inexorability) Omnipresence of Death Madness Historical Context: T. Williams writes after the war, post war new world death of old south. No understanding of Blanche. people have to adapt to society because society doesnt adapt to them. Modern tragedy, contemporary world: Protagonist is partly to blame for his / her downfall BUT society is also responsible = protagonist is a victim of society.

Desire = sexual passion Stanley and Stellas relationship is based on sexual desire. = end of the poker night, Stella comes back to Stanley, low animal moans. Colored light going = lovemaking Blanches sexual dependency on men after the death of her husband. She felt sensual passion for her first love TRAUMA. Dense of ideal love, fell in love with his artistic, poetic, temperament. But Allan Gray also tormented by his sexuality (in the quick sands) = destructive desire = leads to suicide. Destructive Desire Blanches promiscuity = sleeps with men a way of seeking for comfort and settler (I had many intimacies with strangers): psychologically disturbed by the death of her husband, and has no financial means = dismissed from her job. Blanches rape by Stanley Attraction / Repulsion: weve had this date with each other from the beginning Stanley uses his physical domination of her as a means of destruction, destroying her mentally and ejecting her from the apartment. Rape = final blow to Blanches mind, prevents her from taking part in the society. Death of the mind no more secure place in society, in new emerging society. The metaphor of the Streetcar named Desire, going to the Elysian Fields = a journey from destructive desire to death / the despair / the mental death of an individual (mental asylum) a potent image of destructive desire inextricably linked to fate. Blanche = tragic heroine she is led to a tragic downfall or demise, her past catches up on her. Her fate = her past haunts her; Stanley discovers & reveals her affairs in Laurel & her dismiss. Stanley = agent of fate, he divulges her past, exposes her & then rapes her. He totally violates her being. Damage (psychologically + physically) = a violation of her integrity as a human being. Blanche: the flaw is in herself, but also in this ruthless society. Stanley represents this society. If you dont conform to society, you dont have our place in it shes not being accommodated. Partly her fault but also societys fault. Empathy / sympathy with Blanche. Madness = Psychically disturbed, = Suffers from deep trauma, lost and confused soul, lost grip on society/ reality.

A) The traumatic suicide of her husband + guilt role of the Varsouviana music = recurrent leitmotif, + alcoholism as a crutch + cleansing, taking baths all the time. Tortuous of her husband. B) The nursing of her dying relatives = graphic images of horror. (ex: blood stained pillow slips, breathing in hoarse) / The grim reaper rattles, = death rattles) C) She turns to Desire As a relief, a means of escape, expressing an impulse to live, to survive (to experience sexual passion) Many intimacies with strangers ill at ease, a need for comfort and protection, depend on men. = taboo, 17 years old student Blanche is condemned for it = an impulse to flirt with young men subconsciously, shes clinging to her first love, reminds her of her first love = psychological trauma, she cant help repeating the same pattern. + newspaper vendor = she cant stop herself from kissing him (even if she then says that she must keep her hands off children). Yearning for a Fantasy World A) She says she wants magic = plays the southern Belle. Her clothes the princess (Fox fur, tiara) projecting an image of herself. B) Chinese lantern = she needs to cover up the ugly reality her past, her age. She says color is magic. C) She needs color put on butterfly wings and glow S5) defending her intimacies with strangers. Needs to attract men, needs a home a shelter, needs love show her desperation. D) Her song = blissful make-believed world, her cleansing in the bathroom = pure innocent women. The ending --< Stanley reveals her ugly past, he divulges to Mitch her promiscuous past, destroys her chances of a stable relationship, possible marriage & security. The rape destroys / damages Blanche escape into pure fantasy. - Lost control of reality - A defense mechanism against the horror committed = a means of survival.

Style and Stagecraft

Stagecraft = role of sound & music, light imagery, colors, use of symbols Primary colors (colors of childhood spectrum) Blue Della Robia Jacket Jacket = blue, New Orleans, blues piano, vitality and energy = new world (New Orleans), Blanche = out of place in blues piano. New Changing society but ruthless, Blanche = no place in society. Fluency of brown fingers = African American integrated in Society. Sound effects Music, street cries of Mexican lady, of the tamale vendor, roar of the locomotive, the noise of the policeman / prostitute. Roar of locomotive linked to metaphor of the streetcar = destructive desire inextricably linked with inevitability of fate. A) Scene IV = (ape scene) foreshadowing Stanleys hostility and destructive rape. B) Scene VI = (traumatic story of husbands suicide) destructive, torturous sexuality suicide. C) Scene X = (rape scene) roar, aggressive aggression on Blanche, destructive desire + hostility. = agent of fate who destroys Blanche. opposition of Music = opposition between two worlds. Blue piano = music of New Orleans = vitality, charming, decadent essence of cosmopolitan New Orleans, which reflects the new Ruthless world. A streetcar Named Desire medium = modern tragedy. Stylistic devices create a certain mood and atmosphere = reflect even the mood of the characters on stage = EXPRESSIONISM Expressionistic theater = plastic theater (create mood, theme, character on stage) Hot trumpet = Stanleys music = his maleness, his aggressiveness, anger and sexuality. Low animal moans with trumpet = sexual passion. Blanches music = the Varsouviana polka recurring in her head ends with a shot = her inner thoughts are REPRESENTED ON STAGE = her trauma, her guilt, her suffering, her constant suffering at the loss of her husband= reenacting her husbands suicide = caught in the past street cries outside = Mexican lady = haunting death (Flores Para los muertos) Tamale Vendor (Red Hots) = sexual passion, her promiscuity is catching up on her. Prostitute & policeman = suggests Blanches seedy past, desperate past. Poker Night = primary colors of the childhood spectrum = Van Gogh painting (expressionistic technique) = Displaying the primitive, raw nature of man and women. Characterized by their raw, intense emotions. Stanleys male aggressiveness with the players, his mounting violence. Blanches seductive postures she undresses in the light. She dances / flirts with Mitch = Blanche the seductress as opposed to Blanche the Southern Belle/ Lady.