1.

As the play opens, Blanche has just arrived at Stellas neighborhood after having taken two streetcars, one named Desire and another called Cemeteries. Explain the symbolic significance of these two streetcars. What do they represent, and how do they emphasize some of the plays major concepts and/or themes? When Blanche says that she took a "streetcar named Desire, and then . . . one called Cemeteries," (The Elysian Fields are the land of the dead in Greek mythology.) Blanches journey on New Orleans streetcars represents the journey of her own life. Desire is her first step, just as it was the first step of her life after her husband Allan had died. Still struggling with this loss, she was desperately longing for love and companionship, but ended up leading a life, which was filled with sex with random men, who never cared about her: Yes, I had many intimacies with strangers. After the death of Allan intimacies with strangers was all I seemed able to fill my empty heart with (Williams 205). At this time she was hence obsessed by desire. In scene 9, when Blanche says that the opposite of death is desire. The next step of her journey is Cemeteries, which is an obvious symbol for death. Her promiscuous lifestyle had got her into trouble. She lost her job because she had had an affair with one of her students, and was banned from Laurel:The opposite (of death) is desire(Williams 206). Blanche means love as well as sexual desire the need for connection with another person. She does not admire the raw desire embodied by Stanley, even though it is sexual passion that makes Stella and Stanley (as well, in a lesser way, as Steve and Eunice) so fully alive in a way that Blanche is not. Stanley and Stella know how to keep the colored lights going, which is their term for rewarding sexual relations. Everything about Stanley suggests that sexual fulfillment is the center of his life. The playwright emphasizes this in the stage direction that accompanies Stanleys first appearance: Animal joy in his being is implicit in all his movements and attitudes. His sexuality is the complete and satisfying center of his life.

2. Point out incidents in the play where desire and/or death are mentioned or suggested. Discuss how Williams synthesizes the two concepts and brings them together as one in the character of Blanche. Sexual desiresNotice that Blanche is described as wearing white and having a moth like appearance. Williams often dresses his most degenerate characters in white, the symbol of purity. Blanche was subjected to a series of deaths in her family and the ultimate loss of the ancestral home. The deaths were ugly, slow, and tortuous. They illustrated the ugliness and brutality of life. The dance tune that was playing when Allan committed suicide haunts her until she drinks enough so as to hear the shot which then signals the end of the music.

3. Tragic heroes lives usually end in defeat or death because of a flaw in their character. As the tragedy unfolds, there is a sense of inevitability; that is, because of a tragic flaw, there seems to be nothing the hero can do to avoid the approaching disaster. Using this as your criterion, state why Blanche fits the description of a tragic hero. She would never willingly hurt someone. She doesn't want realism; she

prefers magic. She doesn't always tell the truth, but she tells "what ought to be truth." Yet she has lived a life that would make the most degenerate person seem timid. She is, in general, one of Williams' characters who do not belong in this world. And her type will always be at the mercy of the brutal, realistic world. Blache cannot accept the reality she is in, instead she chooses a life of lies and deceit, betraying her own family members such as her own sister to gain sympathy and attention for herself.

4. Point out examples from the text that suggest that Blanche suffers from a deep sense of loneliness. Describe the steps she takes, imprudent and prudent, to overcome this loneliness. Baths, lies, in the dark Blanche's deception of others and herself is not characterized by malicious intent, but rather a heart-broken and saddened retreat to a romantic time and happier moments before disaster struck her life To escape from these brutalities and to escape from the lonely void created by her young husband's death, Blanche turned to alcohol and sexual promiscuity. The alcohol helped her to forget. When troubled, the dance tune that was playing when Allan committed suicide haunts her until she drinks enough so as to hear the shot which then signals the end of the music. Blanche gives herself to men for other reasons. She feels that she had failed her young husband in some way. Therefore, she tries to alleviate her guilt by giving herself at random to other young men. 5. Discuss the differing views expressed by Stanley and Blanche regarding Blanches illusions. How does Stanley view them? How does Blanche view them? He tells her that he doesn't go in for that sort of thing and only likes people who "lay their cards on the table." The contrast between Blanche and Stanley can be understood as reflecting a similar opposition: the 'fake', illusionary and self-deceptive woman, versus her sister's coarsely, brutally present and animalistic husband, simplistic and 'real' in his corporal presence. Stanley is a realist while Blache is a dreamer, she believes in magic, a womans charm is 50% illusion. I don't go in for that stuff ... compliments to women about their looks. I never met a woman that didn't know if she was good-looking or not without being told. You know what luck is? Luck is believing you're lucky...To hold a front position in this rat-race you're got to believe you are lucky. Scene 11 6. By referring to incidents and comments in the play, prove the assertion that sexuality is a primitive, powerful force capable of creating or destroying life. Sex is essentially a destructive force in A Streetcar Named Desire, though this destruction takes a variety of forms, including literal death, physical violence, mental degradation, the sullying of a good reputation, and even financial ruin. Its very much tied to physical

aggression, both in the sexual relations between husband and wife, but also in the plays rape scene. The name of the area where Blanche and Stanley live is called Elysian Fields. The Elysian Fields are the blissful abode where ancient Greek heroes dwell in the afterlife. The term suggests that Blanche and Stanley live in a kind of paradise (a paradise that of course is hard for Blanche to understand).

7. State some of the ways in which Blanche represents the civilized, rational aspect of life and Stanley represents the primitive, brutish aspect of life. The ending to A Streetcar Named Desire is all about cruel and tragic irony. Blanche is shipped off to a mental institution because she cant deal with reality and retreats into illusion yet Stella is doing the very same thing by ignoring her sisters story about Stanley. (See Stellas Character Analysis for lots more.) Blanche, who always insisted that she [doesnt] tell the truth, [but rather] what ought to be truth, has actually come clean about reality for the first time (by revealing that Stanley raped her). But no one believes her. Blanches final and very famous line, Ive always depended on the kindness of strangers, is yet another example of tragic irony; what she considers kindness is only desire the attention she gets from strangers is generally sexual in nature. (Again, lots more to say on this in her Character Analysis.") Its a fitting ending for a work that explores cruelty and tragedy to such a gut-wrenching degree. 8. It is easy to see Stanley as the villain in this play, but is there any justification for his actions? Provide examples to support your opinion. The portrayal of Blache is an innocent woman who is not trying to harm people, however, as soon as she meets with Stanley, their two worlds clashed and caused a series of problems down the road. Stanley is the catalyst for many actions in the play, such as picking on Blache and forcing her to show him the permits, as well as buying her the tickets for her to leave town, telling Mitch about Blache's past. I don't want realism. I want magic! Yes, yes, magic. I try to give that to people. I do misrepresent things. I don't tell truths. I tell what ought to be truth. 9. Describe the type of relationship that Stanley and Stella have. What is it based upon? Considering the ending of the play, do you think they will remain together? Give reasons for your opinion. -They do not complement each other like Stella and Mitch, however they still remain together at the end of the play.. We can even compare the relationship between Stella and Stanley to Steve and Eunice. There are always have fight between these two couples. However, they always maintain good relations in a very short time. For example, Stanley beats Stella. Nevertheless, they still make love at that night. Steve and Eunice have similar situation. Yet, there are still have some differences between these two couples. Because

the interference of Blanche, Stella shares the opinion from Blanche. She has the same background and views as Blanche. Consequently, she can't endure so much violent behaviors from Stanley. For example, she ran to Eunice's house when Stanley beats her. She hates Stanley joke to her in front of other people. She against Stanley because she want to support her sister. 10. Elysian Fields is the name of the community where Stanley and Stella live. It is also an allusion: In Greek mythology, Elysian Fields is paradise, the place where heroes go after death. Why does Williams give this name to the area where the Kowalskis live? Blanches seemingly constant desire to bathe symbolizes her longing for purity, her desire to wash off the sins of her past. Since Elysian Fields is the place where the souls reside before they come back to earth, it symbolises the third step of the journey of Blanches soul. After the rape, she is being taken away to the mental institution, which symbolises that her journey has started over again. Desire has once again sent her off to Cemeteries. With Stanleys connection to the ape, Williams again builds up a link to the jungle. Apes often live in the jungle, for it is their habitat. Therefore Stanleys habitat, the Elysian Fields, can be considered to be a jungle. It appears to be an appropriate place for Blanche to visit, when the "white woods" actually camouflage the "noises of the jungle" dominating her mind. 11. The DuBois plantation was named Belle Reve, which translates to Beautiful Dream. Given Blanches character, why is that a particularly apt name for her home? Belle Reve is the name of the sisters familys plantation in their hometown Laurel. The name is again of French origin and means beautiful dream, which again emphasises Blanches tendency to cling to her illusions concerning the subscriptio of the term The term suggests an illusion, which is not quite true, for the plantation really once existed. On the other hand, beautiful dream suggests that something beautiful, which has once existed, faded away. Therefore, the names symbolic meaning became true. But in contrast to Blanches other illusions, this is the only one that ever truly existed, and it s the only one that Stella and Blanche are both connected to, because it is their heritage, and it was real. However, looking more closely at the name, it reveals that there is a grammatical mistake. The adjective belle is feminine, but it should be masculine, for reve is masculine. Tennessee Williams probably did this on purpose and not by mistake, because it underlines the fact that Belle Reve was just a dream which crumbled. The grammatical mistake also implies a certain imperfection, which is also apparent and true for Blanches beautiful dream, her net of lies and false illusions. In contrast to the butterfly, who lives during daytime, the moth mainly lives during the night, which makes it a creature of the darkness, and the butterfly one of the light. (Stella means star. So she appears at night.)

It won't be the sort of thing you have in mind. This man is a gentleman - he respects me. What he wants is my companionship. Having great wealth sometimes makes people lonely. A cultivated woman - a woman of breeding and intelligence - can enrich a man's life immeasurably. I have those things to offer, and time doesn't take them away. Physical beauty is passing - a transitory possession. Dont ever believe it. Life has got to go on. No matter what happens, youve got to keep on going.