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Quotations & character- Blanche • I never was hard or self-sufficient enough… And so soft people have got to - shimmer and glow - put a - paper lantern over the light… But I'm scared now - awf'ly scared. I don't know how much longer I can turn the trick. It isn't enough to be soft. You've got to be soft and attractive. And I - I'm fading now! • Her insecurities- she needs to be soft and attractive, the light… Turning the trick - reference to prostitution? • I want to deceive him enough to make him - want me… • Not afraid to lie, not afraid to deceive- this is more significant once the story progresses, foreshadows • Well you do, honey lamb. Come here! Come on over here like I told you! I want to kiss you - just once - softly and sweetly on your mouth. [Without waiting for him to accept, she crosses quickly to him and presses her lips to his.] Run along now! It would be nice to keep you, but I've got to be good and keep my hands off children. Adios! • Blanche is a sexual predator… she’s attracted to little kids… more significant once the story progresses, foreshadows • Look who's coming! My Rosenkavalier! Bow to me first! Now present them. • She romanticizes things, in a dream/movie, unrealistic • Honey • She uses this to address Mitch a lot, patronizing but also flirtatious • I guess you are used to girls that like to be lost . The kind that get lost immediately, on the first date! • Self righteous or pretends she is better than all the other girls. • I want to create- Joie de vivre! I’m lighting a candle!... We are going to be very bohemian… • Pretentious, deluded… living in a dream world. Also obsessed with romance. • And then the search light that had been turned on the world was turned off… • Romanticizing the death of her husband
Quotations & character- Stella • That’s much more practical! • Her attitude towards domestic violence is rather relaxed. She’s a ‘practical’ person. • I don’t listen to you when you are being morbid! • Avoid negative things, thoughts etc. Chooses to ignore things that aren’t pleasant rather than face them.
Quotations & character- Mitch • Can I- uh- kiss you- goodnight? • Insecure, awkward, unromantic, not very spontaneous • I am ashamed of the way I perspire… • Unromantic, doesn’t really know how to act around women. Seems much more inexperienced compared to Blanche. • (When he asks Blanche her weight and age) • AWKWARD
Symbols and Motifs • Coke Stain on Blanche’s white dress • Blanche’s tainted reputation, she is not as pure as she seems to be. Foreshadows the revealing of her past. • The streetcar named desire • Sex, lust… • Love as a searchlight or candle • Blanche’s description of love is overly romanticized. It is very metaphorical. Shows Blanche’s distance from reality and the importance she places on romantic relationships.
Sound • [In the ensuing pause, the ‘blue piano’ is heard. It continues through the rest of this scene and the opening of the next. The Young Man clears his throat and looks glancingly at the door.] • When Blanche talks to the Young Man and Mitch… Represents sex and desire • [Polka music sounds, in a minor key faint with distance.][The polka stops abruptly. Blanche rises stiffly. Then the polka resumes in a major key.] • When Blanche tells Mitch of the death of her husband. Dramatic, builds tension • Reference to the Varsouviana • The song is played occasionally throughout the rest of the play. Represents Blanche’s past. Also, the Varsouviana is Polish like Stanley.
Usage of French • Voulez-vouscouchez avec moicesoir? Vous ne comprenez pas? Ah, queldommage! • Would you sleep with me tonight? You do not understand? Ah, what a pity! • Uses a foreign language to hide her sexual nature and sex drive and to tease Mitch • Joie de vivre • Joy of life • Je suis la Dame aux Camellias! Vousetes- Armand! Understand French? • I am the lady of Camellias! And you are Armand! • Uses French to show her superiority and patronize Mitch • Reference to the Lady of Camellias where the woman is very promiscuous – reference to her past and secrets
