Blog Portfolio 8

Coverage
1) Masks
2) Take A Bow
3) Ole, Oleanna
4) Where Have You Been
5) Research
6) Themes in Oleanna

Depth

For my depth post, I used my blogpost Research . I went into depth by researching an article related to A Streetcar Named Desire and commenting on it.


Interaction


I discussed an idea that Saumya touched upon in her blogpost Oleanna The Movie in my blogpost Take A Bow.

Discussion:

Saumya and I had a discussion on my blogpost Take A Bow where we debate about our ideas about the movie adaption of Oleanna.

Xenoblogging:

I expressed some criticism on Saumya's blogpost Oleanna The Movie. 

Wildcard:

I got a little emotional reflecting on the past two years in Don't You Remember

Don't You Remember?

The last few years have been an inspiration to me. The people I’ve gotten close to, the things I got to do and the things that I can’t imagine living without anymore are all an inspiration for me to never forget that amazing things can happen. We’re about to graduate and leave a huge and important part of our lives behind but I don’t think any of us will forget the moments we’ve spent here, in InCrEdIbLe InDiA (douchey…). We take all of this for granted and now when it’s the end of something so big like our childhood, we realize all the things we haven’t done yet, are reminded of all the things that we missed out on. If there’s something I don’t want to leave with, it’s regrets. I think I consider myself sometimes as someone who lives the moment even though I only do that when things come to an end. That’s when I realize I can’t leave knowing that I didn’t do or say what I wanted to. This one time my mom sent me to Ireland to learn English… awkward pause… and I realized I hadn’t said goodbye to some people from a different language course that were about to leave, so I woke up early and ran to the bus station to then run around the surroundings of Cork to find some church that they were supposed to leave at. There are SO many churches in Cork. All because I felt like I was a spontaneous person who does crazy things just to not have regrets. I must admit I sound like a complete freak who doesn’t know what she’s talking about and who obviously doesn’t have a very big life experience. So this story of running to a bus seems really useless right now but I’m going to leave it in for the LOLS. So India. One of the things I’m most grateful for is that I’ve discovered so many flaws on me here. That sounds weird but it’s a good thing. I’m so impatient, I can be so grumpy and I have too high expectations of everything. But whatever, let’s talk about the good times. I’ve spent nights just driving around in Tuk Tuks with my friends in ‘cold’ winter nights, being surprised by a huge troop of cows blocking the way. Finding taxis or Tuk Tuks in general has been a big part of living in India… and I realize that’s a weird thing to say but I’m considering this to be a creative stream of thoughts so… TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT. But seriously, so many good things happened. And maybe senior year wasn’t the best, or as good as I expected but it doesn’t matter because everything that did happen made me stronger (douchey reference to Kelly Clarkson…). One of the hardest things I had to do this year was say goodbye to people that mattered the most to me last year. It’s always hard to let go of a best friend, not knowing if or when you’ll see them again. SINCE I AM AN OPTIMISTIC PERSON I believe that you always meet people twice in your life (once counting as in India obviously…). So I would like to invite you all to my wedding so I can see you all again. And this is probably the stupidest thing that has ever been written BROS, but I’m going to miss you and I like you all a lot. 

Themes in Oleanna

In Oleanna, there are several themes. Oleanna focuses on education and the conflict between people that are highly educated and those that are still striving to be educated. Money and gender also play a big role in this play. If it wasn't for these differences, the conflict in education would be minor. The fact that Carol had a poor upbringing and the fact that she is a girl living in a world where the ideas of feminism sneak into everyone's lives enhance the conflict there is between Carol and her teacher.
Oleanna also deals with communication. Communication plays a tremendous role in the play. Because education and upbringing hinder Carol from having the same understanding of vocabulary and the same sense of expressing herself, the communication between Carol and John is hindered.
Another theme is the idea of power. Carol and John constantly fight for the power in their relationship, which ends in the disastrous ending. 

RESEARCH

The Article ‘Authorizing History: Victimization in A Streetcar Named Desire’ by Anca Vlasopolos is a very interesting reflection on the play A Streetcar Named Desire. It talks about the fact that if A Streetcar Named Desire had been written by Shakespeare, it would have been called a problem play. The problem comes from the strategies that these plays deploy to implicate the viewer in their violent processes of historiography – the processes of constructing a narrative of the character’s pasts – instead of purging the viewer of emotions associated with crises.

The article points out that the play has been critizised as being a failure in achieving a unified generic tone or the main character as separately functioning unit of the performance, but I don’t agree with that. I don’t think that there is a ‘failure’ at hand at all. If Blanche was consistent throughout the play, there wouldn’t be a story. The changing tone is what makes the play interesting in the first play.

Another idea suggested in this article is that the course of history makes the main character’s displacement inevitable and that her violation and expulsion are natural, which I would rather agree with than with the idea that the play is typical of the failure of tragedy in the modern age. There is just the right amount of drama in this play and the audience is taken by surprise over and over again. If anything, the dramatic effects and actions of the characters enhances the idea of a successful tragedy, even though one doesn’t necessarily feel sad or disappointed when done seeing or reading the play. The play has just the right amount of comedy mixed with dramatic elements. 

Authorizing History: Victimization in "A Streetcar Named Desire"

Anca Vlasopolos

Theatre Journal , Vol. 38, No. 3, Performance of Textual History (Oct., 1986), pp. 322-338

Published by: The Johns Hopkins University Press

Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3208047

Where Have You Been

Hedda Gabler, A Streetcar Named Desire and The Heidi Chronicles all have significant literary devices that are employed to develop theme. Setting is an important literary devices that the authors focus on.

Setting in The Heidi Chronicles

Shows how the social expectation of women doesn't change. Still expected to be either a working woman or a housewife, and those who focus on a career are criticized by others for not ‘fulfilling’ the role of women at the time period. Also there is the idea of desperation, as women cannot actively pursue men they are interested in as it is considered an act of desperation which the women feel as though is an extremely negative quality. Within the setting Heidi often is removed from the others in the scene.

In summary Wasserstein uses setting to show how the role of women did not change dramatically despite a change in time period and location.

The change in time period is also significant because the characters that once believed in feminist ideals are now no longer important to them. They have been changed with the times.

The fact that the setting always returns to the university after scenes, displays the notion of a lack of change. Time goes on but it seems as though everything is still stuck in one place.

Setting in Hedda Gabler

The time period marks the women’s movement in Norway. It was a Patriarchal society at the time. The background of the play plays a big role in understanding the social differences between aristocracy and the rest. The action itself is mostly set in the drawing room, acting as a gilded cage for Hedda. The Ssde room is Hedda’s sanctuary with her father’s portrait, her guns, etc. Hedda closes the curtains often, masking herself from the rest of the world. She changes the scenery, moves the objects out of the room and so everything’s changing.

Setting in A Streetcar Named Desire

•                New Orleans 1950’s. The Southern United States during this time treated women much differently from different eras, as seen by the actions of Heidi and Hedda.

The setting in the Streetcar is New Orleans LA after WII. The setting influences the characters, the values, and the music that you hear in the play. In the Blanche is no longer on a plantation she is in the city so she is learning the reality of being a modern woman in an urban setting. This is the trend that America was heading to.

Ole, Oleanna

The title ‘Oleanna’ is said to be an allusion to a 19^th century society in Pennsylvania. This society called Oleanna was named after a Norwegian called Ole Bull, a famous violinist and founder of this utopian society. Some say that it was his wife, but according to the website Why Oleanna (http://www.oleannaonbroadway.com/why-oleanna.html) it was his mother that was called Anna, together creating the name Ole-Anna. This man, Ole Bull, wanted to leave his print in America and so he bought 11000 acres of land in Pennsylvania for Norwegian immigrants to settle, in 1852. On this specific land, four fiefdoms were developed and one of them was called Oleanna. Hence, people came in masses to claim the new and free land. Ironically, the land was located in a valley between thick forests, making it unsuitable for farming. The community failed to exist and by the middle of the 1850s the colonists all returned home or settled somewhere else in America.

Shortly after the failure of the community of Oleanna, a satirical folk-song was written in Norwegian about this crisis. It was later translated to English and performed by Pete Seeger, which went a little like this:

The first verse:


Oh to be in Oleanna,

That's where I'd like to be


Than to be in Norway


And bear the chains of slavery.

In the drama itself, David Mamet included this verse as an epigraph to the play, creating an ironic and sarcastic comment about people’s goals in life and their need for more. In striving for something, people loose themselves in ambition and don’t get to be satisfied when they got what they wanted. This can be interpreted into the last line of the play spoken by Carol ‘Yeah… that’s right’. 

Take A Bow

The production of Oleanna that we saw in class was a huge success in terms of direction, staging and characters chosen.

Every little detail and movement made sense in terms of the dialogue. A lot was minor but very significant in terms of interpretation of the script. Considering that the author himself directed this movie, it is no surprise that a lot of thought was put into directing this movie. Sometimes, the camera zooms in on only Carol or John’s face, creating an additive effect to the impact of the lines. Action performed with papers lying around, books in shelves, couches and chairs enhanced the effect of the dialogue. For example when John picks up a chair to throw it at Carol, but holds it in a pose that is at the same time terrifying and exciting because the play has reached its climax and is about to come to a final resolution. Another example of a well directed action is when Carol goes to the shelf to pick up his book and stands behind the movable stairs attached to his small library, which creates some interesting shades and a sense of mystery on her face.

Since the whole play is in dialogue and set in John’s office, the director made a good choice in having intervals of people walking through hallways or throwing in a widescreen shot of the university because it kept the action interesting and versatile. Even the office itself varies throughout the movie. It isn’t that the office gets a renovation or anything like that, but the conversation shifts into different parts and corners of the office that allows the audience to feel like there is movement and progression in the plot and action. The office is well equipped, which, on a stage might not work out this well. On a stage, too many stage props and scenery can distract from the action itself happening on stage.

The casting for the characters was pretty effective. Carol was casted by a young woman with big eyes and round glasses, enhancing the sense of stupidity that relates to her character, especially in the first Act. She is dressed in simple clothes, nothing fancy. Her costume suggests her coming from a less wealthy family, provoking pity and empathy within the audience. Her whole appearance in the first act is perfectly adapted to the impression one gets from reading the first act. She is clearly the student that finds herself in a tricky situation because she doesn’t understand what her professor is talking about in class, something everyone can relate to. In the second act, she adopts a businesswoman-like attitude and appearance. The shift of power is highlighted by the switch in costumes in the second act, that has been well interpreted by the director, even though John’s costume doesn’t significantly change. The difference in age between the two characters is well distinguishable even though it is good that it isn’t too dramatic, so that the sexual references that Carol appears to understand aren’t too absurd coming from her professor.

Overall, the adaptation of the play was good and represented what I had imagined while reading it. 

In Saumya’s blog about the movie and play of Oleanna, she said that she had mixed feelings about the beating at the end and that made me want to talk about it as well. Surprisingly, I felt like the beating was well deserved. When finishing watching the movie I actually felt relieved that it happened because I got so annoyed with her attitude throughout the movie. I realize now that I shouldn’t wish for someone, even if it’s a movie character, to be beaten and I’m a bit ashamed that I feel that way. Maybe that’s an intended effect by the director, that people think about their own feelings in response to watching the movie, which is why I thought it was good that Saumya brought that conflict up. 

MASKS

In drama, masks can be used to characterize the actors on stage. While some are physically present, as in traditions like LeCoq’s mask theatre, most are metaphorical. A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams and Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen use metaphorical masks to characterize the main characters, Blanche Dubois and Hedda Tesman. In A Streetcar Named Desire, Blanche slips into different roles by hiding behind her many masks and in Hedda Gabler, Hedda reveals her personality with her masks, which is portrayed through the stage props, symbols and manipulative diction. 

Blog Portfolio

Coverage

1. Sexism
2. Somebody to Love
3. Love and other Drugs
4. Rien A Voir
5. Set Design
6. Show Goes On
7. Super Bass
8. 1, 2, 3
9. Complicated

Depth:

For my depth post, I used my blogpost Love and Other Drugs. I went into depth by analyzing the music in A Streetcar Named Desire. I researched the topic and carefully looked through the book.

Interaction:

I discussed an idea that Saumya touched upon in her blogpost Pay no Rent in my blogpost Somebody to Love

Discussion:

Saumya and I had a discussion on my blogpost Super Bass where we debate about Scoop being an antagonist or not and we think together and come to some conclusions for ourselves.

Xenoblogging:

I expressed some criticism on Saumya's blogpost Art in Heidi.

Wildcard

I assessed the importance of communication in my wildcard Let't talk. Do you wanna talk?. 

Let's talk. Do you wanna talk?

Plains are the safest public transports on the planet but when they crash, it tends to be tragic and we have to look for the cause of the accident. Now, most of the times causes like ‘ran out of fuel’ or ‘engines broke’ are listed, even though the real reason is much simpler than that: communication. Reading the chapter ‘The Ethnic Theory of Plane Crashes’, made me realize how complex our communications are and how they can be a question of life or death. I often think that if we were better at communicating, we would avoid so many problems in our lives: misunderstanding, fights, secrets, hurt feelings. And it goes on and on and on. Until we come to the plane crashes, and we realize that we might have to ameliorate our talking skills. It drives me mad really, to hear that 250 people could die just because the pilot and his first commander didn’t communicate in an efficient matter. Who are we not to speak up when we’re supposed to? How can we keep secrets that lead to misunderstandings which lead to hurt feelings? Leaving the plane crashes aside, communication used to be much simpler a few dozen of years ago. My grandmother often tells me about those times where phones and internet as we know it didn’t exist. Ignoring the fact that boys used to bring a girl home after they went on a date (not sure if communication is the sole reason for that), misleading conversations and false information was avoided by the phenomena called talking. Internet couldn’t show them any upsetting gossip on Facebook, and life in general just seemed to be simpler (excluding the fact that most of the countries were destroyed from the war and had to regain their pride and wealth).  When you don’t give it a thought, talking seems like the simplest thing out there. Talking to someone about something specific on the other hand causes difficulties in some situations. I feel like nowadays we don’t even know how to talk, we feel awkward even though there’s nothing to feel awkward about! The first commander who didn’t speak up to his boss because he didn’t dare question the pilot’s commands: what a waste of awkwardness (and of human lives as we find out reading on). When brought up, knowledge issues confuse my perception of the world as well as me. I do comprehend now, that I can’t judge any pilot for lacking a clear sense of communication because I for myself don’t know what that means. Society might be the questioned factor here, but who are we to blame it on our surroundings when we’re the only ones who can make a difference for ourselves.

Complicated

The article ‘Hedda as “Modern Woman”’ by William Archer is an analysis of Hedda’s character in Hedda Gabler. The review highlights some interesting points about Hedda being a modern woman because she is so indefinable and unpredictable. The author writes that modern women are full of the ‘pettinesses, the peculiarities, the inconsistencies, the contradictions’ that we are today. Hedda is described as weak and strong, capricious and determined, petty and powerful, yet always herself, always real. This writer sees Hedda as someone complicated and yet beautiful. He has a point when he says that the various aspects to her make her a real person that is hard to define in one term like Shakespeare’s heroines.

When I read the book I personally just thought that Hedda was a bad person, a mean person. She strives to manipulate everyone around her and doesn’t care if anyone gets hurt. She sticks to her beliefs, yes, but who in their right mind would actually go so far as to give a gun to someone and tell them to ‘make it beautiful’. She is happy when she hears that Lövborg killed himself and sad when she hears that he didn’t do it intentionally. She clearly has some kind of psychological problem that she doesn’t know how to deal with. She shoots herself, not considering the baby that she carries in her belly. I understand that people would go to extremes to not be dependent of a man, but who willingly kills their baby too? She is someone who is too arrogant and too self-obsessed to compromise and talk about thinks or figure things out before taking action. She doesn’t know what it means to love someone and she doesn’t know what it means to get over something. A minute a woman shows interest in a man that she had long forgotten, she willing goes and destroys her life. She seriously has some issues. I know that she is a complex and interesting character that deserves that she is analyzed and understood and found fascinating but I just cannot relate to her. It seems as though she doesn’t know what she wants either: she fools around and as William Archer says, is sometimes weak, sometimes strong and above all contradictory. If she was so true to her beliefs and motifs, she shouldn’t be so flaky. 

1, 2, 3

Scoop verses Stanley.

        

Scoop is Heidi’s antagonist. He thinks with his hormones and is very overpowering. At the same time he is smart and calculating. He doesn’t just do something irrationally but thinks it through. Stanley is more impulsive in his actions. He likes to just let loose or get drunk and yell at people. He even rapes (or at least overpowers) Blanche, which is something Scoop would not do. He is more the type of guy that tries to seduce a woman verbally. At the beginning of the Heidi Chronicles he provokes Heidi so much that she goes for him even though it clearly looks like she despises him. He has a way of irritating women and challenging them intellectually in order to get their attention. Stanley isn’t characterized as a very smart person. He is there with his polish/southern accent and people focus more on his body than on what he has to say. He isn’t dumb, as he figures out that there is something wrong with Blanche and that she’s lying about her situation, but he tends to repeat the words he thinks sound smart, as for example ‘acquaintance’.

Another characteristic feature of Scoop’s is that he likes to rate things on a scale of A to F, showing that he’s had experience with education and is shaped in a way that he rates a value of each thing while talking. Stanley on the other hand hasn’t gone to university and is said to be very simple and not greatly wealthy or educated.

Something that does make them similar is that they have a way of being involved with at least two women in the story. They seem irresistible and THE man to have disregarding their unfortunate character traits. They are both involved with the protagonist, but they aren’t exactly happy together in the end. Stanley and Scoop are in a way antagonist because they oppose the protagonist’s ideas and lead them to failure.

Two men, two different characters, but they’re still very similar. There’s just something about their rudeness and lack of sensibility towards a woman that makes them look alike. 

Super Bass

Is Scoop our antagonist?

p.168: Scoop is being introduced as someone who opposes Heidi. This is shown by the way he tells her what she is: ‘You’re being very difficult”. He then tells her what he thinks of her, “You really have one hell of an inferiority complex”. He puts her in a very defined spot by repeatedly using the word ‘you’ when addressing her. The first time he is introduced, he is portrayed as someone who has a fix image of her even though they have just met. It seems as though he tries to push her over the edge by insulting her and questioning her actions. The reason why he’s being so pushy might be that he is trying to get a specific reaction out of her, as it looks like he has a goal in mind when talking to her. Scoop uses words such as ‘obviously’ to define himself as someone who knows better than Heidi herself what she is like: “ I mean, you’re obviously a liberal, or you wouldn’t be here”. The way he talks to her is dominant and rude. He makes her feel inferior to him and makes himself stand out as the alpha male.  What is interesting is that whatever he does and says to her only makes her more attracted to him, which contradicts her feminist image. Scoop also commands Heidi around: “That’s bullshit. Be real. You’re neat and clean for Eugene”. After making her feel put on the spot by him, he directly insults her by saying: “I have absolutely no interest in you. You’ve been incredibly obnoxious and your looks are B-“.  Once she actually tries to make some conversation and is interested in what he says she asks him if he works for a paper and he responds: “Did they teach you at Vassar to ask so many inane questions in order to keep a conversation going?”, shutting her down one more time.

The way Scoop is introduced to the play makes him very well look like the antagonist, even though that doesn’t mean that there is certain chemistry between the two characters. Throughout the play he has the role of contradicting Heidi. They’re opposites, even if they might be in love. By making Heidi dependant of him, he ruins her image of a feminist, as she contradicts her own beliefs by being in love with him after he’s married and has kids. Scoop admires Heidi because of all the strength she puts into her beliefs but he would never marry her. He needs a woman that stays at home and takes care of the kids while he brings home the money and food.

What message does Wasserstein use him to convey?

Feels everything is below him as he grades frivolous aspects that he encounters in life (books, bands, people) below himself. He claims Princeton University wasn’t worth him, and didn’t deserve him. He challenges the protagonist’s Heidi’s opinions, and triumphs over her.

Portrayed as the Alpha Male character who has no fears about walking up to a stranger, and bluntly questioning her is she had sexual intercourse. Scoop keeps Heidi on his hook, even long after his married life, using her as an escape goat once in a blue moon. Heidi too describes him as her “Bad habit who she is addicted too.” The interactions between these 2 characters are very limited, and they only meet by chance once in a blue moon through their friends. The contrast between the confident alpha male Scoop, and the reserved Heidi with an inferiority complex highlights the society in the post World War II era. Heidi is described to be a trivial women, while Scoop is a serious man. The scene where Heidi is unable to get a word in edge wise during the live studio interview in New York due to the intervention of Scoop and also Peter in her opinions. In this era female opinions were considered trivial and worthless, thus leading to the emergence of feminist humans led by Heidi (Humanist, as termed by her). Her lecturing of renowned female artists virtually unheard of today, mimics and mirrors her position in her life and society which she strives to change.

What techniques does Wasserstein use to convey this message?

Wasserstein uses Scoop’s language to convey that women after World War Two had no power compared to men. The use of ‘you’ makes him look like he knows a lot about her and women in general. He pushes her so much with insults and swearwords, that she adapts her language to his’ and uses words such as ‘fuck’. The author makes Heidi and Scoop complete opposites, but by letting Scoop support the feminist beliefs in some ways he portrays and yet choose a woman who doesn’t give such demands, he put women in a light where men are more dominant than them. 

Show Goes On

The film version we saw of A Streetcar Named Desire took a few different turns than the written version of the play. For one, it had a less tragic end because Stella left Stanley, together with the baby, which certainly satisfied all the feminists out there. A violent husband isn’t a place for a woman and her newborn baby! One would say. Blanche’s destiny stays similar to the book. Blanche is taken away by a doctor and her last scene ends dramatically with the words along the lines of ‘I’ve always relayed on the kindness of strangers’. What was really interesting to see about Blanche’s story was that the director chose to leave out the part of Blanche’s dead husband being homosexual. There might be many reasons as to why one would make that choice, even though I think that it takes out a whole big chunk of interesting analysis.  As Tennessee Williams was gay himself, I find that taking out that piece of information ruins a whole part of the story. There seems no valid reason anymore as to why her husband shoots himself after she confronts him.

Because it was a movie, the set was a little different than described in the book, as there were multiple perspectives that the actors could be looked at. A thing that they did very well was that they didn’t show the bathroom either, just like in the book. There are only supposed to be two rooms, the living room and the bedroom, but in the movie there is also some sort of small area at the door, which seems like a practical adjustment to the set, as it creates more privacy.

Stella is portrayed much older than she’s described in the book. Blanche doesn’t look old at all and she doesn’t seem old either when Stanley rips off the cover of the lamp. Stella, who is described as a young, vivid and pretty girl, looks old and almost unattractive.

What was also a little irritating were the stairs and Eunice’s balcony. They don’t correspond at all to what was described in the book. It is possible that it was done for practical purposes, but it ruins the whole idea of an old fire escape staircase across the wall that one imagines when reading the italics of the play.

The movie is a great interpretation of the book, even though it left out some important parts of the actual story.

Set Design

This is my drawing of the imaginary stage of 'a streetcar named desire'. I would set the stage so that a white-grey-ish brick wall with a cross ladder is encircling the actual stage, which is reduced to a kitchen with a table and a cupboard (with the rum hidden in it) and a foldable bed for Blanche in the closet, separated from the bedroom by a flowered curtain (Blanche exchanged it with a plain one because she wanted to bring more color into the apartment). The bedroom has a bed only, accompanied by a radio and a night lamp. The lamp is currently hidden by the bed, on the other side of it. The radio was stored in the cupboard by Stella because of her husband's bad temper. The bathroom also has a door to the bathroom with a bathtub in it. The bathroom door can be opened, but won't see much happening there. The main action will always happen in these two rooms. On top of the brick wall you can see the two windows of Eunice's apartment. Whenever people are upstairs, the lights will go on and shadows will be visible at the windows but never clear faces or bodies. The reason why the table is the biggest object in the kitchen, is because whenever something important happens, someone will be either having a drink at the table, playing cards or sitting down. The trick with this awesome stage is that when the action only happens in the kitchen, the whole bedroom can be pushed to the side with the curtain, so that it looks like the view is just on the kitchen, but more focused. This will only happen when Blanche's foldable bed needs to be out, or more people have come over for poker, so that there isn't a space issue.
When the action happens on the streets, an extended brick wall can be let down to hide the rooms and let the audience focus on the street. The streets are drawn on the stage in front of the rooms so that it gives the play a sense of motion even though they live in a very enclosed area. 

Rien A Voir

The setting of A Streetcar Named Desire is impressively well described by the Author, Arthur Miller. The stage descriptions are full of adjectives and comparisons, such as 'raffish charm' (3), 'faded white stairs' (3), 'red-stained package' (4), 'shocked disbelief' (5) and many more. The author wants the reader to have a perfect visual of the setting and the actions of the characters. This way, actors and directors working with the play can put a play on stage that would look closely like the author had envisioned it to be. The descriptions above set the mood of the play, by using positive or negative diction to accompany nouns to further improve the visual of the play in one's mind. One not only sees the scene but also forms opinions, emotions and begins to emphasize with the characters. The author therefore uses such insightful descriptions right in the beginning of the play, to grasp the readers attention and to make the stage settings as realistic as possible.
By using techniques such as the describing actions with 'as if...' is intended to give the reader or actor further elements to work with to eventually imaging or create the whole scene to the point. On page 10, Blanche is described: 'Blanche sits in a chair very stiffly with her shoulders slightly hunched and her legs pressed close together and her hands slightly clutching as if she were quite cold'. First of all, Miller uses vivid descriptions to describe the scene by writing that Blanche sits 'stiffly' and that her shoulders are 'slightly hunched' and her legs 'pressed close together'. He then exaggerates the description a bit further by saying that Blanche is clutching her hands slightly as if she were quite cold. What is important about these details in description, is that they evoke emotions and vivid images for the reader. On the same page, it says that Blanche 'begins to speak with feverish vivacity as if she feared for either of them to stop and think'. At this point the 'as if' has an even bigger function. It implies Blanche's feelings and foreshadows that there is some sort of conflict between the two of them. In this stage direction it is also interesting to see that Blanche is said to speak with feverish vivacity because it hints to the fact that she is someone that likes to go over the top and seems to be slightly hysterical.
Overall the descriptions are very full of images and comparisons. Every action and movement of the characters is addressed, so that the actor knows exactly how to act and the reader knows exactly how to imagine the scene. Arthur Miller emphasizes on these vivid description, and lets the descriptions speak when there is nothing the character could say to make his point more clear. For example in the scene where Stanley overpowers Blanche, the action is described as follows: ' She moans. The bottle-top falls. She sinks to her knees. He picks up her inert figure and carries her to the bed. The hot trumpet and drums from the Four Deuces sound loudly'. The characters don't have to say anything for the scene to be very clear to the reader, even though it is very vague at the same time. In this particular moment in the play, the reader or the audience is forced to imagine what exactly happened between Blanche and Stanley. The author uses the tool of imagination to keep the story interesting and mysterious. The use of music in the descriptions is also intended to give the scenes a mood, or speak for the words. (discussed further in Love and other drugs.)

Love and other drugs

Blue Piano + Trumpet/Drums
The blue piano as well as the trumpets and drums accompany the characters through the story. As they initially serve the purpose of creating tension and engaging with the audience, they have their own meanings and themes that they emphasize on.
The trumpet and drums have different meanings for different occasions. One of the main character trait that this music possesses is the sexual tension. The music reminds the audience of a tribal environment, with people dancing around a fire, drinking their alcohol made from horse milk and following their natural sexual instincts. It seems as though this image is portrayed when Stanley and Blanche have sex after an on-going series of moments where the reader can practically feel the tension that is between the two. It is ironic that the drums and trumpet get louder and louder as Blanche gives up and lets Stanley take over control against her will (which, of course, can be interpreted in different manners). If the trumpet and drums were intended to represent the serenity of Blanche’s mind, this would be the part when it fades irreversibly; she has lost her mind.
Both trumpet and drums also have the function of setting the mood in more joyous scenes, like when Stanley comes back home and shouts out his friend’s names. This is the scene where the audience is introduced to the characters, giving them an immediate impression of Stanley: What a man! The trumpet and drums could therefore also represent his manhood and possibly his status of a ‘lion’, ‘king’ and ‘animal’. This thesis would then relate back to the scene where his sexual ego overwhelms Blanche and wins the fight they both were avoiding.
The blue piano’s function is a bit harder to determine, as it serves a lot of roles. It is clear that the blue piano introduces conflicts as well as tensions, but they are of various kinds. The piano sets the mood of the life on the setting, but most importantly Blanche’s life. In German, when someone is blue (blau) that means that they are drunk. Maybe the color blue has a bigger significance than it seems to have? Whenever Blanche is in a state where she plays a different role of her confusing life, she almost seems drunk. Additionally, she does drink a lot and alcohol plays a very penetrating role in her life. The alcohol saves her in a way from awkward situations, just like the piano plays when she’s on set.
An observation can be made from the links the trumpets and drums have to Stanley, and the blue piano has to Blanche. He represents strength and sex, while she represents a broken heart with a hint of pretentious purity. The ultimate collision happens when Stanley assaults her: The music of the blue piano fades (p.99) indicating that her melody is over. She has lost her part of the tension, and the music of the trumpets and drums grow louder and louder, showing that Stanley is now the only party with power in the relationship.
In the end, the piano as well as the drums and trumpet represent a lot of things, but it all comes down to the piano being associated with Blanche and her character and the trumpets and drums playing whenever Stanley is in action.


Blanche’s Singing

Throughout the play, Blanche spends a lot of time in the bathroom – while only two scenes have her being overheard singing from the bathroom, Stanley makes an allusion to the fact that she spends hours bathing. In a sense, it has become Blanche’s shelter from reality, an area where her illusions are at their greatest. The songs Blanche sings reveal her illusions and dreams of youth and desirability. However, Tennessee also used them to reflect the plot.

        In Scene 2, Stanley and Stella discuss the loss of Belle Reve for the first time. Blanche has yet to meet Stanley and is in the shower, singing the song “From the Land of the Sky-Blue Water” (Jazz version).

From the Land of the Sky-blue Water

They brought a captive maid;

And her eyes they are lit with lightnings

Her heart is not afraid!

But I steal to her lodge at dawning,

I woo her with my flute;

She is sick for the Sky-blue Water,

The captive maid is mute.

While Blanche only sings the first two lines of the song, it foreshadows the entire plot (the audience of the time would have been familiar with the lyrics). The progression of plot is established in four points of two lines each. The first two lines are Blanche’s arrival at Elysian Fields, from what she claims is a life of luxury and wonder. Her captivity is due to both the setting, which she despises, and her economic situation, which has forced her there. Lines 3 to 4 suggest an eargerness for discovery, much akin to Blanche who has decided to ‘conquer’ and seduce the men at Elysian Fields. Bringing the charade too far however, leads to Stanley raping and breaking her, as reflected in lines 5 and 6. Finally, Blanche retreats into herself and her illusions, longing for her “Sky-blue water” (luxurious life, desirability) and becoming “mute” (unheard and silenced) in an asylum (lines 7 and 8).
        The second time Blanche sings is in Scene 7, during which Stanley reveals Blanche’s lies to Stella. Their argument is interspersed with Blanche’s singing of “It’s Only A Paper Moon.” The lyrics she sings are as follows:

•       “Say, it’s only a paper moon, Sailing over a cardboard sea- But it wouldn’t be make-believe If you believed in me!” (120)

•       “It's a Barnum and Bailey world, Just as phoney as it can be- But it wouldn't be make believe If you believed in me.” (120)

•       “Without your love It's a honky tonk parade! Without your love, It's a melody played in a penny arcade...” (121)

•       A repetition of the first two quotes on pages 121 and 122

The soft quality and naivety of these lyrics dismisses any doubts that the reader may have about Blanche; she has built herself a world of illusions. As Blanche admits however, her house of cards only remains standing as long as society around her continues to believe and encourage her lies. Grasping at these straws is ironic given Stanley’s rejection of her on the other side of the bathroom door. In this case, the lyrics serve to heighten the irony as well as the tension in the scene. Stanley and Stella’s argument would be valid without Blanche, but wouldn’t be as antagonistic without the audience’s acknowledgement that Blanche will be destroyed by Stanley’s revelations.
        There is also a great irony in the music that Blanche chooses to sing. The first song was adapted from a “tribal melody” and converted into several styles, including Jazz. The second song was also a Jazz song. Considering that Blanche arrives at Elysian Fields with racial prejudices, she would likely have scorned at singing ‘African American music’ such as Jazz songs; these would logically have been taken out of her repertoire. However, depending on the version of “From the Land of the Sky-Blue Water” that the director chooses, this has several implications for Blanche’s character. If she sings the popular version, the singing is consistent with Blanche’s invented persona, and makes her fall into disillusionement and singing Jazz songs only harder. But if she sings the jazzy version, this serves to increase her deceiving persona from the start. Considering that Blanche arrives at Elysian Fields with racial prejudices, singing Jazz songs only serves to increase the image of a deceiving persona. This further separates her real character from her illusions and reveals her to be just as ‘common’ as the people she despises.

Polka Music

Whenever the Polka music is evident is almost always evident in scenes that have something to do with Blanches past, and more than often it is when her husband is involved. Blanche will begin to think about what has happened in her past, and as a result the stage directions will prompt the polka music to play in the background. The music will start t play before Blanche begins to talk about her dead husband, and as soon as the story has been finished the music will die down. During the first few scene’s of the play it seemed as though the music was in fact being played in the background of the city in which the characters are placed. However after its first appearances, one begins to notice that it only ever plays when Blanche is talking about her husband. One could simply say that Williams uses it to give a warning or a sign of sorts to the audience that Blanche associates something about the music with the memory, or it could simply be a sign in a changing of emotions. As the music appears again and again, however, one begins to notice that it is always in the same tune. Blanche identifies it as “Varsouviana”, and the pattern begins to get a little odd. It is only in scene 9 where the reader/audience is shown the true nature of the music. Judging from the reaction of Mitch and Blanche in scene 9 it is clear that Blanche is the only one who can hear the music. When talking to Mitch, Blanche is slowly moving down the path of a mental breakdown. Her life has been ruined and her reputation has been made known to Mitch. With her life collapsing around her she sense’s something is wrong. She says “The ‘Varsouviana’! The polka tune they were playing when Allan - Wait! … There now, the shot! it always stops after that”. The reader can clearly see that the memory attached to the music is that of the night her husband shot himself. She can predict when the music starts and stops because the music is within her. The feverish music is a sign of not only her guilt of the death of her husband, but also how it has affected her mentality. The guilt has turned her mind somewhat unstable, and she is beginning to collapse into insanity. Williams uses the music to show the audience that Blanche is in fact slowly breaking down mentally, and soon her insanity will take over.

Somebody to love

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of everyday’s
Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight.
I love thee freely, as men might strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints,–I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life!–and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.
- Elizabeth Barret Browning


The sonnet relates directly to the character of Blanche in a Streetcar named Desire, as she tells Mitch that the lyrics engraved on the cigarette box that he has, are part of her favorite sonnet by Barret. It is ironic because the box comes from his old love that died, and Blanches big love died too, forming another connection between the two of them. The sonnet describes the life of Blanche very precisely when it states that 'I love thee with the passion put to use In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith. I love thee with a love I seemed to lose'. Her old griefs are the loss of her husband, as well as the loss of her pride and youth. The childhood's faith refers to a time where she was still able to love and trust someone with all her heart. The sonnet talks of losing this love, which relates directly to Blanche's inability to love again. She too, has loved someone as she has never loved anyone before in her life, and she describes: "It was like you suddenly turned a blinding light on something that had always been half in the shadow, that's how it struck the world for me." More than the memory of being in love, she remembers very well to what extent she has been hurt by this 'young' man. She found out that he was homosexual after thinking that he was the love of her life, shattering her into little pieces. It seems as though Blanche has never gotten over the fact that she might be in some way responsible for the suicide of her dead husband, which is why she never found a man to trust again. Hence the line "I have always depended on the kindness of strangers" (178).
The sonnet is also a projection of Blanche's dreams, as she wishes more than anything to have somebody to love. She wants to marry, and not be an old maid forever. This is why the inscription on Mitch's box comes like a sign to her that he is the right man for her. They're in a similar situation, but history seems to repeat itself a little bit, as Mitch is described to us as a man that still lives with his mom, that isn't as manly as his friends, and who actually shows emotions and the wish to marry. Blanche chose again a man that is more sensitive, a man that resembles her homosexual dead husband. The poem represents a perfect love story of someone who loves someone unconditionally, portraying an unlikely and surreal situation, especially in the context of Blanche's life. She is mentally damaged but she still dreams of something pure and perfect. The sonnet emphasizes on the contrast between dream and reality just like Blanche is playing different roles to fit an ideal and ends up destroying herself.


Saumya touched on a very interesting point in her blogpost Pay no Rent about the sonnet in relation to the play. She says that the poem reflects the struggle that Blanche deals with in her life. She deals with death, heartbreak and loss and all these feelings and obstacles are reflected in the poem. I didn't think of it this way before, so I was very grateful for Saumya's blog post. Go check it out!

Sexism

Stanley:

1. Master Sergeant (pg. 18)

2. primitive (pg. 39)

3. animal thing (pg. 62)

4. madman (pg. 73)

5. ape-like (pg. 83)

6. pig (pg. 131)

7. king (pg.131)

Stanley is portrayed as a very masculine figure. He is the Alpha male, he is strong, muscular and attractive. All words related to him make him look like an animal, like something overpowering and unpredictable. He is described to be a Master Sergeant and a king, he is the ruler of his household as well as of all his friends. Everybody listens to Stanley, the everlasting leader of the crew. There’s something about him that makes him so primitive and almost ruthless. He is certainly attractive but he also comes from a working class and he is foreigner. This gives him something exotic, something women are looking for. The language associated with him shows that men are supposed to be the man of the household and the more powerful sexe.

Stella:

1. honey (pg. 12)

2. as fresh as a daisy (pg. 49)

3. old maid (pg. 60)

4. canary bird (pg. 127)

5. queen (pg. 131)

Stella is mostly portrayed as something sweet and breakable. She seems fairy like but at the same time weak. To be called an ‘old maid’ isn’t exactly flattering. Though the language associated with her seems sweet and innocent (like sweet and daisy), it isn’t in her favor. She doesn’t get to have a say in anything and she can’t really be someone even though her and Stanley have fights often. She argues with her husband to gain some sort of power, but in the end she is still called a sweet little woman, a canary bird. The language related to her is certainly sexist and makes her look like she isn’t of a big value but more like something nice to look at.