IB English L&L paper 2 study guide
Hedda Gabler A Streetcar Named Desire
Playwright Henrik Ibsen in Norway Tennesse Williams in the USA
● Father of realism ● At age 28 he escaped to New Orleans, where he embraced the Southern culture
● heavily criticised by conservstive males as they considered the play to be that would inspire this play
immoral → couldn't believe that a woman like Hedda would exist ● His homosexuality is parallel with Allan, Blanche’s late husband
● Hedda Gabler is one of the "problem" plays – to advocate the "repressive ● His sister could have played a role in the inspiration behind Blanche – was sent
nature of Victorian society" to a mental institution & was lobotomised
● active involvement in women's suffrage movement
Context ● The l ate 19th century of Europe saw huge upheaval as women rallied the ● The 1940s saw huge changes in every aspect of American life as the US began
forces of the suffragettes by breaking windows & by openly causing civil to break away from its cotton-growing, tobacco-producing slave plantation era
disobedience in London represented by Blanche & her memories of Belle Reve & move towards the
● Psychologists of the time, such as Freud, were also reevaluating the very modern & industrialised nation, promoted by the bowling jacketed,
fundamentals of the human mind, exploring & experimenting with subjects hard-drinking attitude of Stanley
such as sex which had formerly been seen as great social taboos → the very ● Having proved themselves capable & resourceful during the horrors of the 1930
notion of “roles of men & women” was challenged Great Depression, where many men left homes & families to find work, women,
● Characters, such as Thea, shine as beacons of hope as she manages, albeit in a immigrants & former slaves began to demand more autonomy &
limited way, to shed the confines of the patriarchal society by leaving her independence
husband & explain: “There was nothing else I could do" ○ Women of the old South are constrained by social expectations of chastity
& passivity → Blanche is still emotionally &, to some extent, financially
dependent on men
○ depicts unmarried, fallen, Southern women such as Blanche as victims to
society’s rules (?)
Setting Realist – dull, factual, straightforward description of the setting Expressionist – focus on passion & emotion in describing the atmosphere
Set in Christiania, Norway in the late nineteenth century Set in the French Quarters of New Orleans, USA in the 1940s
Names Hedda Gabler Blanche Dubois
● challenge to contemporary views of female submission ● "Blanche" is the French translation of "white" – connotes innocence & purity
● the daughter of General Gabler instead of the "wife of her husband" → ironic as she seeks for sexual accompaniment, was a prostitute
Themes
Death I don’t want to look at sickness and death. I must be free of everything that’s They told me to take a street-car named Desire, and then transfer to one called
ugly. – Hedda [A3] Cemeteries and ride six blocks and get off at — Elysian Fields! – Blanche [S1]
Compiled by @oatsnwaffles
Hedda Gabler A Streetcar Named Desire
Playwright Henrik Ibsen in Norway Tennesse Williams in the USA
● Father of realism ● At age 28 he escaped to New Orleans, where he embraced the Southern culture
● heavily criticised by conservstive males as they considered the play to be that would inspire this play
immoral → couldn't believe that a woman like Hedda would exist ● His homosexuality is parallel with Allan, Blanche’s late husband
● Hedda Gabler is one of the "problem" plays – to advocate the "repressive ● His sister could have played a role in the inspiration behind Blanche – was sent
nature of Victorian society" to a mental institution & was lobotomised
● active involvement in women's suffrage movement
Context ● The l ate 19th century of Europe saw huge upheaval as women rallied the ● The 1940s saw huge changes in every aspect of American life as the US began
forces of the suffragettes by breaking windows & by openly causing civil to break away from its cotton-growing, tobacco-producing slave plantation era
disobedience in London represented by Blanche & her memories of Belle Reve & move towards the
● Psychologists of the time, such as Freud, were also reevaluating the very modern & industrialised nation, promoted by the bowling jacketed,
fundamentals of the human mind, exploring & experimenting with subjects hard-drinking attitude of Stanley
such as sex which had formerly been seen as great social taboos → the very ● Having proved themselves capable & resourceful during the horrors of the 1930
notion of “roles of men & women” was challenged Great Depression, where many men left homes & families to find work, women,
● Characters, such as Thea, shine as beacons of hope as she manages, albeit in a immigrants & former slaves began to demand more autonomy &
limited way, to shed the confines of the patriarchal society by leaving her independence
husband & explain: “There was nothing else I could do" ○ Women of the old South are constrained by social expectations of chastity
& passivity → Blanche is still emotionally &, to some extent, financially
dependent on men
○ depicts unmarried, fallen, Southern women such as Blanche as victims to
society’s rules (?)
Setting Realist – dull, factual, straightforward description of the setting Expressionist – focus on passion & emotion in describing the atmosphere
Set in Christiania, Norway in the late nineteenth century Set in the French Quarters of New Orleans, USA in the 1940s
Names Hedda Gabler Blanche Dubois
● challenge to contemporary views of female submission ● "Blanche" is the French translation of "white" – connotes innocence & purity
● the daughter of General Gabler instead of the "wife of her husband" → ironic as she seeks for sexual accompaniment, was a prostitute
Themes
Death I don’t want to look at sickness and death. I must be free of everything that’s They told me to take a street-car named Desire, and then transfer to one called
ugly. – Hedda [A3] Cemeteries and ride six blocks and get off at — Elysian Fields! – Blanche [S1]
Compiled by @oatsnwaffles
