SYMBOLS:
Thunder
-> symbolises intense emotional or psychological distress, conflict
- Pathetic fallacy
- E.g. Scene 5: during Steve and Eunice’s reconciliation after an argument
[There is a murmur of thunder]
Highlights a cyclical pattern of violence and desire. Thunder representing the
violence and the sexual lust between the partners alludes to the saying, after a
storm comes a rainbow. It creates an uneasy calm, without resolution.
Drinking
-> Blanche drinks to escape reality and the shield herself from her past traumas
- E.g. Scene 9: After Blanche is handed the bus ticket by Stanley, and before
confronted by Mitch
[The music is in her mind; she is drinking to escape it]
Her consumption of alcohol spikes during moments of extreme stress and anxiety.
Here Blanche is drinking after being interrogated by Stanley. Her drinking
symbolizes her attempt to anesthetize herself against her trauma and the brute
reality, as if it is medicinal. This shows her increasing mental instability after the
truth is known about her promiscuous past
-> Blanche’s secretive drinking foreshadows the truths she has been hiding about her
past
- E.g. Scene 1: Blanche arrives at Stella’s apartment and drinks Stanley’s alcohol
secretly
[tosses it down. She carefully replaces the bottle]
Blanche’s drinking is secretive. She “tosses it down”– the whiskey– when she is alone
in Scene 1. This establishes her drinking addiction as her coping mechanism. Her
secretive behaviour also shows that Blanche is concealing truths. This foreshadows
the reveal of her traumatic and licentious life.
-> Blanche’s drinking addiction and dependency on it mirrors her other dependencies
- E.g. Scene 11: when the doctor comes to take Blanche away
“I have always depended on the kindness of stranger”
Blanche has always sought to be saved by a man as a traditional, stereotypical
woman. It is ironic however, that her dependency on these “strangers” are ultimately
the reason why her life collapsed. Because in reality, those “strangers” have only
been kind to her for sex and the kindness that the doctor in scene 11 portrays is also
not true. The doctor is here to take her away to a mental asylum.
-> Stanley’s drinking fuels his power and aggression. Alcohol is used as Stanley’s
weapon, where for Blanche it is her safety net
- E.g. Scene 3: Poker night where Stanley hit Stella
[Stanley charges after Stella]
Drunk Stanley is triggered by the radio music and Blanche’s and Mtich’s flirting.
Stanley was also losing the poker game. He hits Stella in a drunken rage.
, Music
-> Williams only presents us with sounds that only Blanche can hear
- This allows the audience to be inside of Blanche’s head and experience her mental
turmoils, increasing pathos and our empathy for her
-> music structures and paces Blanche’s psychological journey
-> music is used in ASCND to set the atmosphere of the New Orleans environment
(vibrant, active)
- The use of Blue Piano, locomotive sounds, Hot trumpet, symbolise the vibrant and
active surroundings of the French Quarter.
-> music also symbolises conflict and climax. It enacts Blanche’s downfall
- E.g. Scene 4: Stanley overhears Blanche’s insult of him
[the music of the ‘blue piano’ and trumpet and drums is heard]
As Stanley embraces Stella at the end of scene 4, he grins at Blanche and then the
blue piano music can be heard. Since the blue piano represents the vibrant
atmosphere of Stanley’s home in New Orleans. The rising of this music symbolises
the power and dominance Stanley has established as he knows of Stella’s
allegiance to him
- E.g. Scene 6: Blanche’s recollection of Allan’s death to Mitch
[A locomotive is heard approaching outside. She claps her hands to her ears and
crouches over]
The symbol of the “locomotive” acts as a symbol of fate, desire, and death. As a
locomotive runs along one set of rails to a set destination. So it symbolises
Blanche’s coming, inevitable downfall. Williams introduces the “roaring locomotive”
at dramatic moments of Blanche’s psychological crisis.
[Polka music sounds, in a minor key faint in the distance]
As Blanche approaches the tragic climax of Allan’s suicide, the Varsouviana Polka
music plays and swells.
- E.g. Scene 8: after Stanley and Stella go to the hospital
- [The ‘Varsouviana’ is heard, its music rising with sinister rapidity]
Once Stanley and Stella leave for the hospital, the polka music takes over to show
Blanche’s collapsing mental state. After Stanley hands her the bus tickets she starts
to spiral. The music represents the beginning of her tragic conclusion, showing how
she has been driven to madness. This is also shown by her repeating a Mexican folk
tune repeatedly to show she has lost focus and meaning– losing her mind.
- E.g. Scene 9: Mitch’s confrontation of Blanche
[The polka tune starts up again] “That music again”
The Varsouviana Polka music starts to take over her mentally and becomes her
reality and presence. It shows how her past trauma invades the present and slowly
drives her to her demise.
- E.g. Scene 10: rape scene
[the hot trumpet and drums from the Four Deuces sound loudly]
At the end of scene 10, Stanley is about the rape Blanche. The hot trumpet music
represents the raw, sensual and brutal life of the French Quarter— it is the sound of
Thunder
-> symbolises intense emotional or psychological distress, conflict
- Pathetic fallacy
- E.g. Scene 5: during Steve and Eunice’s reconciliation after an argument
[There is a murmur of thunder]
Highlights a cyclical pattern of violence and desire. Thunder representing the
violence and the sexual lust between the partners alludes to the saying, after a
storm comes a rainbow. It creates an uneasy calm, without resolution.
Drinking
-> Blanche drinks to escape reality and the shield herself from her past traumas
- E.g. Scene 9: After Blanche is handed the bus ticket by Stanley, and before
confronted by Mitch
[The music is in her mind; she is drinking to escape it]
Her consumption of alcohol spikes during moments of extreme stress and anxiety.
Here Blanche is drinking after being interrogated by Stanley. Her drinking
symbolizes her attempt to anesthetize herself against her trauma and the brute
reality, as if it is medicinal. This shows her increasing mental instability after the
truth is known about her promiscuous past
-> Blanche’s secretive drinking foreshadows the truths she has been hiding about her
past
- E.g. Scene 1: Blanche arrives at Stella’s apartment and drinks Stanley’s alcohol
secretly
[tosses it down. She carefully replaces the bottle]
Blanche’s drinking is secretive. She “tosses it down”– the whiskey– when she is alone
in Scene 1. This establishes her drinking addiction as her coping mechanism. Her
secretive behaviour also shows that Blanche is concealing truths. This foreshadows
the reveal of her traumatic and licentious life.
-> Blanche’s drinking addiction and dependency on it mirrors her other dependencies
- E.g. Scene 11: when the doctor comes to take Blanche away
“I have always depended on the kindness of stranger”
Blanche has always sought to be saved by a man as a traditional, stereotypical
woman. It is ironic however, that her dependency on these “strangers” are ultimately
the reason why her life collapsed. Because in reality, those “strangers” have only
been kind to her for sex and the kindness that the doctor in scene 11 portrays is also
not true. The doctor is here to take her away to a mental asylum.
-> Stanley’s drinking fuels his power and aggression. Alcohol is used as Stanley’s
weapon, where for Blanche it is her safety net
- E.g. Scene 3: Poker night where Stanley hit Stella
[Stanley charges after Stella]
Drunk Stanley is triggered by the radio music and Blanche’s and Mtich’s flirting.
Stanley was also losing the poker game. He hits Stella in a drunken rage.
, Music
-> Williams only presents us with sounds that only Blanche can hear
- This allows the audience to be inside of Blanche’s head and experience her mental
turmoils, increasing pathos and our empathy for her
-> music structures and paces Blanche’s psychological journey
-> music is used in ASCND to set the atmosphere of the New Orleans environment
(vibrant, active)
- The use of Blue Piano, locomotive sounds, Hot trumpet, symbolise the vibrant and
active surroundings of the French Quarter.
-> music also symbolises conflict and climax. It enacts Blanche’s downfall
- E.g. Scene 4: Stanley overhears Blanche’s insult of him
[the music of the ‘blue piano’ and trumpet and drums is heard]
As Stanley embraces Stella at the end of scene 4, he grins at Blanche and then the
blue piano music can be heard. Since the blue piano represents the vibrant
atmosphere of Stanley’s home in New Orleans. The rising of this music symbolises
the power and dominance Stanley has established as he knows of Stella’s
allegiance to him
- E.g. Scene 6: Blanche’s recollection of Allan’s death to Mitch
[A locomotive is heard approaching outside. She claps her hands to her ears and
crouches over]
The symbol of the “locomotive” acts as a symbol of fate, desire, and death. As a
locomotive runs along one set of rails to a set destination. So it symbolises
Blanche’s coming, inevitable downfall. Williams introduces the “roaring locomotive”
at dramatic moments of Blanche’s psychological crisis.
[Polka music sounds, in a minor key faint in the distance]
As Blanche approaches the tragic climax of Allan’s suicide, the Varsouviana Polka
music plays and swells.
- E.g. Scene 8: after Stanley and Stella go to the hospital
- [The ‘Varsouviana’ is heard, its music rising with sinister rapidity]
Once Stanley and Stella leave for the hospital, the polka music takes over to show
Blanche’s collapsing mental state. After Stanley hands her the bus tickets she starts
to spiral. The music represents the beginning of her tragic conclusion, showing how
she has been driven to madness. This is also shown by her repeating a Mexican folk
tune repeatedly to show she has lost focus and meaning– losing her mind.
- E.g. Scene 9: Mitch’s confrontation of Blanche
[The polka tune starts up again] “That music again”
The Varsouviana Polka music starts to take over her mentally and becomes her
reality and presence. It shows how her past trauma invades the present and slowly
drives her to her demise.
- E.g. Scene 10: rape scene
[the hot trumpet and drums from the Four Deuces sound loudly]
At the end of scene 10, Stanley is about the rape Blanche. The hot trumpet music
represents the raw, sensual and brutal life of the French Quarter— it is the sound of
