What does Blanche mean when she says, "I don't want realism. I want magic. I try to give that to people. I misrepresent things to them. I don't tell the truth. I tell what ought to be the truth."
Blanche revolves around make-believe and fantasy. That is who she is. What she means by that response is that she doesn't want to deal with the harsh realities of what the real world is. The hurt, the pain, the struggle, that makes the real world reality, destroy Blanche. She doesn't want that she wants "enchantment" and magic. Something that she can escape to; somewhere she is safe and away from harm. She gives people lies because if they were to hear the truth it would only hurt them, the same way it hurt Blanche. That is why she lies and only tells what people want to hear to them. She doesn't want the world to hurt them the way it hurt her.
How might someone explain Blanche's many "intimacies with strangers"?
It's out of loneliness, revenge, and protection. She needs to feel something in the arms of a man. She needs the protection and dominance of someone. She finds that in the men she lures to her room. Part of it is also revenge, she was hurt by a young man and men in general. She wants to lure them in with an attachment tat she once felt, but then hurt them the way that she was hurt. With Blanche's "intimacies with strangers" it is purely to feel something, to feel alive in a way, to feel wanted in a certain way.
Saturday, November 15, 2014
Thursday, November 13, 2014
A Streetcar Named Desire Response #7
How does Mitch respond to the news about Blanche that Stanley told him? Why doesn't he want to marry Blanche anymore? Why does he tear off the paper lantern? Why does Blanche not want him to tear it off? What does Mitch want from Blanche at the end of scene nine? How does Blanche respond?
Initially when Stanley tell Mitch the news about Blanche being a prostitute and resorting to it in the Hotel Flamingo, a cheap, second class hotel, Mitch accuses Stanley of lying and spreading rumors about Blanche. He doesn't believe him at all. Mitch then finds out the truth and goes over to see Blanche. He doesn't want to marry Blanche anymore because he finds out the truth about her being a prostitute. Her lies and her unclean self are the two reasons that Mitch no longer wants to pursue Blanche. Mitch tears off the paper lantern in a moment of angst; he had never seen Blanche in the light and starts to catch on to the fact that she avoids harsh light, so he tears off the light to see her true age and what she looks like. The only thing that Mitch wants from Blanche at the end of Scene Nine is sex. He tells her he never wants her as a wife because she is "unclean" and already "used" by other men, but he wants her to have sex with her. Blanche responds with a fit; she is extremely insulted because her pride was just destroyed and any dignity she had left is now completely gone--she threatens to scream and then screams to get the attention of everyone and make it look like Mitch did something terrible.
Initially when Stanley tell Mitch the news about Blanche being a prostitute and resorting to it in the Hotel Flamingo, a cheap, second class hotel, Mitch accuses Stanley of lying and spreading rumors about Blanche. He doesn't believe him at all. Mitch then finds out the truth and goes over to see Blanche. He doesn't want to marry Blanche anymore because he finds out the truth about her being a prostitute. Her lies and her unclean self are the two reasons that Mitch no longer wants to pursue Blanche. Mitch tears off the paper lantern in a moment of angst; he had never seen Blanche in the light and starts to catch on to the fact that she avoids harsh light, so he tears off the light to see her true age and what she looks like. The only thing that Mitch wants from Blanche at the end of Scene Nine is sex. He tells her he never wants her as a wife because she is "unclean" and already "used" by other men, but he wants her to have sex with her. Blanche responds with a fit; she is extremely insulted because her pride was just destroyed and any dignity she had left is now completely gone--she threatens to scream and then screams to get the attention of everyone and make it look like Mitch did something terrible.
Tuesday, November 11, 2014
A Streetcar Named Desire Response #6
Describe Blanche's birthday party in Scene Eight. What birthday present does Stanley give her? Why does Stanley want Blanche to leave? How is her presence changing his marriage? How does he hope his marriage will be after Blanche is gone? Discuss the importance of sexuality and desire for Stanley. How is this evident at other points in the play?
Blanche's birthday party in Scene Eight is awkward. Mitch didn't show up and the tension between Blanche and Stanley has escalated. Stanley ends up giving Blanche a bus ticket to leave New Orleans. Stanley wants Blanche to leave because his marriage is falling apart and he is blaming due to the lies and deceit on Blanche's part that it is her fault. The presence of Blanche is causing his marriage to be torn between what he believes and the connection between Stella and Stanley. Stanley hopes that his marriage will return to normal after Blanche is gone, the way that it used to be. Stanley and Stella's relationship is purely passion and sexually driven. It is lust. When Stanley punched Stella after the poker game, she goes to stay with Eunice but realizes that she can not stay away from the passion she feels towards Stanley.
What changes might someone notice in the relationship between Stella and Stanley? Between Blanche and Stanley?
Stella and Stanley initially started their relationship madly in love and agreeable. Now, they are fighting all the time yet still show that passion that was initially in the relationship. Stanley was initially wary of Blanche and her intentions but now he wants her gone. He is sick of her lies and deceit, sick of her ruining his marriage, and sick of how she demeans him.
Blanche's birthday party in Scene Eight is awkward. Mitch didn't show up and the tension between Blanche and Stanley has escalated. Stanley ends up giving Blanche a bus ticket to leave New Orleans. Stanley wants Blanche to leave because his marriage is falling apart and he is blaming due to the lies and deceit on Blanche's part that it is her fault. The presence of Blanche is causing his marriage to be torn between what he believes and the connection between Stella and Stanley. Stanley hopes that his marriage will return to normal after Blanche is gone, the way that it used to be. Stanley and Stella's relationship is purely passion and sexually driven. It is lust. When Stanley punched Stella after the poker game, she goes to stay with Eunice but realizes that she can not stay away from the passion she feels towards Stanley.
What changes might someone notice in the relationship between Stella and Stanley? Between Blanche and Stanley?
Stella and Stanley initially started their relationship madly in love and agreeable. Now, they are fighting all the time yet still show that passion that was initially in the relationship. Stanley was initially wary of Blanche and her intentions but now he wants her gone. He is sick of her lies and deceit, sick of her ruining his marriage, and sick of how she demeans him.
A Streetcar Named Desire Response #5
While Stanley is talking to Stella about Blanche, Blanche is in the bathroom and the audience can hear her singing. What is the significance of her song?? Is it, too, a description of Blanche?? Does it present one side of Blanche that Stanley (and Mitch) cannot understand?
The significance of her song is the song centers around this make-believe world. This is Blanche and all she exists in. She wants to live in a world that is magic to escape reality and the cruelness of the real world. The real world has destroyed her; the funerals, the loss of Bele Reve, the loss of her young husband, being fired from her job, resorting to prostitution, the real world for Blanch Dubois has been nothing but hardship and struggles. She does and makes her life a dream and make believe, like making "enchantment", talking to Shep Hutleigh, and putting on her expensive jewelry and clothes. In a way I don't think that Stanley and Mitch could ever understand why Blanche makes her world a make-believe world and tries to disregard reality for fantasy because they haven't gone through the experiences she has and experiences tend to shape people and who they become.
The significance of her song is the song centers around this make-believe world. This is Blanche and all she exists in. She wants to live in a world that is magic to escape reality and the cruelness of the real world. The real world has destroyed her; the funerals, the loss of Bele Reve, the loss of her young husband, being fired from her job, resorting to prostitution, the real world for Blanch Dubois has been nothing but hardship and struggles. She does and makes her life a dream and make believe, like making "enchantment", talking to Shep Hutleigh, and putting on her expensive jewelry and clothes. In a way I don't think that Stanley and Mitch could ever understand why Blanche makes her world a make-believe world and tries to disregard reality for fantasy because they haven't gone through the experiences she has and experiences tend to shape people and who they become.
A Streetcar Named Desire Response #4
Describe Blanche's relationship with Stanley in Scene Five.? How does this latest conflict between them end? What seems to be the course of their conflicts? What is the true cause of this conflict?
The relationship between Stanley and Blanche becomes more hostile and tense. Blanche uses her "feathery charm" to make harsh and rude comments towards Stanley. Blanche makes accusations toward Stanley and his astrological sign of being a "goat" or a Capricorn. Stanley then gives hostile comments back towards Blanche. He addresses her about her time at the Flamingo Hotel and if she knows a man named Shaw. Blanche gets defensive, and the conflict ends with Blanche feeling fearful and shaken because Stanley is catching on. The true cause of this conflict has to do with dignity. Blanche has a way of tearing Stanley's dignity, attacking him and demeaning his hard working attitude and social class. Pride and dignity are two of the biggest things that if they are attacked at you feel vulnerable. I think when Blanche attacks Stanley a part of him breaks down and shows vulnerability, he then in turn compensates for that vulnerability by turning it on Blanche and breaking her down. It's all to show dominance.
In Scene Six Blanche describes her experience with love in terms of light imagery.Yet Scene Six takes place mostly in the dark in candlelight. What is the effect of this on the viewer? Why might Blanche prefer dim light? Where else have references to light and dark appeared in the play?
The effect of the light imagery in the dark candlelight gives us an effect of who Blanche really is. Darkness hides things from view. Blanche hides lies from everyone. Darkness does that. The darkness allows Blanche to conceal the things that she doesn't want to reveal at all. She doesn't like the light. It reminds her of the searchlight that discovered her dead young husband. Light brings back terrible memories and also isn't easy to conceal things in. The light also reveals Blanche's true age, she wants to hold on to her fading beauty and the dream of the past. Light and dark references appeared earlier in the play. Those references allow her to live a dream, away from reality. They allow her to live a lie. Earlier in the play she covers the harsh light with a paper lantern, and she never goes on dates in the day time, it only reaffirms the fact that light to Blanche is a reminder of painful memories and the past that will never be again.
The relationship between Stanley and Blanche becomes more hostile and tense. Blanche uses her "feathery charm" to make harsh and rude comments towards Stanley. Blanche makes accusations toward Stanley and his astrological sign of being a "goat" or a Capricorn. Stanley then gives hostile comments back towards Blanche. He addresses her about her time at the Flamingo Hotel and if she knows a man named Shaw. Blanche gets defensive, and the conflict ends with Blanche feeling fearful and shaken because Stanley is catching on. The true cause of this conflict has to do with dignity. Blanche has a way of tearing Stanley's dignity, attacking him and demeaning his hard working attitude and social class. Pride and dignity are two of the biggest things that if they are attacked at you feel vulnerable. I think when Blanche attacks Stanley a part of him breaks down and shows vulnerability, he then in turn compensates for that vulnerability by turning it on Blanche and breaking her down. It's all to show dominance.
In Scene Six Blanche describes her experience with love in terms of light imagery.Yet Scene Six takes place mostly in the dark in candlelight. What is the effect of this on the viewer? Why might Blanche prefer dim light? Where else have references to light and dark appeared in the play?
The effect of the light imagery in the dark candlelight gives us an effect of who Blanche really is. Darkness hides things from view. Blanche hides lies from everyone. Darkness does that. The darkness allows Blanche to conceal the things that she doesn't want to reveal at all. She doesn't like the light. It reminds her of the searchlight that discovered her dead young husband. Light brings back terrible memories and also isn't easy to conceal things in. The light also reveals Blanche's true age, she wants to hold on to her fading beauty and the dream of the past. Light and dark references appeared earlier in the play. Those references allow her to live a dream, away from reality. They allow her to live a lie. Earlier in the play she covers the harsh light with a paper lantern, and she never goes on dates in the day time, it only reaffirms the fact that light to Blanche is a reminder of painful memories and the past that will never be again.
A Streetcar Named Desire Response #3
How might someone explain the dynamics of Blanche's encounter with the newspaper boy? Why does Blanche flirt with him?
Blanche's encounter with the newspaper boy is purely attention for herself. The young man is naive and unaware of Blanche's charm and flirtatious manners. The only reason that Blanche is flirting with him is I think goes with the fact that she is lonely and wants to relive the past. Blanche yearns for attention and needs it to keep going, she is lonely. She hasn't had a relationship since her young husband died. That is another reason why she is flirting with him, I think she sees a part of the young husband she once had in that young newspaper boy and that is why she is drawn to him and tries to flirt with him.
What does Blanche want from Mitch? Is she honest with him? Describe their relationship at
the end of scene five and during scene six.? Is Mitch an aristocratic southern gentleman?? If not, provide examples from scene six to support your answer? Do they love each other? How is their
relationship different from the relationship between Stanley and Stella?
The thing that Blanche wants from Mitch is attention. I don't think she is honest with anyone, so therefore being honest with Mitch doesn't occur at all. She lies so well that to her lying is her way of telling the truth. At the end of Scene Five, Mitch is almost entranced by Blanche and her charm. He brings her flowers and is infatuated with her. I don't think that Mitch is Blanche's idea of an aristocratic southern gentleman, but in the circumstances that she is in and being surrounded by people like Stanley Kowalski, Mitch is the closest thing to a gentleman that she has. Mitch isn't a gentleman in the regard that he asks things a gentleman shouldn't ask about a lady; Blanche's weight, her age, for example. If Mitch were a true gentleman, he wouldn't have asked that knowing a lady never reveals her weight and her age. I don't think Mitch and Blanche has a love-based relationship. Blanche wants to flirt and enjoys flirting with Mitch, but she will never be able to get past the death of her young husband. Mitch is infatuated with her, but doesn't love her. Stella and Stanley's relationship revolves around passion; they are crazy about each other. Blanche and Mitch has a muted relationship, Mitch will try to do romantic things but Blanche rejects them based on her "ideals".
Blanche's encounter with the newspaper boy is purely attention for herself. The young man is naive and unaware of Blanche's charm and flirtatious manners. The only reason that Blanche is flirting with him is I think goes with the fact that she is lonely and wants to relive the past. Blanche yearns for attention and needs it to keep going, she is lonely. She hasn't had a relationship since her young husband died. That is another reason why she is flirting with him, I think she sees a part of the young husband she once had in that young newspaper boy and that is why she is drawn to him and tries to flirt with him.
What does Blanche want from Mitch? Is she honest with him? Describe their relationship at
the end of scene five and during scene six.? Is Mitch an aristocratic southern gentleman?? If not, provide examples from scene six to support your answer? Do they love each other? How is their
relationship different from the relationship between Stanley and Stella?
The thing that Blanche wants from Mitch is attention. I don't think she is honest with anyone, so therefore being honest with Mitch doesn't occur at all. She lies so well that to her lying is her way of telling the truth. At the end of Scene Five, Mitch is almost entranced by Blanche and her charm. He brings her flowers and is infatuated with her. I don't think that Mitch is Blanche's idea of an aristocratic southern gentleman, but in the circumstances that she is in and being surrounded by people like Stanley Kowalski, Mitch is the closest thing to a gentleman that she has. Mitch isn't a gentleman in the regard that he asks things a gentleman shouldn't ask about a lady; Blanche's weight, her age, for example. If Mitch were a true gentleman, he wouldn't have asked that knowing a lady never reveals her weight and her age. I don't think Mitch and Blanche has a love-based relationship. Blanche wants to flirt and enjoys flirting with Mitch, but she will never be able to get past the death of her young husband. Mitch is infatuated with her, but doesn't love her. Stella and Stanley's relationship revolves around passion; they are crazy about each other. Blanche and Mitch has a muted relationship, Mitch will try to do romantic things but Blanche rejects them based on her "ideals".
Tuesday, November 4, 2014
A Streetcar Named Desire Response #2
Recount your impression of the relationship that exists between Stella and Blanche at the end of Scene Four; also, discuss how one might characterize the relationship between Stella and Stanley.
At the end of Scene Four, it is more apparent that Blanche is trying to control Stella's life. She keeps telling Stella how she needs to get out of the situation that she is in, but Blanche isn't taking into effect if Stella really wants to get out of the situation in which she is in. Blanche forces upon Stella the rude words about her husband, calling him "sub-human","ape-like", and an "animal", just because Stanley Kowalski comes from a different class and area than Blanche Dubois. At the end of Scene Four, Stella finally makes her decision--she chooses Stanley over Blanche. Part of the reason that Stella, I think, left Belle Reve in the first place was to discover who she was for herself, apart from the lavishness, riches, and grandiose of Belle Reve. She found herself and her new life in Stanley Kowalski, and even though Blanche may not approve of him that isn't going to change the way that Stella feels about him. The relationship between Stella and Stanley is like a defective grenade. The grenade can go off at any time; Stanley's drinking, Stanley's violence, and his hot temper, but if you don't off-set the grenade or tamper with it to trigger it in any way then you have nothing to worry about. When Stanley isn't drunk or angry with Blanche it is evident how much he truly cares about Stella and how he wants to protect her. Stella is the pawn, along with Mitch, in the game between Stanley and Blanche; the end of Scene Four relays that message exceptionally, Stanley hears the whole conversation between Blanche and Stella where Blanche calls him an animal, he walks in, and Stella rushes over to Stanley and embraces him. Stanley then grins and smiles at Blanche, almost to indicate "if you wan't to mess with me, go ahead mess with me, but beware."
At the end of Scene Four, it is more apparent that Blanche is trying to control Stella's life. She keeps telling Stella how she needs to get out of the situation that she is in, but Blanche isn't taking into effect if Stella really wants to get out of the situation in which she is in. Blanche forces upon Stella the rude words about her husband, calling him "sub-human","ape-like", and an "animal", just because Stanley Kowalski comes from a different class and area than Blanche Dubois. At the end of Scene Four, Stella finally makes her decision--she chooses Stanley over Blanche. Part of the reason that Stella, I think, left Belle Reve in the first place was to discover who she was for herself, apart from the lavishness, riches, and grandiose of Belle Reve. She found herself and her new life in Stanley Kowalski, and even though Blanche may not approve of him that isn't going to change the way that Stella feels about him. The relationship between Stella and Stanley is like a defective grenade. The grenade can go off at any time; Stanley's drinking, Stanley's violence, and his hot temper, but if you don't off-set the grenade or tamper with it to trigger it in any way then you have nothing to worry about. When Stanley isn't drunk or angry with Blanche it is evident how much he truly cares about Stella and how he wants to protect her. Stella is the pawn, along with Mitch, in the game between Stanley and Blanche; the end of Scene Four relays that message exceptionally, Stanley hears the whole conversation between Blanche and Stella where Blanche calls him an animal, he walks in, and Stella rushes over to Stanley and embraces him. Stanley then grins and smiles at Blanche, almost to indicate "if you wan't to mess with me, go ahead mess with me, but beware."
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