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A Streetcar Named Desire: A Level York Notes A Level Revision Guide

A Level Study Notes and Revision Guides

A Streetcar Named Desire: A Level York Notes

Tennessee Williams

Revise the key points

Read through the key points, then print the cards as a handy revision aid.

1 Scene One – Blanche defends herself against possible blame for having lost Belle Reve

  • At this point in Scene One, Blanche fiercely defends herself, as if Stella has attacked her for losing Belle Reve, when in fact Stella has only asked how it happened. Read from ‘I, I, I took the blows’ to the end of the speech (Scene One, p. 12).
  • WHY is it important? It gives us the ‘backstory’ to Blanche losing Belle Reve, and her job. It also shows that Blanche is unbalanced and feels guilty – she is defending herself against a nonexistent attack.
  • WHAT themes does it explore? It clearly explores the theme of death, showing how death has affected Blanche.
  • HOW does it work dramatically? It shows what Blanche has been through, but it also raises the dramatic tension of the scene, and shows what a powerhouse of near-hysterical emotion Blanche is.
  • WHAT language techniques does it employ? Blanche uses melodramatic language, such as the metaphor of taking ‘the blows in my face and my body’, and the ironic personification of ‘the Grim Reaper’. It ends with a bitter and unjust accusation.

Key extracts

A Streetcar Named Desire: A Level

2 Scene Two – Stanley thinks he knows where the money from Belle Reve went

  • At this point in Scene Two, Blanche is ‘soaking in a hot tub’, and Stanley is going through her trunk. Read from ‘Stanley: Open your eyes to this stuff!’ to ‘Stanley: You’re damn tootin’ I’m going to stay here’ (Scene Two, pp. 18–19).
  • WHY is it important? It shows how Blanche’s visit is beginning to create conflict between Stella and Stanley, with Stanley attacking Blanche and Stella defending her sister. It also shows Stanley’s ignorance, envy and suspicion.
  • WHAT themes does it explore? It explores class differences – those between Stanley and the DuBois sisters, and the antagonism they create, particularly when fuelled by an undercurrent of sexual attraction.
  • HOW does it work dramatically? There is mounting disagreement between Stella and Stanley. We know (and, in the theatre, may even hear) that Blanche is in the bathroom, unaware that Stanley is angrily pulling out the contents of her trunk.
  • WHAT language techniques does it employ? Stanley's language shows his lower-class background, coupled with a cocky belief that no one can fool him (‘Open your eyes ...’), and his ignorance (‘What’s rhinestone?’). Stella tries to stand up to him (‘Hush!’).

Key extracts

A Streetcar Named Desire: A Level

3 Scene Four – Blanche tells Stella what she thinks of Stanley

  • At this point in Scene Four, Stanley is out (he has gone to get the car ‘greased’). He returns and overhears Blanche running him down to Stella. Read from ‘Blanche: May I – speak – plainly’ to ‘Stanley: Hey! Hey! Stella!’ (Scene Four, pp. 46–7).
  • WHY is it important? Blanche is spelling out why she thinks Stella should leave Stanley: he is a beast, far beneath her. It shows Blanche’s snobbery, but also her genuinely higher ideals. It also challenges Stella’s devotion.
  • WHAT themes does it explore? It explores class differences, but also the raw masculinity that is seen to be the basis of Stella’s sexual desire for Stanley.
  • HOW does it work dramatically? There is mounting tension between the sisters, but also comedy in Blanche’s account. The train may symbolise Stanley’s masculinity, but it also facilitates dramatic irony: Stanley can hear Blanche and then pretend he has not.
  • WHAT language techniques does it employ? Blanche creates a comically critical account of Stanley, picturing him and his friends as Stone Age men, or even apes. Words like ‘swilling and gnawing’ are contrasted with phrases like ‘poetry and music’.

Key extracts

A Streetcar Named Desire: A Level

4 Scene Six – Blanche confides in Mitch and dares to hope for a secure future

  • At this point in Scene Six, Blanche has spent a dull evening with Mitch, but finds herself confiding in him when they get back to the apartment. Read from ‘A locomotive is heard...’ (Scene Six, p. 66) to the end of the scene.
  • WHY is it important? Blanche here reveals the ‘backstory’ that has helped to make her so vulnerable. It is a rare moment of her simply and honestly confiding in someone, showing that she has begun to trust Mitch.
  • WHAT themes does it explore? It explores the theme of death, in the suicide of Blanche’s husband, but also that of desire: desire has led to this death, and the account helps to make Mitch feel tender towards Blanche.
  • HOW does it work dramatically? The train draws a line beneath Blanche’s discovery and its consequences. It also emphasises the awful impact on Blanche. The polka music heard by Blanche and the audience shows that she is reliving the experience.
  • WHAT language techniques does it employ? Blanche’s language is honest and relatively simple. The image of the ‘searchlight’ of love is compared with that of the candle. Her final line dramatically expresses her daring to hope for a future with Mitch.

Key extracts

A Streetcar Named Desire: A Level

5 Scene Ten – The play reaches its climax

  • By this point in Scene Ten, Blanche knows that Mitch is not going to marry her. She is drunk, and is desperately trying to contact Shep Huntleigh, when Stanley comes home. Read from ‘Blanche finally straightening: Let me – let me get by you!’ (Scene Ten, p. 96) to the end of the scene.
  • WHY is it important? This is the climax of the play. Stella is giving birth, and Blanche is vulnerable and desperate. Stanley challenges Blanche’s claims, they clash and he carries her off to rape her.
  • WHAT themes does it explore? It explores the theme of desire and fate: the sexual attraction between Stanley and Blanche finally comes into the open – which Stanley claims was fated ‘from the beginning’.
  • HOW does it work dramatically? It seems at first that perhaps Stanley just wants to toy with Blanche and assert his power, but her fearful threat seems to excite him. When he disarms her, she suddenly gives in.
  • WHAT language techniques does it employ? The language Williams gives Stanley is ambiguous. We wonder at first if he is really letting Blanche go. He seems to change with the euphemism ‘interfere with’. His mention of ‘rough-house’ is challenging. His final line is ominous.

Key extracts

A Streetcar Named Desire: A Level

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