A Streetcar Named Desire- Theatricality in Stanley
Descrição
Edexcel A Level English Language and Literature: A Streetcar Named Desire. This mindmap explores theatricality linked to Stanley, including costume, props, symbols, and sounds.
A Streetcar Named Desire-
Theatricality in Stanley
Costume
Scene 1
'roughly dressed in blue denim work clothes'
Working class identity
'bowling jacket'
Link to gaming e.g. bowling, poker
'removes his shirt'
Upon meeting Blanche, he asserts his masculinity and dominance
Scene 3
'coloured shirts, solid blues, a purple,
a red-and-white check, a light green'
Contrast to the white of Blanche's clothing
'wet polka dot drawers'
Sexual image
'half-dressed'
Scene 4
'an undershirt and grease-stained
seersucker pants'
Stains= corruption
for Blanche
Stanley represents the corrupt
nature of the New America
Scene 8
'ripping off his shirt'
Like an ape
Asserts his male dominance
'brilliant silk bowling shirt'
Represents vitality of New America
Scene 10
'vivid green silk bowling shirt'
Green is sometimes associated with the military, greed and American money
Linked to the industrialisation and New
America- perhaps green connotes freshness?
'he unbuttons his shirt'
'he starts removing his shirt'
'silk pyjamas'
Linked to his wedding night
Reminder of his infidelity to Stella via raping Blanche
'brilliant silk pyjamas' - 'the tasselled sash'
He ends most scenes in fewer clothes-
dominant manhood
Scene 5
'green and scarlet silk bowling shirt'
Scarlet linked to sexual desire
Evaluative comments
'In the first half of the 19th century, due to the
influence of French fashion, crimson was
largely replaced with the cheaper amaranth'
Amaranth is a flower that was
believed to grow on Mount
Olympus and never died
Link to Elysian Fields- Greek mythology
Red represents desire and danger
(Stanley) and white represents
purity (Blanche)
The Polish flag
While it is very doubtful that Williams was
considering the connotations of the colour
amaranth, as a contemporary audience
and reader, we may interpret the fact that
Stanley's home country, Poland, has a red
and white flag, perhaps highlighting the
conflict between Blanche and Stanley, as is
highlighted in the play