AS ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE
ELLA 1 Integrated Analysis and Text production
STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE REVISION SHEET
Read and re-read the play - actively and critically!
PLOT AND NARRATIVE STRUCTURE
1 May early evening Blanche’s arrival
2 The following evening Stanley interrogates Blanche
3 Later the same night Stanley’s first Poker Night
4 Early next morning Aftermath of the Poker Night Stanley overhears Blanche and Stella
5 Possibly the next evening Going out. Shaw and the young man
6 That night 2.0 am After Blanche and Mitch’s first date
7 Mid September afternoon Birthday preparations and the bus ticket
8 About an hour later Blanche’s birthday party Stella and Stanley go to hospital
9 Later that evening Blanche alone, after the party Blanche and Mitch . FIRE!
10 A few hours later Stanley returns, Blanche is alone, drunk, fantasising. Stanley rapes Blanche
11 Some weeks later This game is seven card stud
MAIN CHARACTERS
• STANLEY
Animal, Bold colours, Light, Red stained package, Bowling jacket, Playing cards
• BLANCHE
Vain, Nervous, Scared of old age, Scared of her past, Scared of Stanley, Hates Stanley, Vulnerable, Judgemental, A snob, Isolated, Poor, Dreamer, Sensitive
• STELLA Realist, Sexual, Stella – peace maker, Stella the carer, Stella in love with Stanley, Stella as witness, Stella – pregnant – mum to be, Contrast to Blance
• MITCH Different, Sensitive, Kind, Suffered, Awkward, self-conscious, In awe of Blanche Answer to Blanche’s prayer, Honest, An answer to prayer, Cruel, hard, hypocritical, Angry
SOME THEMES
• DESIRE: Consider all four main characters – Stanley, Blanche, Stella and Mitch in relation to; Sexual desire, Emotional fulfilment, Physical needs
• DEATH: Consider the character of Blanche in terms of physical death, social death and the way in which death is presented symbolically.
• OLD AND MODERN AMERICA: Belle Reve – a symbol of French aristocratic colonial power. It was probably a plantation worked by slaves represented by Blanche. Elysian Fields – a symbol of modern America, an industrial and manufacturing democracy where workers are poorly educated semi and unskilled labour with some economic and political power represented by Stanley.
DRAMATIC TECHNIQUE
• Abstract ideas > Symbols
Stage Directions
o Details
o Descriptions of place
o Descriptions characters
o Props
o Lighting
o Music / Song
o Sounds
o Non verbal communication
Setting
o New Orleans
o The Quarter
o Elysian Fields
o The Apartment
o Belle Reve
Expressionistic techniques
o Lighting
o Sound effects
o The Jungle & Lurid reflections
o Music
KEY EPISODES
ANALYTICAL QUESTION – essay style
Spend 40 minutes
ASSESSMENT OBJECTIVES 1 – 15 marks & 2 – 15 marks
How has Williams portrayed Stanley’s relationship with Blanche?
In your answer you should consider:
• Williams’s language choices
• narrative viewpoint
PRODUCTION TASK
Spend 50 minutes
ASSESSMENT OBJECTIVES 4 – 30 marks & 1 – 15 marks
Imagine that Stella has written her memoirs of her life in New Orleans and what happened during this summer. Write an extract from these memoirs, in which Stella describes her life with Stanley. Give careful consideration to the language choices, form and style in order to convey a sense of Stella’s voice and point of view.
