[1] TASK TWO Using the pictures on this page as a starting point, explain to an actor about to play Stanley on stage what he should look like, what he should wear, how he should hold himself and move, and how he should speak. Do this in under 200 words. STREETCAR A IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE PLOT... TASK ONE Answer the simple questions below to ensure that you have a good understanding of the events in the play: Scene One 1. TF: Steve had to get himself a poor boy's sandwich because the colored woman neglected to make a hot supper. 2. TF: Blanche is an English schoolteacher from Mississippi. 3. TF: Stella doesn't have a maid because Stanley is a Pole. 4. TF: Stella cautioned Blanche not to compare Stanley with other men. 5. TF: Stanley doesn't know that Blanche has arrived at Elysian Fields. 6. TF: Stanley understood that Blanche might see him as "the unrefined type." Scene Two 1. So that they wouldn't have to hang around the house on poker night, where did Stella and Blanche go [for dinner]? 2. Who, under the Napoleonic code, wanted to have a gander at the bill of sale for Belle Reve? 3. Why was the Napoleonic code brought into the conversation? 4. TF: Stanley was not sucked in by Blanche's spell. 5. Sending Stella out for a lemon-coke was a ploy to accomplish what? 6. What caused Blanche to open her eyes? Scene Three 1. What did Blanche really mean by wondering if Mitch were a wolf? 2. Stella feels Stanley is "the only one of his crowd that's likely to get anywhere" because of his what? 3. According to Blanche, what was a prerequisite for sincerity? 4. What lie did Blanche tell Mitch? 5. Mitch figured Blanche taught what subject? 6. Why did the men have to restrain Stanley? Scene Four 1. According to Blanche, how was Stella insane? 2. Interpret "powder-keg" within the context of the story. 3. TF: People, according to Stella, have got to tolerate each other's habits. 4. Why did Shep Huntleigh come into the conversation? 5. TF: Blanche believes in being straight forward when persuing money. 6. TF: Blanche believes that fast sex will satisfy the genteel man. The worksheet: a series of tasks and questions to help develop an understanding of the text. Most of the tasks can be completed individually, but you should feel free to help each other. NAMED DESIRE by TENNESSEE WILLIAMS
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[1]
TASK TWOUsing the pictures on this page as a starting point, explain to an actor about to play Stanley on stage what he should look like, what he should wear, how he should hold himself and move, and how he should speak.
Do this in under 200 words.
STREETCARA
IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE PLOT...TASK ONEAnswer the simple questions below to ensure that you have a good understanding of the events in the play:
Scene One1. TF: Steve had to get himself a poor boy's sandwich because the colored woman neglected to make a hot supper.2. TF: Blanche is an English schoolteacher from Mississippi.3. TF: Stella doesn't have a maid because Stanley is a Pole.4. TF: Stella cautioned Blanche not to compare Stanley with other men.5. TF: Stanley doesn't know that Blanche has arrived at Elysian Fields.6. TF: Stanley understood that Blanche might
see him as "the unrefined type."
Scene Two1. So that they wouldn't have to hang around the house on poker night, where did Stella and Blanche go [for dinner]?2. Who, under the Napoleonic code, wanted to have a gander at the bill of sale for Belle Reve?3. Why was the Napoleonic code brought into the conversation?4. TF: Stanley was not sucked in by Blanche's spell.5. Sending Stella out for a lemon-coke was a ploy to accomplish what?6. What caused Blanche to open her eyes?
Scene Three1. What did Blanche really mean by wondering if Mitch were a wolf?2. Stella feels Stanley is "the only one of his crowd that's likely to get anywhere" because of his what?3. According to Blanche, what was a prerequisite for sincerity?4. What lie did Blanche tell Mitch?5. Mitch figured Blanche taught what subject?6. Why did the men have to restrain Stanley?
Scene Four1. According to Blanche, how was Stella insane?2. Interpret "powder-keg" within the context of the story.3. TF: People, according to Stella, have got to tolerate each other's habits.4. Why did Shep Huntleigh come into the conversation?5. TF: Blanche believes in being straight forward when persuing money.6. TF: Blanche believes that fast sex will satisfy the genteel man.
The worksheet:
a series of tasks and questions to help develop an understanding of the
text.
Most of the tasks can be completed individually, but you should feel free
to help each other.
NAMED DESIRE
by
TENNESSEE WILLIAMS
[2]
in the ending was the plot... TASK FOUR!Scene Five1. How is Blanche being a liar?2. What sign dotes on noise?3. What provoked Blanche to worry about gossip from Laurel?4. TF: Blanche is withholding a goodnight kiss because she wants Mitch's respect.5. TF: Blanche is open about her deceptions.6. TF: Mitch objected to Blanche's coyness.
Scene Six1. By what law of nature was Blanche abiding?2. TF: Blanche wants to alter the serious mood of the evening to something more casual.3. TF: Blanche encouraged Mitch to use his hands exploringly.4. Why does Blanche have to tolerate Stanley?5. TF: Stanley professed himself to be Blanche's executioner.6. What did Blanche discover about her first
lover, Allan, whom she married?
Scene Seven1. TF: Calling Blanche "Her Majesty" is an example of sarcasm.2. TF: That Stella and Blanche were reared differently from Stanley was a point reiterated to him.3. What was lie number one?4. What was lie number two?5. What kind of ticket did Stanley buy for
Blanche?
Scene Eight1. TF: Stanley helps clear the table like a gracious host.2. TF: Blanche took being stood up as an insult.3. Into which room does Blanche run after Stanley gives her her birthday present?4. TF: Stella accuses Stanley of being cruel
towards Blanche.
Scene Nine1. TF: Allan's death periodically haunts Blanche.2. What does Blanche utter when Mitch tears off the paper lantern from the light bulb?3. TF: What Blanche calls "magic," Mitch calls "malarkey."4. Blanche filled her empty heart with
"intimacies with strangers" to protect herself from what?
Scene Ten1. What lie does Blanche tell Stanley?2. What would make Blanche weep with joy?3. TF: Blanche admitted wasting her mind, spirit, and heart on lower class pigs.4. TF: Stanley knew Mitch never returned with roses to beg for forgiveness.5. TF: Blanche tries to fight Stanley off, but he
takes her to bed anyway.
Scene Eleven1. Blanche thinks her man from Dallas is going to take her away to the country for rest and relaxation. What really happens to her?
TASK THREE
Three Blanches Explain in 200 words which Blanche Dubois most closely matches your own impressions of her, explaining why you think this.
Consider appearance, expression and capacity for tragedy...
FunFact: all three actresses here are British!
Task Five:
This is one version of a stage set that has been used. Others tend to be variations on this kind of realistic design. Your task is to design an abstract set that reflects the
central themes of the play: it does not need to be practical, but does need to imply the inner workings of the minds of Blanche, Stanley and Stella.
[3]
TASK SEVEN: explain the significance!For each of the following quotations, explain: •who said it and to whom and when in the play•what this tells us about the character[s]•why the line is significant in the wider context of the play
“I have always depended on the kindness of strangers”
“Well, I never cared for wishy-washy people. That was why, when you walked in here last night, I said to myself — "My sister has a married man!"— Of course that was all that I could tell about you.”
“I can hardly stand it when he’s away for a night... when he’s away for a week I nearly go wild”
“Nobody’s going to get up, so don’t be worried”
“Why on our wedding night – soon as we came in here – he snatched off one of my slippers and rushed about the place smashing the light-bulbs with it.”
“And turn that over-light off! Turn that off! I won’t be looked at in this merciless glare!”
“And admire her dress and tell her she’s looking wonderful That’s important with Blanche. Her little weakness!”
“…I want to be near you, got to be with somebody, I can’t be alone! Because - as you must have noticed - I’m – not very well…”
“I don’t want realism. I want magic! [Mitch laughs] Yes, yes, 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 truth. And if that is sinful, then let me be damned for it! – Don’t turn the light on!”
“The first time I laid eyes on [Stanley] I thought to myself, that man is my executioner! That man will destroy me.”
“Flores, flores para los muertos!”
Design the Poster This needs to be subtler than these tasks normally are. The poster must reflect the play’s obsessions, and must be accompanied by an explanation that details, with evidence in support, what element of the play you are choosing to focus on. The concept and the explanation are what matters: not so much the execution!
TASK SIX
[4]
Extract One“...the “Varsouviana” which plays in the latter parts of the play, which is connected with the death of Blanche’s husband, is actually a lively polka, and you wouldn’t think that it was associated when somebody suicides. It starts to play in the end of scene one too, “the music of the polka”; this obsession of Blanche’s with the polka could symbolize her obsession with the past, which, like the music, is embedded into her being. The “Varsouviana” is also a disturbance in the play, between Blanche and reality. It plays extensively in Scene Six when Blanche is alone with Mitch, and acts as a disturbance and she is unable to grasp what is truly happening in Scene Eight when Stella finally begins to go into labour.”
Extract Two
“Stanley and Blanche represent different sides of America. Blanche,the old world values of the south and Stanley the aggressive materialism and a society dominated by man in the urban world. Again this shows that Blanche is not suited to New Orleans. Her inability to be "alone" and need to be with someone creates her as Matt said to be moulded and transformed to fit into New Orleans. She lies about her age and has an "awful vanity" about her looks. These lies however create her past to emerge from the steamy background. Creating her to become corrupt as she tries to as Matt said rebuild her life, mirroring the corruption of America.”
Extract Three
“For me, the most interesting thing is the "streetcar named Desire." Although it is the title of the play, we have so far only seen it mentioned in passing by Blanche in the beginning. While this could perhaps suggest that "Desire" is not particularly common within the book, it is actually fairly common, as shown by Stanley, whom "since earliest manhood the centre of his life had been pleasure with women," as well as Mitch, who is close to getting into a sexual relationship with Blanch. The "streetcar" itself could represent the fleeting nature of "Desire," as they will stop only briefly at any given place. This is, however, slightly contradictory, as eventually the "streetcar" will come around again. As Caleb has said, the way Blanche is portrayed as "moth[like]" is interesting as well, for moths are short-lived creatures - transitory, just like the "streetcar named Desire." Moths are attracted to bright lights; for Blanche, the light is Mitch, whom she tries to have an affair with. Yet ultimately, Mitch rejects "Desire," represented by Blanche, for in the end, it will lead him to "Cemeteries," and onward to a corrupted "Elysian Fields," where there is no everlasting paradise of great heroes, but merely a "vulgar" location, where sexual debauchery is the norm.”
Extract Four
“Belle Reve, the ‘beautiful dream’ that was lost to the DuBois, with its “white
columns”, presents the lost lifestyle, and the colour white something ethereal and unobtainable. This is contrasted with the vibrancy of colours in New Orleans, such as the “yellow-checked linoleum” in Stella’s house, or the raw colours of childhood’s spectrum on the Poker Night. Blanche continues the ethereal imagery, showing that she is a relic of the South, and she attempts to hold onto and is at the same time in mourning of the lifestyle. This is also linked with her obsession with looks, as she desperately clings to her youth and past. Her “white clothes” show her ethereal quality and she is likened to a “moth”. This is contrasted by the suggestion of colour in Stanley description as a “richly feathered male bird”. For the men of the Poker Night, their virility is presented by their “coloured shirts, solid blue, a purple, a red-and-white check, a light green” in distinction against for example Blanche’s “white skirt” or “satin kimono”.
TASK EIGHTTo what extent do you agree with your classmates: 100 words explaining why in response to each of the following.
STREETCARA
NAMED DESIRE
TASK NINE: THE ESSAY
“What have I done to my sister?” To what extent, in your view, does Stella contribute to Blanche’s destruction?”
Remember to explore the ways Williams uses language, action and stagecraft.
800-900 words
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