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How Does Tenessee Williams Use Stage Directions In A Streetcar Named Desire

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In "A Streetcar Named Desire, Tenessee Williams provides the readers with a detailed discription of how he wants to see the play staged by using stage directions . These stage directions help reinforce various themes and helps readers to understand the scenes in greater detail. In the play, "A Streetcar Named Desire", the stage directions are vital in conveying the story to the reader and without the explanations things are said or done the reader would not be able to understand what is happening in the story. The directions affect all aspects of a story. Music is one of the stage direction used and if read carefully, it is clear that Williams uses music to establish the mood of many scenes. Another stage direction is
Music plays a significant role both as a mood setter and as a source of characterization. Williams indicates a "blue piano" in the stage directions, spilling over …show more content…

The readers are not only introduced to the “blue piano” but also to the “Varsouviane Polka” through the stage directions. The blue piano is first introduced in the opening stage directions of the first scene; “This blue piano’ expresses the spirit of the life which goes on here” (Williams 1) The blue piano conveys the presence of music in every day life. ) Through out the play, the blue piano is always present when Blanche is talking about the loss of her family and Belle Reve .In this case, the blue piano can symbolize depression and loneliness, which is shown when “The ‘blue piano’ sounds louder” (Williams 25) as Blanche finds out that Stella is pregnant and feels that the child would take Stella away from her. The blue piano basically describes her emotions. It is prominently played to accentuate an ominous atmosphere. (Svihus 16) To parallel the break of trust between the women after Stanley tells Stella of Blanche’s past, “The distant piano goes into a hectic breakdown” (Williams 535), thus making a despairing environment. The devastation of Stanley beating Stella is increased

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978 Words | 4 Pages

Stella’s sister, Blanche, sees through the illusion and can see how toxic the marriage really is. Stanley and Blanche come from distinctly different backgrounds, Stanley is from the working class while Blanche comes from wealth. Williams uses these two contrasting points of views on marriage, to show the issues of possessiveness, class, and sexism. When it comes to Stanley’s marriage to Stella, one of the most notable characteristics is how possessive Stanley is. An example of this is when Stanley found out that Blanche and therefore Stella, lost their estate.

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536 Words | 3 Pages

Blanche’s anger of being lonely results in her envious feelings towards her sister, so she plans to devastate her sister’s life and this creates the idea of sibling rivalry ( DiGaetani 69). For instance, in the first she comments on her sister’s apartment saying “What are you doing in a place like this?” (Williams 19). Her comment reflects her malice feelings, because she is homeless and her sister is living in an apartment with her husband. Moreover, Blanche insists on describing Stanley with rough descriptions in front of her sister, she told Stella “you are married to a madman”( Williams 64).

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1248 Words | 5 Pages

Change is a process, transition or alteration that affects all aspects of life and can affect attitudes, beliefs and behaviours. Michael Gow’s play ‘Away’ conflicts emotional, spiritual and mental change expressed through the characters along their journey of change. Gow has chosen characters such as Coral, Tom and Gwen to demonstrate the different types of changes that occur in the play ‘Away’. Gow uses techniques such as Intertextuality, allusion, structure, stage direction and symbolism to present the transformations the characters experience. In the song and video clip ‘Waiting on the world to change’ composed by John Myer, change is demonstrated through the reference of war and the hope of a change in future.

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1093 Words | 5 Pages

A streetcar named Desire A streetcar named Desire, is a play by Tennessee Williams written in 1947. It addresses the American society in the post modern society, gender roles and how it feels to be an intruder in an environment you aren’t used to. One of the most central aspects in “A streetcar named Desire” is the gender aspect. We witness Stanley and Blanche act due to the gender society gave them.

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1747 Words | 7 Pages

Blanche, which is Stella 's older sister, arrives in New Orleans as a broken, arrogant, sensitive, and an obvious crumbling figure. Blanche was once married and very much in love with a young man who seemed to be very tortured. He committed suicide after she discovered that he was a homosexual man, and ever since suffering from regret and guilt! Blanche watched as her parents and relatives passed away. She had to endure many hard trials including watching foreclosure fall on their family estate!

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1056 Words | 5 Pages

Color Symbolism Blanche Scene 1 Dressed in all white in this scene. White is a symbol of purity and innocence, something Blanche clearly lacks. Scene 2 The Gold dress and jewelry described in page 34 and 35, that Stanley raids from Blanches chest is described at a pirated loot. Stanly is comparing Balance to a pirate lmaooooooo Scene 3

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841 Words | 4 Pages

Summary of the Opening Scene   A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams is in New Orleans just after the second world war and focuses on three central characters: Blanche Dubois, her sister Stella & Stanley Kowalski. These three characters are very different. Stella is Blanche’s sister & Stanley’s wife & so she serves to link them.   TW creates a very distinctive  setting for the play in the opening scene. He is mainly focused in the relationship between Stellas sister, Blanche and the environment of the raffish charm city, New Orleans.

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964 Words | 4 Pages

“A Streetcar Named Desire” is a play which mostly revolves around Blanche’s delusional states. As from the beginning of the play till the end we are propelled into a world of truth and reality which is being hidden through the use of light. Light is a symbolism of truth and reality and thus avoiding light could be interpreted as hiding the truth. This is evident in the line “her delicate beauty must avoid a strong light”. The use of the adjective “Strong” allows the reader to visualize the scene of Blanche shying away from the light.

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747 Words | 3 Pages

It also shows the dependence Sonny has on the piano and his addiction to the music. Sonny and the narrator finally come to a mutual understanding of one another in this scene.     Baldwin’s diction and vocabulary choices contrast one another and ties back to a  central theme of the story: dark vs. light. He chooses words such as “life”, “beautiful”, and “freedom” to represent the positivity of the music, but he uses words like “lurked”, “lament”, and “burning” to emphasize the negative vibes Sonny releases while he plays. The

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1038 Words | 5 Pages

Tennessee Williams is acclaimed for his ability to create multi faced characters such as Blanche Dubois in the play, A Streetcar Named Desire. She comes to New Orleans after losing everything including her job, money, and her family’s plantation Belle Reve, to live with her sister Stella. During her time there she causes many conflicts with Stella’s husband Stanley and tries to get involved with the people there, all while judging them for their place in society, although she is imperfect too. Through her, Williams has created a complex character. She is lost, confused, conflicted, lashing out in sexual ways, and living in her own fantasies throughout the entirety of the play.

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1044 Words | 5 Pages

The use of music takes a prominent role as the play progresses. The scene I wrote starts and ends with music to evoke Blanche’s emotions and surroundings. In the beginning, ‘the blue piano is played in a hectic breakdown’, this conveys Blanches deteriorating mental state. Similarly in the end, ‘ the distant piano plays in a soft mourn’, this provokes a sense of great loss and sadness for the readers. In my scene, Blanche’s unfortunate life seemed to end in an even greater unfortunate manner.

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903 Words | 4 Pages

In other words, Stella is very aware that her sexual relationship with Stanley can help her sort out any problems between them. Also, shortly before Stanley rapes Blanche, Williams says in the stage directions that there were “inhuman voices like cries in the jungle” (399; sc. 10). Blanche, which means white wood, is out of her element in this jungle of Stanley’s and it is she, who once called Stanley “bestial” (322; sc. 4) and “sub-human” (323; sc. 4), who has now found herself being stalked and charged like prey being hunted by an animal. With his sister-in-law present, Stanley has been unable to fulfill his sexual desires and so he releases them out on Blanche.

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964 Words | 4 Pages

“A Streetcar Named Desire” is a play which mostly revolves around Blanche’s delusional states. As from the beginning of the play till the end we are propelled into a world of truth and reality which is being hidden through the use of light. Light is a symbolism of truth and reality and thus avoiding light could be interpreted as hiding the truth. This is evident in the line “her delicate beauty must avoid a strong light”. The use of the adjective “Strong” allows the reader to visualize the scene of Blanche shying away from the light.

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652 Words | 3 Pages

The themes of violence and power in ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ hold an important role in the criticism of 1940s American society. Conflicts perpetuated by violence and power, such as abusive relationships and violent oppression are projected through the characters within the play.  Williams uses these conflicts to highlight his criticisms of faltering values and social norms, from the perspective of an individual constrained by the expectations of a strict, Southern society. To begin with, there is an indefinite violence between men and women within ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’. Stanley Kowalski, a focal character, is the epitome of male dominance and primitive aggression.

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1465 Words | 6 Pages

When the narrator accompanies Sonny to the nightclub to listen to him play his music; Sonny’s music portrays his wisdom as he plays about his brother’s frustrations with the trials and sufferings they both endured. Sonny’s artful playing of the blues opens the narrator’s heart to listen genuinely. If one listens to what lies on the inside that is the key to finding oneself. Joseph Flibbert states in the article “Sonny’s Blues” Overview, “In the music he hears, he sees his mother’s face, and that of his little girl … The powerful incantations of Sonny’s art reaches his soul, and for the first time, he listens to the dark voice within”.

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