John Mcrae's lectures on "A Streetcar named Desire" 01

01 introduction to "A Streetcar named Desire"

It was first performed on stage in the late 1940's and was considered very modern.
This is less than a hundred years after the Civil War.
- The American Civil War was about slavery and was North America vs South
America.
Williams always sets his plays in the South.
The South is seen as another Country.
- Williams takes a lot of inspiration from southern literature (mentioned in the play Poe, Whitman etc)
- Also a world removed from traditional America
The play is a tragedy without a death, even thpough there is a significant one.
Many cliches in the play, Williams being gay (an outsider to society), his sister being institutionalised.
- However the play goes much deeper than that.
The tragedy is Blanche's
- Of time and loss, it focuses on the disintergration of mind, society, what family is and was, old families of the deep south, love and sex.
This is important because the play culminates with an act of sexual violence, but when it was first shown it wasn't seen as sexual but it is now.
It's tragedy of gender and power
- Who rules, what people want and what (most importantly) people desire.