A Streetcar Named Desire- Context

A Streetcar Named Desire- Context

1. The Great Depression

   • 1930s- just before the play- American Dream
     • Men had to work for their fortune
       • Stanley
   • Had to quit his studies due to Depression
   • High unemployment and debt
   • Upper class distrusted by lower classes

2. New Orleans

   • Famous for its acceptance and diversity
   • Jazz and homosexuality were better tolerated here
   • Louisiana
     • The South
       • Old South
         • Southern Belle
           • Williams' mother
           • Innocent and moral
           • Believed in courtship
         • What Blanche strives for but is actually quite different from
           • Sexually promiscuous
       • New South
         • Stanley
           • Immigrant
           • Opposes gentlemanly nature of Old South
         • Industrialisation
         • Ended slavery and promoted equality
           • Against traditional values which Blanche believed in
   • American Civil War
     • 1861-65
     • Slavery abolished in 1865
     • South were defeated by North

3. Williams' family life

   • Sister Rose believed to have schizophrenia
     • Had pre-frontal lobotomy that Tennessee opposed
       • Left in vegetative state
       • Blamed his parents
   • Homosexuality
     • Williams was gay, something opposed at the time
       • Like Blanche, his sexuality was viewed in a negative light (she was promiscuous, he was gay)
       • Like Blanche's husband
         • He was gay and killed himself because of it
   • Got nickname 'Tennessee' from being teased for his thick accent
     • Born 'Thomas' in Mississipi
   • Father was an aggressive alcoholic
     • Stanley

4. WW2

   • Stanley fought in war
     • High levels of aggression
   • Women had more responsibility during the war which they lost as soon as the men returned
     • Became housewives again
       • Very monotonous
       • Had babies
         • Like Stella
         • Baby boom from end of war into the 1950s
   • Blanche had affairs with young soldiers

5. The play was first performed in 1947 and was made a film shortly after

6. Links to other Streetcar resources- click the paperclip icon to view

   • Names
     • A Streetcar Named Desire- Names
   • Theatricality
     • A Streetcar Named Desire- Theatricality in Blanche
     • A Streetcar Named Desire- Theatricality in Stanley
   • Characters
     • A Streetcar Named Desire: Characters- Stanley
     • A Streetcar Named Desire: Characters- Blanche
   • Context
     • A Streetcar Named Desire- Context Quiz
   • Question structure
     • A Streetcar Named Desire- Question Structure
   • Scene summaries
     • A Streetcar Named Desire- Scene Summaries