The Decline of Aristocracy in "A Streetcar Named Desire"
1. Set after World War I, A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams reflects many of the social and cultural changes that occurred after the war.
2. Immediately the time of day (“first dark of an evening”) accentuates the background of socio-economic change as it symbolically represents the death of an old value system and the birth of a new set of social values.
3. The play takes place in the French Quarter of New Orleans which is immediately depicted as an impoverished yet cosmopolitan city due to the contrasting juxtaposition of the “warm and easy intermingling of races” and the “atmosphere of decay” of the antiquated structures (as established in Scene 1)
4. Thus, T.W. immediately suggests the idea of transition --> old, southern values to new, urban values because the ornamented, raffish buildings stand out against the socially progressive city.
5. The life of the evidently lower class in the poor section is shown to be “unlike corresponding sections in other American cities” (Scene 1) due to the vibrant synaesthesia (visual/auditory). For example, the contradictory image of a “blue piano” suggests both the dolorous poverty but also, as expressed in Scene 1, the “spirit of life” and as such, takes the sting out of poverty.
6. Essentially, the introduction to the setting in Scene 1 shows the atypical society of the slum, Elysian Fields because it has been romanticized by Tennessee Williams as a rich melting pot of cultures and values.
7. The idea of the inevitable conflict between the declining aristocratic class and the burgeoning proletariat is evident as soon as Blanche arrives because, even in such a cosmopolitan city, is “incongruous to this setting” (Scene 1). Furthermore, Elysian Fields = Greek heaven & Blanche = Romantic South. Her arrival foreshadows conflict as it is the death of the old South.
8. Furthermore, the idea of conflict is accentuated by the description of Blanche's journey as she first rode a streetcar named
2. Immediately the time of day (“first dark of an evening”) accentuates the background of socio-economic change as it symbolically represents the death of an old value system and the birth of a new set of social values.
3. The play takes place in the French Quarter of New Orleans which is immediately depicted as an impoverished yet cosmopolitan city due to the contrasting juxtaposition of the “warm and easy intermingling of races” and the “atmosphere of decay” of the antiquated structures (as established in Scene 1)
4. Thus, T.W. immediately suggests the idea of transition --> old, southern values to new, urban values because the ornamented, raffish buildings stand out against the socially progressive city.
5. The life of the evidently lower class in the poor section is shown to be “unlike corresponding sections in other American cities” (Scene 1) due to the vibrant synaesthesia (visual/auditory). For example, the contradictory image of a “blue piano” suggests both the dolorous poverty but also, as expressed in Scene 1, the “spirit of life” and as such, takes the sting out of poverty.
6. Essentially, the introduction to the setting in Scene 1 shows the atypical society of the slum, Elysian Fields because it has been romanticized by Tennessee Williams as a rich melting pot of cultures and values.
7. The idea of the inevitable conflict between the declining aristocratic class and the burgeoning proletariat is evident as soon as Blanche arrives because, even in such a cosmopolitan city, is “incongruous to this setting” (Scene 1). Furthermore, Elysian Fields = Greek heaven & Blanche = Romantic South. Her arrival foreshadows conflict as it is the death of the old South.
8. Furthermore, the idea of conflict is accentuated by the description of Blanche's journey as she first rode a streetcar named