A Streetcar Named Desire Language Analysis
Two levels of language are used in A Streetcar Named Desire - the words spoken by the characters in the play and the text of the stage directions.
Whether witnessing a performance or reading the text of a play we rely on the dialogue to enable us to create an image of the characters, to decide if we like or dislike them, to try to understand them and their actions. The nuances of speech set the characters in their class context and show the differences of social status and education as well as of character. In A Streetcar Named Desire the very marked differences between Stanley and Blanche are stressed by Stanley's non-grammatical, coarse, often slangy speech as against Blanche's high-flown rhetoric which often rings false (as it is meant …show more content…
to), and never lets us forget that she was a teacher of English. At times there is a lyrical quality in her words, emphasising their emotional content.
Stella too speaks correct English, but in a matter-of-fact, mostly unemotional tone, except when she speaks of her love for her husband.
Eunice and Steve are set firmly a rung or two below Stanley on the class ladder, again by their use of language as much as by their drunken public quarrels.
Mitch too is defined by the way he speaks: his efforts at speaking properly are marred by grammatical slip-ups as much as by his genteel circumlocutions ("I perspire", never "I sweat"). He cannot follow or match Blanche's flights of fancy, and is acutely aware of this.
As we have seen, the language of the characters in a play is the most important way of defining their nature, their social status and their emotional make-up. Try to imagine forming an idea of the people in this play from their actions alone. The result would be flat, often incomprehensible unless the actors adopted the exaggerated gestures of mime.
Only their speech gives them life, and it is a measure of the dramatist's art that he can turn characters into credible human beings by what they say and how they say it. The words he chooses to put into their mouths and the way he makes them speak are …show more content…
all-important.
Another kind of diction can of course be found in a play - in the stage directions. As we have seen, Tennessee Williams's stage directions are unusually detailed, ensuring that the sets evoke the right atmosphere. However, they are also remarkable for another reason - they are beautifully written, evocative, accurate, and employ poetic images to convey their meaning. In this respect they are quite unusual.
In A Streetcar Named Desire the imagery of the stage directions will attract the readers' attention.
It is to be expected that Tennessee Williams should make use of the evocative power of figurative language when he is trying to paint a word picture or convey in words the quality of a sound. The phrase "the infatuated fluency of brown fingers" conveys the black pianist's skilful playing, his total absorption in the music, and his pleasure in it.
The "Varsouviana" polka is "filtered into weird distortion" in Blanche's mind, the harsh discords signalling that the sad memories of the past are about to give way to a cruel institutionalised future.
The use of imagery is however not limited to Tennessee Williams's stage directions alone. When Blanche is moved, she frequently uses figurative language, as befits a teacher of English. So for instance we find in Scene 5 "Have got to be seductive - put on soft colours, the colours of butterfly wings, and glow"; in Scene 6 she describes love as being like "a blinding light on something that had always been half in shadow"; and in Scene 10 she speaks of the paddy-wagon picking up drunken soldiers "like
daisies".
While from Blanche such figurative language is to be expected, surprisingly we find Stanley too using metaphors when he is moved. His phrase the "Coloured lights" used twice in Scene 8 to describe the ecstasy of passion is startling and evocative, as is his contemptuous description of Blanche's evening gown and tiara as "that worn-out Mardi Gras outfit, rented for fifty cents from some rag-picker".
Whether witnessing a performance or reading the text of a play we rely on the dialogue to enable us to create an image of the characters, to decide if we like or dislike them, to try to understand them and their actions. The nuances of speech set the characters in their class context and show the differences of social status and education as well as of character. In A Streetcar Named Desire the very marked differences between Stanley and Blanche are stressed by Stanley's non-grammatical, coarse, often slangy speech as against Blanche's high-flown rhetoric which often rings false (as it is meant …show more content…
to), and never lets us forget that she was a teacher of English. At times there is a lyrical quality in her words, emphasising their emotional content.
Stella too speaks correct English, but in a matter-of-fact, mostly unemotional tone, except when she speaks of her love for her husband.
Eunice and Steve are set firmly a rung or two below Stanley on the class ladder, again by their use of language as much as by their drunken public quarrels.
Mitch too is defined by the way he speaks: his efforts at speaking properly are marred by grammatical slip-ups as much as by his genteel circumlocutions ("I perspire", never "I sweat"). He cannot follow or match Blanche's flights of fancy, and is acutely aware of this.
As we have seen, the language of the characters in a play is the most important way of defining their nature, their social status and their emotional make-up. Try to imagine forming an idea of the people in this play from their actions alone. The result would be flat, often incomprehensible unless the actors adopted the exaggerated gestures of mime.
Only their speech gives them life, and it is a measure of the dramatist's art that he can turn characters into credible human beings by what they say and how they say it. The words he chooses to put into their mouths and the way he makes them speak are …show more content…
all-important.
Another kind of diction can of course be found in a play - in the stage directions. As we have seen, Tennessee Williams's stage directions are unusually detailed, ensuring that the sets evoke the right atmosphere. However, they are also remarkable for another reason - they are beautifully written, evocative, accurate, and employ poetic images to convey their meaning. In this respect they are quite unusual.
In A Streetcar Named Desire the imagery of the stage directions will attract the readers' attention.
It is to be expected that Tennessee Williams should make use of the evocative power of figurative language when he is trying to paint a word picture or convey in words the quality of a sound. The phrase "the infatuated fluency of brown fingers" conveys the black pianist's skilful playing, his total absorption in the music, and his pleasure in it.
The "Varsouviana" polka is "filtered into weird distortion" in Blanche's mind, the harsh discords signalling that the sad memories of the past are about to give way to a cruel institutionalised future.
The use of imagery is however not limited to Tennessee Williams's stage directions alone. When Blanche is moved, she frequently uses figurative language, as befits a teacher of English. So for instance we find in Scene 5 "Have got to be seductive - put on soft colours, the colours of butterfly wings, and glow"; in Scene 6 she describes love as being like "a blinding light on something that had always been half in shadow"; and in Scene 10 she speaks of the paddy-wagon picking up drunken soldiers "like
daisies".
While from Blanche such figurative language is to be expected, surprisingly we find Stanley too using metaphors when he is moved. His phrase the "Coloured lights" used twice in Scene 8 to describe the ecstasy of passion is startling and evocative, as is his contemptuous description of Blanche's evening gown and tiara as "that worn-out Mardi Gras outfit, rented for fifty cents from some rag-picker".