Streetcar Named Desire: Ghosts of the Past
2. “Plays often feature at least one ghost, either on stage or imagined in the form of haunting memories and burdens.” Discuss this statement with reference to Streetcar. (Nov 2010 HL)
In the tragedy “Streetcar Named Desire” the author Tennessee Williams brings out a ghost on stage through the haunting memories of Blanche’s past. The Flaws in Blanche which are revealed to the audience by Stanley are rather shocking. It is revealed that Blanche began to take part in cheap forms of entertainment at a hotel called Flamingo. According to Stanley the Flamingo did not mind these their guests taking part in these kinds of entertainment, although the management at the Flamingo was forced into throwing Blanche out as she had made quite a reputation of herself. The audience is further made aware of Blanche’s horrific reputation when Stanley mentions that she had been fired from school as she had gotten into an affair with a 17 year old. Even soldiers were asked to stay away from Blanche. Her reputation was so famous that the mayor of Laurel had asked her to leave. Blanche had nowhere else to go and that was the reason she showed up unannounced at Stella and Stanley’s house in Elysian Fields.
These haunting memories of Blanche’s past are ironically revealed to the audience when she is taking a shower. Throughout the play Blanche spends a lot of time in the shower, this is because the wants to symbolically cleanse herself of her haunting past and all the horrible things she had done in order to survive after losing her property, Belle Reve. While Stanley is narrating the horrible truths to Stella about Blanche’s past, Blanche is happily singing mystical and a fiction song with “cardboard seas” and “paper moons”. She believes that the only way she can get out of this situation is if she is helped by another man. She believes that Mitch can be this man. The line of the song “It wouldn’t be make believe if you believed in me” which is consentingly being repeated tells us
In the tragedy “Streetcar Named Desire” the author Tennessee Williams brings out a ghost on stage through the haunting memories of Blanche’s past. The Flaws in Blanche which are revealed to the audience by Stanley are rather shocking. It is revealed that Blanche began to take part in cheap forms of entertainment at a hotel called Flamingo. According to Stanley the Flamingo did not mind these their guests taking part in these kinds of entertainment, although the management at the Flamingo was forced into throwing Blanche out as she had made quite a reputation of herself. The audience is further made aware of Blanche’s horrific reputation when Stanley mentions that she had been fired from school as she had gotten into an affair with a 17 year old. Even soldiers were asked to stay away from Blanche. Her reputation was so famous that the mayor of Laurel had asked her to leave. Blanche had nowhere else to go and that was the reason she showed up unannounced at Stella and Stanley’s house in Elysian Fields.
These haunting memories of Blanche’s past are ironically revealed to the audience when she is taking a shower. Throughout the play Blanche spends a lot of time in the shower, this is because the wants to symbolically cleanse herself of her haunting past and all the horrible things she had done in order to survive after losing her property, Belle Reve. While Stanley is narrating the horrible truths to Stella about Blanche’s past, Blanche is happily singing mystical and a fiction song with “cardboard seas” and “paper moons”. She believes that the only way she can get out of this situation is if she is helped by another man. She believes that Mitch can be this man. The line of the song “It wouldn’t be make believe if you believed in me” which is consentingly being repeated tells us