Author: mm4ip

Previous Action:

Again, this is probably not all of the previous action, it is just what I found.

Previous Action:

Blanche lost Belle Reve estate after the deaths of her and Stella's remaing relatives.  It was lost on a foreclosed mortgage.

She has taken a leave of absence from teaching "for her nerves" but later it is discovered it was because she slept with a 17 year old student.

Stella is pregnant.

Blanche was married before to a man named Allan, but after she discovered he was homosexual, he committed suicide.

After losing Belle Reve, Blanche lived in a cheap motel, and would bring back lovers to make her feel less empty.

Polar Attitudes

Ok, I worked on this, but I think they can be better… If you guys can think of things to add or take away that would be great. 🙂

Polar attitudes of main characters:

Blanche: Starts the play with somewhat of a grip on reality. The events of the play drive her to desperation and she ends giving into her imaginations, almost completely crazy.

Stella: Stella begins the play hoping to help her sister, and ends the play having given up on her.

Stanley: Stanley does not change much throughout the play.  He is violent and head strong at the beginning, and violent and headstrong at the end.

Mitch:  At the start of the play, Mitch is very polite and respectful to Blanche, believing her to be a pure woman.  By the end of the play, he has become disrespectful after learning of her past, but also depressed at her mental state

Notes on Given Circumstances

Ok, these are a few of the given circumstances I have found toward the beginning of the play:

There is a bowling alley around the corner from Stella’s home.

Stanley and Mitch are 28-30 years old, and in denim “work clothes”

Stella looks 25 and has “a background obviously quite different from her husband’s” (4)

Stella, Eunice and Blanche are white

Blanche is around 5 year’s older than Stella.

There are “street cars” with given names, such as Desire, or Cemeteries.

Stella lives at Elysian Fields. In the downstairs flat of house 632. Underneath Eunice.

Eunice owns the house.

There are two rooms (kitchen and bedroom) and a bathroom.

Blanche is Stella’s sister.  She was a teacher.  She is from a plantation (Belle-Reve) in Mississippi.

“The L and N tracks” (12).  They are in New Orleans.

Stanley is Polish, and a Master Sergeant in the Engineers Corps.

More to Come…

Thoughts on Thought

"We are only women, not meant in nature to fight against men." (163)

"Extravagant action is not sensible." (163)

"It is better not to hunt the impossible at all." (165)

"Zeus, who hates the most the boasts of a great tongue." (166)

"It is impossible to know any man€¦until he shows his skill in rule and law." (167)

"Anyone thinking another man more a friend than his country, I rate him nowhere." (167) – Creon

"There is none so foolish as to love his own death." (169)

"Often greed has with its hopes brought men to ruin." (169)

"Do you see the gods as honoring criminals? This is not so." (172)-Creon

"The worst currency that ever grew among mankind is money." (172)

"Ill-gotten gains ruin more than they save." (173)

"It's a bad thing if one judges, and judges wrongly." (173)

"Many are the wonders, none is more wonderful than what is man" (174)

"A cunning fellow is man." (174)

"No city has he with whom dwells dishonor prompted by recklessness." (175) –Creon

"[Gods] are not of today and yesterday; they live forever." (178)

"When people plot mischief in the dark, it is the mind which first is convicted of deceit." (179)

"The good man does not seek an equal share only, with the bad." (181)

"Even the stout of heart shrink when they see the approach of death close to their lives." (184)

"For those whose house has been shaken by God€¦it steals on generation after generation." (184)

"Nothing very great comes to the life of mortal man without ruin to accompany it." (185)

"He who is in his household a good man will be found a just man, too, in the city." (186)

"There is nothing worse than disobedience to authority." (186) –Creon

"A man who thinks he alone is right€¦such men, when opened up are seen quite empty." (188)

"There is no city possessed by one man only." (189)

"There is no reverence in trampling on God's honor." (190)