 For Today:  Respond to classmates’ notes  Collect 567 characterization  Check 67 mini-analysis  Discussion on Scenes 8 & 9  Sex and Death  Film  Irony in Streetcar

 The Party  The Gift  Mitch  Blanche’s history  Themes:  Past vs. Present  Fantasy vs. Reality  Dependence on Men  Sex & Death

 Remember the allegorical journey of the streetcars?  Desire, Cemeteries, Eleysian Fields  Blanche has already played out her journey  Remember the innuendo of the first scene?  Stanley throws Stella the meat…  Stanley, from his first action, represents a primal desire

 Blanche’s fear of death manifest in her fear of aging and losing her beauty  Her sexual assertion is a means to avoid death and return to her youth  Therefore, the opposite of death is desire

 Ironically, it is promiscuity that hastens death throughout the text.  “Epic fornications” cause loss of Belle Reve  She is expelled from Laurel after her inappropriate relationships with students and other men  She’s losing her grasp of reality while lying to Mitch  This only gets worse as she is incapable of manage her desire for youth and fear of death.

 This theme follows and affects everyone around Blanche.  Her husband Allan, the young poet, follows his desire, Blanche fears the implications of marrying a homosexual, he commits suicide.  Blanche lies to Mitch, the older man. She withholds desire from him and has a shot at a stable relationship. However, he discovers the truth and the relationship is over.

 Irony comes from a Greek word meaning “someone who hides under a false appearance.”  When irony is used, things appear different, often the opposite, of what they really are; unexpected events happen; what people say is not what they mean.  The use of irony creates interest, surprise, or a shared understanding with the author or characters.  There are many types of irony, but three to focus on:  Verbal Irony  Dramatic Irony  Situational Irony

 Verbal Irony is irony in the use of language.  What is said can be understood as the opposite of what is meant  Names and titles in Streetcar are often ironic  Belle Reve, translated to beautiful dream, has become something else: a reminder of death and loss.

 In Dramatic Irony there is knowledge that the author/narrator makes available to the readers, but not the characters.  There is some foreshadowing that we, the clever readers, are aware of. Characters, especially Blanche, are not aware of impending disaster.  Blanche’s carefree actions are often juxtaposed with Stanley’s harsh revelations.

 Situational Irony can occur either from the POV of a character or the reader.  This occurs when something that is expected with a great deal of certainty doesn’t happen.  Either we get psyched out or the characters do, or both. (“Gift of the Magi”)  Details of the situation point to the opposite of what is really going on