1. Streetcar
Tragedy

2. TASK
Explore the ways Williams presents Blanche Dubois as a tragic hero. You must include relevant contextual factors in your discussion.

3. What is tragedy?
Tragedy is a subgenre that can be defined as a drama or literary work in which the main character is brought to ruin or suffers extreme sorrow.
Tragedy leads to unhappy endings – the tragic catastrophe.
Tragedy depicts the downfall of a protagonist due to fate, a fat
Tragedy evokes fear and sympathy in the audience
There is a progression from order to disorder, harmony to chaos.
• The action of a tragedy seems to unfold with a horrible inevitability.
• Tragedy includes antagonists: forces or characters who stand out against the protagonist.

4. Aristotle and the Classical Greeks
Tragedies contained
A noble protagonist suffering from hubris (overwhelming pride suggesting that he has gone above his station and needs teaching a lesson by the gods)
Peripeteia: the protagonist encounters a reversal of fortunes (from good to bad)
Hamartia: the protagonist suffers from a fatal flaw (personal weakness) which leads to his tragic downfall
Anagnorisis : the protagonist experiences a moment of recognition or a change from ignorance to awareness
Death of the protagonist
Fate to play its part in the protagonist’s outcome
Tragedies should evoke pathos (pity, sorrow and fear) and catharsis (a purging of negative emotions to feel enlightened at the end) in the audience

5. Shakespearean/Elizabethan Tragedies
Shift away from the highest noble figures to more middle status characters (Othello) to reflect changes in society
Further emphasis on the protagonist’s fatal flaw (human weakness) which wasn’t always hubris so more “psychologically” real

6. Modern Tragedies
Modern tragedy is a term used in literature to often describe a playwright that depicts ordinary people in tragic situations. Writers and critics in the 20th century claimed that if the protagonist doesn’t inspire sympathy or empathy then we do not have catharsis.

7. Arthur Miller
Arthur Miller, 1949 , in his essay “ Tragedy and the common Man” suggested that in the 20th century, audiences don’t have the emotions, social and political connections to connect with noble characters. He created tragic protagonists of a lower class status, such as Willy Loman in “Death of a Salesman” and John Proctor in “The Crucible

8. Raymond Williams
Raymond Williams, 1966, in his book “Modern Tragedy” stated: “Tragedy, for us, has been mainly the conflict between an individual and the forces that destroy him”. In other words, the modern tragic hero is one of ordinary, working life who suffers individually because of external forces such as: oppression; poverty; rigid social convention; commercialisation; anything which is externally antagonistic to the protagonist)

9. Dr Eleanor Spencer Regan, Durham University
Dr Eleanor Spencer Regan, Sovereign Education Lecture, 7th March, 2016 claimed that “A Streetcar Named Desire” is a very modern tragedy about a protagonist of high moral worth brought low by external forces and her own attempts to protect herself.

10. Dr Eleanor Spencer Regan Thesis
Key idea is whether we sympathise with Blanche or not (pathos) If we don’t, we don’t have catharsis If we don’t, can Streetcar be viewed as a tragedy?

11. ESR: Streetcar and sense of inevitability
Blanche is established as fragile and vulnerable from the outset of the play
Stage directions describe her white costume and the image of her as “like a moth”
Creates a sense of tragic inevitably which can only end in self-destruction (like a moth going to a flame) and/or death

12. ESR: Streetcar and fatal flaw
ESR suggests that Blanche’s fatal flaw is her inability to distinguish between illusion and reality ( to face the truth)
Tension is created through this flaw. Williams uses various methods. For example:
Her presentation of herself as a Southern Belle and the reality of her being a promiscuous drunk. Compare the stage directions of her first costume and her manners/behaviour with the secrecy and lies she creates about her drinking (find quotations)
Props can symbolise this: the “diamond crown” which is really a rhinestone tiara
Her own dialogue: “ I don’t want realism. I want... magic”.
By the end of the play, keeping up appearances isn’t just about vanity but about protecting the old values; she needs to maintain the illusion of the “old world” in order to survive. Unlike Stella, she isn’t able to adapt to the new ways.

13. ESR: Streetcar and “noble” character
Blanche belongs to Arthur Miller and Raymond Williams’ category of the modern tragic hero: not of noble birth but a middle class, every day woman.
Did she ever have any noble qualities?
Highly educated?
Deep, true love for her husband?
Loyalty, dedication and commitment to her sick and dying relatives?
Key idea: Aristotelian and Shakespearean heroes were at the height of their nobility (morally at least) at the start of the plays, Blanche is already in decline:
She has been dismissed from her teaching job
She has gained a disreputable reputation through her promiscuity
She only has make believe left, even at the start of the play

14. Your response
Your personal response/positioning as to whether you blame Blanche for her need to pretend is crucial as to whether you see the play as a tragedy or not:
Do you consider her noble or pathetic?
Do you like her or not?
Do you see her as an undeserving victim or a morally dubious figure?

15. Blanche’s personal suffering
Violent death of her beloved husband
Abandonment by her sister
Death of her family members and her sense of responsibility to them
The loss of Belle Reve and her family fortune

16. Blanche as a symbol/emblem fo a dying civilisation
Elia Kazan, director of the Broad way stage production and the Oscar winning film of the play (1951) suggested that:
Blanche is a tragic heroine: “We are shown the final dissolution of a person of worth, who once had great potential”
But, Blanche is a symbol of the death of the old Southern ways of life: “ an emblem of a dying civilization. All her behaviour patterns are those of the dying civilization she represents...her behaviour is social”
Therefore, it’s not really Blanche we see fall but the old world/ old Southern culture

17. Poetic Tragedy
As such, with Blanche as a metaphor for the old Southern way of life, the play could be viewed as a poetic tragedy:
Blanche’s death itself is not a real death; it is metaphorical: a death of the old Blanche
Williams seems to be suggesting that Blanche’s death represents the death of values such as elegance, poise and dignity (see her exit from the play): pathos and catharsis?
Stanley is the symbolic antagonist: a counter figure who is bestial, animalistic, coarse, primitive and , ultimately, a survivor of the species (Darwinian)
New Orleans represents the New World - see the stage directions in scene 10 – the noise of the jungle. It represents the cruel forces of modernity and the 20th century

18. Metaphorical Death
Blanche’s anagnorisis (moment of realisation) is even one of illusion - her belief about where she is being taken occurs with such poise and dignity as the Nurse and the Doctor take on the characteristics form the old world. Pathos here? Catharsis? Your Reponse?
Williams’ social tragedy is the death of these old values which are being replaced with cruelty (violence and rape), competition (symbolised by the Poker playing – life as a game of cards – something to be won or lost), crassness (manners of speaking and behaviours of the working class community of New Orleans) - ( see Stanley)

19. Williams: What were his intentions?
To lament the death of the old world?
If so , need to feel sympathy/empathy of Blanche
He seems to want us to understand her emotions and behaviours
Partly does this through expressionism to show us Blanche’s inner psyche: the Varsouvian Polka shows us a dance towards mental dissolution; ultimately it becomes a dance of death
For Williams, he creates a drama based on the real (social world of New Orleans/themes of gender/class/power..) but it reaches poetic significance

20. Modern Stage version Interpretation

21. What’s your position? Do you feel sympathy or empathy for Blanche?
Your response is crucial as there is no catharsis without pathos
To what extent can we see her downfall as due to forces (antagonisms) beyond her control?
To what extent can we understand her personal weaknesses (fatal flaws)?
Is the play more than tragedy about the demise of Blanche DuBois?
Does Williams seem to be conveying a more social tragedy about the decline of the old Southern way of life in America?

22. What are the external forces?
Make a list of possibilities

23. Possible external forces
Stanley as a protagonist

24. What are Blanche’s fatal flaws?
Inability to see the truth?
her desire? her lack of self-awareness? low self-esteem?
Inability to escape her past?

25. Social/Poetic Message
Do you think there is one or is it a purely personal tragedy?

26. Essay
How does Williams present A Streetcar Named Desire as a tragedy? You must refer to relevant contextual factors in your discussion.

27. Characteristic of Modern Tragedy it started evolving from more tradition to modern by focusing more on self-discovery and less on tragic mystery and fate. the main characters involved in a modern tragedy are usually just a regular person. involves more than one character who take part in the tragedy. the character has a tragic flaw. it focuses more on the environment the character creates and the choices that the character makes. the language used is just like everyday speaking. Blanche's Tragic Flaws her desire her lack of self-awareness low self-esteem Blanche's Desire The desire arises because of her loneliness which she puts up with after her husband's tragic death. She uses alcohol to escape from the realities of her life that she has lost her home, her husband, and her dignity through her promiscuity (scene 9). This guilt follows her to the point where it seems almost normal for her to hear music in her head,”There now, the shot! It always stops after that!” (page 609). Blanche's Desire cont'd The need for attention, desire to disguise her flaws and inability to accept the realities of life are her downfall as her desire for love through her many sexual adventure leads her to become “not clean enough to bring in the house with [Mitch’s] mother” (page 612) and instead an object as Mitch attempts to rape her and Stanley ultimately wins their “game” when he rapes her on Scene 10. Blanche's Low self-esteem Her low self-esteem creates her deception as she continues to hide her flaws and age from the light, and, “don’t turn the light on!” to Mitch in Scene 9 (page 610). Blanche's Lack of self-awaress Her lack of self- awareness prevents her from understanding how her behaviour affects others. Events that Constitute Blanche’s reversal her marriage to a young Allan. the death of DuBois family. her unhealthy relationship with her brother-in-law, Stanley. Blanche's marriage to a Young Allan Blanche's marriage ended by Allan's death because of suicidal. It leads to her psychological breakdown. That is one reason why Blanche always discovers for love and sex. The death of DuBois Family. The deaths of Blanche’s family and the loss of the family plantation, Belle Reve, brought further complication and despair to Blanches condition (scene 1). Blanche says to Stella the long parade to the graveyard that she had to endure and how death is expensive and led to the loss of the Belle Reve (Scene 1). Blanche seems to be continually confronted with death and loss. The Death of DuBois Family These events make her down, not only psychologically but physically as well, leading her to consume alcohol and promiscuity to make her life more tolerable. Blanche's Unhealthy Relationship with Her Brother-in-law, Stanley He views her suspiciously from their first meeting and never stops, especially after he uncovers Blanche’s carelessness in Laurel. It is his desire for revenge and he finds more than he expected (scene 7). Blanche's Unhealthy Relationship with Her Brother-in-law Blanche is raped by Stanley, however, that sends her into the depth of insanity (scene 10). She no longer needs to put on airs because she believes she is actually living in her fantasies. This can be seen in the final scene when Blanche is being led away to the mental asylum. Blanche is a complicated character. There is a constant struggle between what she thinks she is, what she used to be and what she wants to be which creates so many contradictions. There is no doubt that if the audience has spent any time thinking about her and the play they will feel sympathy or at least pity for Blanche. Conclusion “A Streetcar Named Desire” is a modern tragedy because it fulfills many characteristics, especially it has a tragic flaws. The one who has tragic flaws is Blanche. The tragic flaws lead to her downfall. The downfall is not only because of herself, but also Stanley who contributes to her downfall.