John Mcrae's Streetcar lectures:

 

 

SCENE 3:

Blanche and Mitch's first encounter is about phyical needs 'little boys room' - flirting through this. From the start there is flirting and a physical desire.

'gallentry'- shows Blanche's old-world style of courtship, Blanche is stuck in the old world, out of place in this new city.

Poker game- Clashing masculinity, Masculine egos are at stake in the scene, lots of violence

Stella and Stanleys relationship is a completely new concept to Blanche, she does understand/connect/relate to it.

Its a world of violence, dominant males- there no 'gallentry' in Stanley (slightly in Mitch)

 

SCENE 4:

'There is a confusion of street cries like a choral chant'

choral-outside noises are all a choral commentary like Greek tradgey,,it tells us life goes on even for Blanche despite her emotional decline she still survives

So to what extent is it a tragedy? -is it a a tragedy because she survives? and is it a tragedy for others?
Its a tragedy of unfulfilled desire and Mitch is the emblemn for this.

'Oh let me think, If only my mind would function' this shows the contast between mind and emotion

Blanche does give up hope, but turns to her fantasty world - Shep Huntleigh is likely to be a figure of her imagination and doesn't really exist but she needs this fastasy to provide her with comfort.

"And thats your job" its a transaction, women are objects = patriarchal society

Stella has accepted her role but Blanche has never had a man to accept this role for.

Trains are representing sexual desire.

'Flag'- the confederate flag is still flown in some Southern parts of the USA.

 

SCENE 5:

 

 



A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams

Arthur Miller, a prolific American playwright, found ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ to be inspirational and it threw ‘’open doors to another theatre world”. Although the play had good structure and was realistic, the writing elevated the play and gave it a new meaning.  The language flowed “from the soul” seeming to be from the actor himself as well as the plot being engaging and constantly moving forward. It changed commercial theatre by altering the ways other playwright’s constructed their pieces and inspiring many.  Streetcar is a “cry of pain; forgetting that is to forget the play.”

Southern Belle:

The word ‘Belle’ is derived from the French word beautiful.  It represents a young woman of the American Deep South's upper socioeconomic class. The image was developed in the South during the Antebellum period, it was mainly based on the young, unmarried woman in the upper class of Southern Society.  A Southern Belle is often characterized by wearing hoop skirts, a corset, pantalettes, a wide- brimshaw hat and gloves. They were expected to marry respectable young men and become ladies of society that were dedicated to their families and communities.

New Orleans:

New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. It was established by French colonists and strongly influenced by their European culture and is well known for its distinct French and Spanish Creole architecture, as well as its cross-cultural and multilingual heritage. New Orleans is also famous for its cuisine and music- it’s the birthplace of jazz.

Immigration to the USA in the 20^th C:

The peak year of European immigration was in 1907, when 1,285,349 persons entered the country^. By 1910, 13.5 million immigrants were living in the United States. In 1921, the Congress passed the Emergency Quota Act, followed by the Immigration Act of 1924. The 1924 Act was aimed at further restricting immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe, particularly Jews, Italians, and Slavs, who had begun to enter the country in large numbers beginning in the 1890s.

Tennessee William's other plays:


Tennessee William's became very famous after The Glass Menagerie in 1944 which closely reflected on his unhappy childhood. Other famous plays followed such as:

• A Streetcar Named Desire (1947)
• Summer and Smoke (1948)
• The Rose Tattoo (1951)
• Camino Real (1953)
• Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955)
• Orpheus Descending (1957)
• Suddenly, Last Summer (1958)
• Sweet Bird of Youth (1959)
• Period of Adjustment (1960)

Williams life:

Playwright Tennessee Williams was born Thomas Lanier Williams on March 26, 1911, in Columbus, Mississippi, the second of Cornelius and Edwina Williams' three children. Raised predominantly by his mother, Williams had a complicated relationship with his father, a demanding salesman who preferred work instead of parenting.Williams described his childhood in Mississippi as pleasant and happy. But life changed for him when his family moved to St. Louis, Missouri. The carefree nature of his boyhood was stripped in his new urban home, and as a result Williams turned inward and started to write.

Blanche - quotes:

BLANCHE
Please don’t get up.
STANLEY
Nobody’s going to get up, so don’t be worried. (3.3.38-9) this shows Blanche's ideal of a Southern gentleman contrasting strongly with the New Orleans man.

BLANCHE
That one seems – superior to the others.
STELLA
Yes, he is.
BLANCHE
I thought he had a sort of sensitive look. (3.57-9) this shows Blanche looks for the sensitive qualities in a man whereas Stella is interested in the masculinity.

BLANCHE
…I let the place go? Where were you! In bed with your – Polack! (1.185) Blanche comes to rely heavily on this derogatory term. She uses her outdated idea of "class" in order to establish her superiority over Stanley.

Goblin Market - a summary.

Goblin Market is a story about two sisters, Laura and Lizzie, from their house they can hear the goblin men at the fruit market calling but they try to ignore them. Lizzie keeps warning Laura to ignore their enticing calls but Laura is too curious and goes outside to see whats happening. The goblin men offer her lots of different fruits that look delicious but Laura has no money so she gives them a lock of her hair. Laura eats lots of the goblin fruits and goes home to her sister.
However, after eating all the fruit, Laura begins to waste way and Lizzie grows concerned. Lizzie goes down to the goblin market to see whats going on and the goblin men try to tempt her with their fruits but she resists. The goblin men turn violet towards Lizzie, trying to stuff fruit into her mouth but they just cover her in juice. Lizzie runs home covered in the goblin fruit juice and Laura kisses the juice off her cheeks which heals her.

Compare the way Rossetti presents nature in her poem

In Rossetti poetry, nature is a hugely prominent feature that she uses to reflect her religious views- she was a very strong Anglo-Catholic- and devalue the importance of rituals in Victorian society. The vivid natural imagery also portrays her longing for freedom in a patriarchal society and describes what it would be like. Within this imagery there are strong relations to Keats’s writing, for example the nightingale that can be found in many of Rossetti's poems as well as references to her religion. As a High-Anglican some of her work may appear too sensual or romantic as it was expected of religious women to be reserved and conservative. Overall, Rossetti used nature to explore the freedom she wants and the way her religion impacts her life allowing her to express desires that would otherwise be too explicit for Victorian society.

Rossetti uses the image of birds in her poetry to denote freedom as well as being a symbol for joy. In 'Shut out' the image of songbirds is used to represent "From bough to bough the songbirds crossed/ From flower to flower the moths and bees;” This metaphor is used to show the link between the birds and their home- the trees, and emulate the personas relationship with the garden which may represent a better time in their life. This could perhaps be when God was there and the garden was open to all believers but negativity has consumed the garden, shutting the believers out and replacing the positivity and Gods with darkness and evil. The bird and the trees are a perfect match in life but the birds can fly away and the persona is longing for this freedom and the ability to move on just as the birds can. In this line assonance is used with "bough to bough", this repetition shows the perfect design of nature and the way it surrounds us. In lots of Rossetti's poetry she used the image of nightingales possibly due to being heavily inspired by Keats’s. In 'Song' there is a strong iambic trimeter rhythm but "I shall not hear the nightingale" doesn’t fit that pattern. This change in rhythm is to imitate the way bird has nothing controlling them, they are spontaneous and free. Birds don't fit the rhythm of life and are free and Rossetti changes the rhythm to show this. However, despite having such potential earthly freedoms, the nightingale is "in pain" and Rossetti no longer will feel such pain once dead. In 'Paradise: In a dream' the nightingale imagery is used again "The nightingale herself were cold" this implies that even though in real life the nightingale is the most perfect living creature that even she doesn’t compare to the wonders of the idyllic paradise.

Rossetti presents trees as a metaphor fot religion and Christ. In 'Paradise:In a dream' the first line of the stanza exactly in the middle of the poem is "Tree of life" which is a metaphor Christ on the cross that was prevavlent in medival times. The structure of this line connotes Christ being rhe centre of all perfection and the way everything revolves around him. The 'Tree of life" which we know to be Christ is the reason that such a paradise can be imagined, it provides life. Its also a non-specific phrase and is free from physical constraints-its spiritually pure. In 'Song' Rossetti uses the "Cypress tree" when talking about the personas funeral to symbolise clichés in society and the way they are redundant to her.  It suggests Rossetti doesn't need clichés to feel connect to her religion and when she dies she knows her God will be with her regardless of clichés.

Critics and Goblin Market

Dorothy Mermin follows the theory that the goblin men represent the temptations of sexual desire. This desire causes attraction but it is destructive, presumably due to the Victorian beliefs suggesting sexual desire was sinful and purity was essential for all young girls. The 'fruit' appears attractive and frightening to Laura implying her irresponsibility, it could also connote the sinister eroticism that was prominent in pre-Raphaelite art. Laura appears a 'fallen woman', she gave in to desire but Lizzie remained morally responsible and its now down to her to free Laura from the controlling, sinister eroticism of the goblin men. This shows the strong bond between sisters and the way sin doesnt impact sisterhood. Lizzie demonstrates the heroic sisterhood between them, when Laura is in trouble she sacrifices herself in order to help her. The goblins attack her but she has to persevere because her sister is in desperate need.




http://www.jstor.org/stable/40002024?Search=yes&resultItemClick=true&&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoAdvancedSearch%3Ff4%3Dall%26amp%3Bsd%3D%26amp%3Bq5%3D%26amp%3Bla%3D%26amp%3Bf6%3Dall%26amp%3Bc5%3DAND%26amp%3Bq0%3Dgoblin%2Bmarket%26amp%3Bc1%3DAND%26amp%3Bf0%3Dall%26amp%3Bed%3D%26amp%3Bf2%3Dall%26amp%3Bc3%3DAND%26amp%3Bq1%3D%26amp%3Bf1%3Dall%26amp%3Bpt%3D%26amp%3Bf5%3Dall%26amp%3Bisbn%3D%26amp%3Bq6%3D%26amp%3Bwc%3Don%26amp%3Bq3%3D%26amp%3Bf3%3Dall%26amp%3Bc4%3DAND%26amp%3Bc6%3DAND%26amp%3Bq4%3D%26amp%3Bgroup%3Dnone%26amp%3Bc2%3DAND%26amp%3Bq2%3D%26amp%3Bacc%3Don&seq=6#page_scan_tab_contents

Compare and contrast how Rossetti shows her views on death and the after-life in the poems ‘Song’ and ‘Remember’?

Christina Rossetti was born in 1830 during the Victorian period where they didn’t discuss feelings and kept their emotions to themselves but death was a prominent feature in society and they were all fascinated by it possibly influencing Rossetti’s writing further. Rossetti was heavily inspired by the earlier romantic poet John Keats who wrote about nature, feeling, sensations and death.  The romantic period saw the development of passionate literature filled with feeling, the natural world and death – all theses a prominent within both Keats’ and Rossetti’s writing. In ‘Remember’ Rossetti uses the persona to explore the way she will be remembered after death and for people to remain positive about the life she lived. ‘Song’ also discusses the way people should be remember after death but due to the fact they are at peace and there is no need to be sad as she no longer will be. These poems deal with the concept of death and the transition between life and death.

Firstly, the two poems both view death as an escape, it frees them from a society where they are constantly controlled and male power is exerted over them. Death finally allows them to be at peace.  This is conveyed in song through the change is the way the stanzas are written, to start with they are talking to their lover “Be the green grass above me” but in the second stanza this changes and the persona talks about themselves and the freedom they have in death” I shall not feel the rain”.

It suggests that the persona has broken away, death as has freed them and given them a new empowerment.

Both poems heavily focus on the way people should be remembered after they’ve died. As this is a prominent feature it is clear Rossetti found this particularly important and disagreed with they way people thought of their loved ones that had passed. In ‘Song’ the persona is talking about life after they have died and they way their death should be treated. “Sing no sad songs for me” implies they don’t want to be pitied but their funeral should be a celebration of their life. The persona wants to be remembered as they were when they were alive, they don’t want to have their death as what everyone focuses on. In ‘Remember’ the entire poem focuses on their remembrance hence the title. “..if you should forget me for a while/And afterwards, do not grieve”. This denotes the way they want to be remembered in a positive light, nothing about their death should cause a negative impact on their loved ones.

No, Thank you, John by Christina Rossetti

In ‘No, Thank you, John’ by Christina Rossetti the prominent patriarchal society in 1862 is being continuously challenged. Rossetti creates a persona that refuses to conform to stereotypical relationships where the man has controls the woman. The persona belittles ‘John’ to diminish the power he has “use your common sense”. This phrase has been used to show his stupidity, its made clear he really hasn’t thought this through. It could also imply his arrogance by suggesting he thinks he can have whatever he wants simply because he’s male. The typical male – female roles have been switched.

This has also been inferred by the repetition of words such as ‘day’. “Day by day” implies how exhausted the person is by his pointless persistence. The repetition also indicates boredom because when you do something too many times, “day by day” for example, you grow extremely bored of everyday just being the same.  It mocks ‘John’ as well showing his unimaginative, repetitive and desperation to eventually get the persona Rossetti has created. The repetition also creates a rhythm and helps the poem flow; it also could show how the persona is writing down their thoughts in the moment.

Rossetti contradicts society by mocking men, which would’ve been unheard of during the 1800’s due to the power and control men held over women. By challenging this Rossetti is going against the traditional behaviour and altering the way relationships between men and women are viewed.

I think Rossetti also uses the persona and ‘John’ to show the loveless or business-like relationships that were particularly prominent in the Victorian era. Its clear that the persona has never expressed a love for John “ I never said I loved you John” but he felt that even if he proposed she would accept without considering the way she feels. This is a typical mindset of a man within a patriarchal society – his feelings are the only ones that are relevant or important.  This is probably the most negative element to a society like this because men believe they are the ones that matter and it’s the woman’s job to take care of him regardless of her personal feeling towards this. It would seem John needed a wife and Rossetti’s persona fitted, whether she thought so or not. This again highlights the arrogance and ignorance of men within a patriarchal society.

Male ignorance is again heeded with the use of caesura.  There is lots of caesura with long pauses “I have no heart?  - Perhaps I have not”. Having a question in the middle of a sentence causes a strong pause and breaks the steady rhythm, this creates a moment where its clear to the reader that the persona is in amazement or disbelief as to what’s been said due to his astounding naivety. The pause also causes the reader to contemplate it too, giving a further understanding to the persona and poem in general.

Rossetti has used the persona to take the stereotypical role of the male in this relationship “strike” implies an unusual assertion and accession for a female towards a male. The persona is taking control, which is not common in the 1800’s. It could also suggest her forcing him into a friendship rather than marriage.

Maude Clare

In the poem Maude Clare is attending the wedding of Lord Thomas and Nell but the Lord and Maude were having an affair and he loved her however they wouldn’t have been able to marry as Maude is from a significantly lower class. The only reason the Lord married Nell was because she was of similar class and this fitted the society during the Victorian period.

Mother:

‘smiles but almost tears’ – she is really happy for her son but perhaps even happier that her families legacy will be carried on.  At first it appears as though she is oblivious to the fact he doesn’t want to marry Nell but then she says ‘had just your tale to tell; but he was not so pale as you, nor I so pale as Nell’ this would suggest that this situation was often apparent in high class weddings, they were more for business than love. It makes the adult world seem heartless.

Maude Clare:

·         Naturally poetic and authoritative in the way she speaks and uses language. She creates power from her words regardless of her social status.

·         She uses the wedding gift ritual as an ironic reminder as if shes giving back all her memories to Lord Thomas as there is clearly no need for them now. As she gives back the chain, she has freed herself from it.

·         In the poem Maude Clare speaks in the most stanzas (5/12) to show how shes a powerful, poetic speaker but in real life due to her social class she has no power over anyone in any form other than her words.

 

Nell:

·         At the end Nell gets the last word and comes across very spiteful towards Maude Clare. It shows that in this society, power is more important than love and power creates the final say.

What point do you think Rossetti is making about the Victorian class system?

I think Rossetti uses Maude Clare to get across her views on the class system that was extremely prominent the Victorian era. Maude has the most stanzas which shows that even though she’s the dominant speaker and has powerful poetic things to say, due to her low class anything she says is deemed unimportant especially as she’s speaking to people of a significantly higher class. However, another interpretation could be that regardless of her of class she can take over the poem showing that class wasn’t relevant to Rossetti and that she completely disagreed with the entire class system. Then she uses Maude Clare to take over the poem using powerful poetic language that is capable of making even a Lord falter simply b her words. The character of Maude Clare challenges the class system by being outspoken and extremely clever in the way she conveys herself to get the Lord to falter and stand up for herself as she was betrayed.  I think Rossetti disagrees entirely with the class system as there is no reason it should separate people or make them powerless, in all of her poetry it is apparent at she challenges all forms of unfair power and she aims to create equality in all of her poetry.

Christina Rossetti:Context

 Christina Rossetti was born on the 5th  December 1830 in London. Her father was Gabriele Rossetti who was a poet and her mother was Frances Rossetti. Christina had 2 brothers and a sister, one of her brothers (Dante) was an influential poet and artist and he founded the pre-Raphaelite group in 1848. Education was not compulsory until 1870 therefore her mother and father educated her at home so she had a very creative and imaginative childhood reading lots of fairy tales and poems, its likely this influenced her heavily to begin writing her poetry. In the 1840’s her father became very unwell and had to quit his job, family life became quite difficult and Christina suffered a nervous breakdown at 14 years old. During this period she, her mother and sister all became very interested in the Anglo-Catholic movement and religion became a huge part of her life which is clear when reading her poetry. In 1848 she became engaged to James Collinson but the engagement was broken off when James turned to Catholicism  in 1850. Another 2 men proposed but Rossetti declined them both.

She died on 29 December 1894 age 64.

Publication:

Rossetti’s first poems were written in 1842 and printed in the private press of her grandfather. In 1850, under the pseudonym Ellen Alleyne, she contributed seven poems to the Pre-Raphaelite journal The Germ, which had been founded by her brother William Michael and his friends.

Women were idealised as mothers, while those who failed to meet expectations were censured as prostitutes with uncontrollable sexual desires. Women were excluded from some occupations and activities, but they entered new ones, for example authorship, teaching, and charity work. Working-class women still had to work to support themselves and their families, though the range of occupations available to them may have narrowed and some work, such as “sweated labour” in the textile trades, took place in the home. The concept of the respectable male “breadwinner”, who had the responsibility for providing financially for his entire family, was increasingly influential in this period. Consequently, women were frequently expected to give up their jobs when they got married.

Christina Rossetti had complicated views on female suffrage and equality. At times she used the Biblical idea of woman being inferior  to man as reason for maintaining the issues present at that time, while at others she argued for female representation in Parliament and spoke out against the sexual exploitation of women in prostitution. In many ways this shows her to be a particularly complex thinker about the position of women in society and it is certainly a concern which she comes back to time and again in her poetry. Her views may not always be ‘radical’ as such, but they are usually far from conservative and often questioning, challenging and potentially subversive.