DEATH & the maiden A TENNESSEE WILLIAMS PRODUCTION Friday, - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

SCARLET LETTER THEATRE PRESENTS A TENNESSEE WILLIAMS PRODUCTION

DEATH

& the maiden

Friday, February 1, 2013

PRESENTED BY THE CJC LITERATURE TEAM

a NIGEL NA e NIGEL NA k NIGEL NA l DAVID FAHY l MARC LIM n TENNESSEE WILLIAMS AND NUMEROUS OTHER DEAD PEOPLE w NIGEL NA AT 2AM IN THE MORNING

Friday, February 1, 2013

Quod fvimus, estjs quod sumus, vos eritjs

Friday, February 1, 2013

concept: death

• death’s appearance in

art symbolises:

• the demise of the

living, obviously

• the inevitable
• equality

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technique: juxtaposition

• Cultural association
• f youth, beauty, and

femininity

• Juxtaposition of

morbidity and maidenhood

• A particular horror

associated with ageing women

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death becomes her

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• the social order
• does it support or resist positive self-

identification by women?

• patriarchy
• do we sympathise with Bruce Willis?
• the male gaze/the beauty consensus
• do women get to decide what beauty is?
• what is a woman worth?
• upon what does her value depend?

Friday, February 1, 2013

application of concept

• Blanche embodies both

dualities of decay and desire

• On the wrong side of thirty
• Still coquettish and coy
• Associated themes:
• Age // Youth, Time
• Reality // Illusion

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decaying dowager

• Light, the painted lantern
• Light usually represents clarity, truth, literal and

metaphorical illumination and enlightenment

• Blanche, however, has an aversion to light,

because she knows it can destroy her illusions

• Her aversion begins with her husband’s suicide

“But on the other hand men lose interest quickly. Especially when a girl is over -- thirty.” Blanche, Sc. 5, p47

Symbolism

Friday, February 1, 2013

• Blanche’s all-white clothes make her seem like a

moth (Sc 1, p5)

• The moth is drawn to the flame: its desire is the

source of its demise. Paradox, irony

• The symbol of the moth illustrates both the

death-wish and the pleasure-principle (Thanatos and Eros)

• Freudian psychoanalytic theory

Symbolism

Friday, February 1, 2013

disingenuous ingenue

• When not playing the victim, Blanche

assumes a predatory attitude, especially concerning men

• She seduces them not with sex, but with

deception

“You make my mouth water.” - Sc 5, p49

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• She baits the young paperboy by invoking the

fantastical: “you look like a young prince out

• f the Arabian Nights”
• She also appeals to Mitch’s aspirations towards

propriety by romanticising his gestures: “My Rosenkavalier! Bow to me first! Now present them.”

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Fantasy...

& fin amour

Friday, February 1, 2013

• Blanche’s self-identification as a tragic heroine is

dependent upon her victimhood

• She very strongly emphasises how she has

suffered and projects an air of wounded vulnerability

• If we deprive her of peripety, do we still

experience any sympathy for her?

Friday, February 1, 2013

STANLEY rapes BLANCHE and because he is a manly man and she is a deceitful temptress this is GOOD and BLAMELESS BLANCHE commits statutory rape with a minor when she seduces a 17 year

• ld boy. Despite that he is a

male teenager and she is a WILF this is BAD and SUCKS FOREVER

Friday, February 1, 2013

Friday, February 1, 2013

Comparison questions

• The characters of Streetcar have their

motivations and desires fairly well-

• developed. What do the characters of

Othello desire? What motivates them?

• What does Iago want?
• Why does Desdemona allow Othello

to kill her without struggle?

• Discuss the role of Emilia in Othello.

Othello

Friday, February 1, 2013

“When I have pluck’d the rose, I cannot give it vital growth again. It must needs wither.”

Friday, February 1, 2013