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Do-Now:
1. Read the following brief article about the main differences between the film production of A Streetcar Named Desire, and its original stage production:
2. Complete the Classwork Part 1 assignment (below the article).
A Streetcar Named Desire - Play In Comparison With Film
Censorship: Homosexuality
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The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) had two major demands on Streetcar: The reference to the homosexuality of Blanche’s husband had to be revised and her rape was to be eliminated completely. To start out with the first objection one has to recall that the Hollywood of the 1950’s was somewhat different from today’s point of view on homosexual matters.
In the original play Blanche tells Mitch about the suicide of her husband, Alan Grey, after returning from a night out. She recalls entering a room and finding her husband in bed with another man. |
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Blanche blames herself for Alan’s resulting suicide, because she told Alan that she was nothing but disgusted by his actions, not thinking about his fragile existence and the torture he had been enduring.
For the screenplay, Tennessee Williams (the playwright) agreed to rewrite Blanche’s monologue, but left the essential meaning intact. For the mature audience it was obvious what was meant when Blanche concludes that she has "lost all respect for him [Alan]."
For the screenplay, Tennessee Williams (the playwright) agreed to rewrite Blanche’s monologue, but left the essential meaning intact. For the mature audience it was obvious what was meant when Blanche concludes that she has "lost all respect for him [Alan]."
Censorship: Rape and Punishment
The second major objection the MPAA raised, was Stanley’s rape of Blanche. Williams absolutely refused to eliminate this scene as he thought it was of a vital need for the play.
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The MPAA agreed that the rape could remain in the movie, if only Stanley would be punished for his action. The stage production ends with Blanche’s famous last words: "Whoever you are – I have always depended on the kindness of strangers," (Williams, Streetcar 142) followed by Stella yelling her name and the doctor taking her away to a mental home. The screenplay had to have another scene added: Stella is seen in front of the tenement building, holding her baby in her arms, she utters words of regret and that she would leave Stanley for sure. |
This different ending is intended to be Stanley’s punishment, for losing Stella and his child had always been his weak spot, as we are told in scene three.
Rape Symbolism:
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The MPAA ‘s objections were to words and plot only, thus leaving Kazan (the film’s director) the opportunity to work with symbols that couldn’t be used in a stage production. Earlier in the scene Stanley uncaps a bottle of beer, letting it spill over – a symbol for his sexual energy – and immediately after the rape a cut to a street cleaner’s hose is inserted, another strong phallic image. Kazan later calls it "a little too obvious," but it helped him underline the rape without showing it on the screen at all, "because in those days we had to be very indirect in depicting material of that kind.”
The above article was adapted from: http://xfraniatte.free.fr/streetcar/playmovie.htm |
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Objective: You can identify characterization through character action within a dramatic work.
Agenda:
1. Do-Now / Classwork Part 1
2. Reading of Scene 10 with Audio
3. Film of Scene 10
4. Classwork Part 2: Streetcar
5. Classwork Part 3: SAT Vocabulary Level F Unit 1
Classwork Part 2:
Classwork part 3:
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Old School VocabularyIn a matter of days, we will be having an Old-School vocabulary test on 20 words. |
The Old School vocab test is an English Department-wide change.
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Continue learning the definitions for these 20 words:
intercede, hackneyed, approbation, innuendo, coalition, elicit, hiatus, assuage, decadence, expostulate, jaded, lurid, meritorious, petulant, prerogative, provincial, simulate, transcend, umbrage, unctuous
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You may have already downloaded these files:
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Makeup Work:
POU:
| 12english3unit3pou.docx |
Streetcar 1:
| 12streetcarnameddesire1.doc |
