CONTEXT

Authorial Context

 Difficult childhood:
 Father was an alcoholic
 Mother resented husbands drunkard ways, his affairs
and general lifestyle.
 Father was a working-class salesman who didn’t look
after his children properly
 Mother was a higher class and was a Southern Belle and
believed her husband was a bad reflection of her.
 He grew up reserved and vulnerable after being bullied in school
 Was very close to his sister Rose who suffered from a mental illness (schizophrenia) -
serious mental disorder in which people interpret reality abnormally
 He was gay and was living at a time where homosexuality was seen as a mental
illness.

Socio-Political Context

 Set in aftermath of civil war – between Northern and Southern America– mainly on
the issue of abolishment of slavery. Southern (against the banning of slavery) lost.
 South was alienated from the rest of America leaving it to poverty and racism.
 Streetcar was set in the deep South, yet two different sides of the South is seen;
Mississippi (old ways) and the New Orleans through Elysian Fields shows a more
liberal South.
Socio-Economic Context

 Shows shift from old money to modernity and diversity.

 Stella and Blanche’s money would’ve come from slavery + Blanche represents being
stuck in the past and being unable to progress with society.
 Stanley and Blanche’s tension come from their clashing values as she believes he is
brutish and vulgar as he is a working-class immigrant.
 Slavery being abolished lead to decline in families like the Dubois.
 20th century was about the American dream + welcoming immigrants (like Stanley)
who feel all-American.
 Stanley represents the dream of achieving everything he wants to by working hard
and persevering.
 Opposite to what Blanche wants (a Southern belle fantasy- being proper, beautiful
and innocent).
 Stanley was a WW2 survivor, so all eyes were on those that participated in the war
who were now seen as bearers of American hard-working spirit.

Socio-Cultural Context
 Gender Roles:
 Post-war emergence of a sense of American heroism implied
‘championing of masculinity’ – nation wanted to embrace family
and home values and heroized men + placing women like Stella
in a domestic role alongside him.
 WW2 women in national work force rose from 27% to 37% but
after it ended the traditional domestic roles of women were put
back into place.
 Post-war New Orleans was somewhere where traditions were
shaken up. Conventional stereotypes are established with
Stanley and Stella. However, Blanche shows slight masculinity,
arrogance, and her sexuality whereas Mitch and Allan are more
sensitive – a feminine trait.
 Social gender norms negatively impact all main characters and
drive them to death, mental illness or mortal destruction.
 Religion and Morality:
 Majority of America was Christian
 Prejudice against homosexuality was from the Christian beliefs
that America stemmed from.
 Idea that wife must submit to her husband is a biblical belief and
was something that post-war America tried to revert from.
 Double standard- Multiple lovers leave Blanche and so she feels
ostracised (excluded from society) and defiled (damaged from
purity) whereas Stanley gets away with domestic abuse and rape.