Notesale: Turn your study into money

Document Preview

Extracts from the notes are below, to see the PDF you'll receive please use the links above

---

The significance of Belle Reve
...
Therefore, the decay of Belle Reve is significant as it represents the main
conflict of the play- the conflict between Blanche and Stanley, leading to Blanche’s tragic end
...

The opening stage directions portray the decay of the Old South and the emergence of the New
South seen in the “atmosphere of decay” and the “raffish charm” of the French Quarters in New
Orleans- a diverse environment reflected in the expressionist techniques- the Mexican woman and
the “overlapping of voices”, building a dynamic and lively “spirit of life”
...
Her “white fluffy bodice” and “pearls” are not only symbols of purity and delicacy, but also the
remains of the Old South, that ironically “don’t make a difference in the Quarter”, suggesting their
irrelevance to the New America, being crudely implied by Stanley- “I don’t fall for the glamour stuff”,
with his frequent use of “stuff” to highlight the dominance of his working-class lexis over Blanche’s
delicate language saturated with intellectual allusions, which may be seen as superior in nature, but
are largely irrelevant and powerless to the New South and its crude essence
...
Furthermore, Belle Reve and “the loss, the loss”
suggest the decay of the Old South, unable to keep up with the changing times
...

Ironically, Belle Reve holds the meaning “beautiful dream”, which only adds to the irony of its
existence and symbolical role in the play
...
Therefore, one
may conclude that the significance of Belle Reve hides in its decay, foreshadowing the tragic end o
Blanche
...

Furthermore, the idea of the emergent New America and the values it represents engulf both tragic
heroes, seen allegorically in Blanche’s promiscuous and fatal to her remark- “big capable hands”,
which ironically are a threat to her later in the play, being a tool of Stanley’s predatorial nature
...
Therefore, one may argue that Stella, despite her “different background” manages to adapt to
the New American values and stray away from Belle Reve, referred to as “abandoned”, being almost
a tool of salvation and survival to her
...
Despite
this, her ideals are not fully disintegrated- her final wishes are also ones of purity and delicacy but
are also ones heavily saturated with ideas of death- “clean white sack” and “my first lover’s eyes”,
which may be a reference to the dead Allan Grey and Blanche’s inability to escape from the ideas of
him
...
Now, love, Now, now love”, mirroring the opening scene
and signifying the inevitable and almost pre-determined fall of Blanche
...
Similarly, Willy is unable to let go
of his house and the ideals it represents, largely irrelevant and stuck in the past, resulting in his
tragic fall, overwhelmed by the fast-changing and cruel nature of the New America

---