How and why does Williams dramatise the influence of the past on the present?

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How and why does Williams dramatise the influence of the past on the present?

Williams, in his play, “A Streetcar Named Desire”, uses sound effects, lights and music to create a very involved atmosphere.  The intersection of past and present in the lives of the characters, especially the protagonist, Blanche, is the most intriguing point of the drama.

The music constantly being played throughout the play is the “Blue Piano”, which sets the mood for life in the Quarter.  This is naturalistic, and so contributes to the cosmopolitan feel of the Quarter.  This music was considered to be low-class, since it was the music of the black slaves, while the Varsouviana, a waltz, was considered higher-class, since it was the music used in ball-rooms, luxuries that a slave couldn’t afford.  The three different types of music are each different, in that the “Blue Piano” and the “Hot Trumpet” are naturalistic, i.e. they exist and are heard by everybody, while the Varsouviana reflects the inner feelings of Blanche, rather than the realistic representation of appearances.  The “Blue Piano” symbolises the very slow, sad pace of the inhabitants of the Quarter, but also promises excitement in the form of the Four Deuces club, from which spews “Hot Trumpet” music, very fast-paced and symbolises sensuality and the promise of excitement.  This is used in the scene where Blanche is raped by Stanley, her sister’s husband, and is used along with the Varsouviana, which is “filtered into weird distortion”.  The “Hot Trumpet” music is also naturalistic, but only coming into focus in this scene, otherwise is played only in the background.  This can be compared to the Varsouviana, as both are played at certain times in the play, or during certain events, to heighten the action portrayed in the play.  The Varsouviana is linked to memory, and is used, for example, when Blanche remembers her old marriage, or when her husband shot himself.  Only Blanche hears the music, and is also rendered ill by its tune, as the memory she associates with it (the ‘boy’s’ death) is nauseating: “I’m afraid I’m-going to be sick!”  So Williams successfully combines three different styles of music to dramatise the past.

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The Varsouviana is also linked to Blanche’s European background.  This is referred to in the play as higher-class than, for example, Stanley’s Polish background.  Blanche sees him as a “grease monkey”, and a “Polack”, while Stanley sees himself as a “pure-bred American”, since he was involved in World War 2 on the American side, so thinks that he has earned his American status, and not a “Polack”.  The play almost immediately establishes Stanley and Blanche as polar opposites, and this is the start of the conflict between them, ultimately leading to her rape in Scene 10.

Williams wants us to ...

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