How do I plan the essay: Discuss the social and political context of Streetcar Named Desire, with particular reference to the characters of Blanche and Stanley. What does the play tell us about the opinions of the writer."

Hi student, let's take a look at this question and break it down into parts. As you know, planning is everything, and makes you feel confident rather than overwhelmed. Firstly, let us look at the question as a whole - this question is asking you to look at the BROAD THEMES of the play, so we are going to focus on that. Firstly, we will look at the themes, then we will look at planning the essay in terms of the characters Blanche and Stanley1) Discuss the social and political context of the play. We recap on the following; Tennessee Williams was from the Deep South; he was writing at a time of great economic change. The "Old South" was all about the privilege of white people and the now fading grandeur of their lifestyles - being replaced by the industry and capitalism of the cities, where people were working long hours for little money. Williams was writing about the death of the " Old South" and what this means for the new America. As the slavery and the plantations decayed - so the cities flourished. The grand old families were no longer the power brokers in the Deep South, and the class system that relied on the rich being rich was being challenged by an increasingly powerful working class.2) Williams the playwright was writing this play at the end of WW2 but does not embroil (check knowledge of this word with student!) himself in politics, he wrote about emotions and the social lives of his characters, which was more important to him, and also to answer this question you can focus on the setting - the small flat Blanche is forced to live in, how she hates it, Williams is making a brutal class comparison here. How he shows this through Blanche and Stanley? 1) Blanche is his tragic heroine; Williams wants us to love and hate her. She is desperate for love (go through and find quotes) and approval (back up here) but she is also snobbish and "looks down" on Stanley as she is middle class and privileged (find quotes) she refuses to live in the real world. (she has no money and is living in her sisters tiny flat)2) Stanley is the working class bully/ hero. He has little education but he is not prepared to put up with Blanche's snobbery. He is both scared and fearless (back up with examples).Essay planning You should use the introduction to summarise the question and lay out your key paragraphs (using the themes above)Paragraph One - Political context, display knowledge of the Deep South, of the economic change in America and how this affects the writer and the characters of Blanche and Stanley Paragraph Two - Social context, detail the setting, give examples, showing you understand the class issues through these two charactersParagraphs three and four - Go into the characters of Blanche and Stanley in more detailParagraph five- talk about the ideas and values of Williams as a writerConclusion - Bring your points together briefly.