Blog Post 3

The genre of Drama fits “A Streetcar Named Desire” because it helps readers think more about the actions of the characters. The format of the play helps readers see things that are going on in the text, the stage directions give an extra insight of understanding to things readers cannot see or do not have the information. “She is daintily dressed in a white suit with a fluffy bodice, necklace and earrings of pearl, white gloves and hat, looking as if she were arriving at a summer tea or cocktail party in the garden district” (Williams, 15).  The stage directions give information to readers that they do not have access to. With this information readers are able to understand that Blanche is a high-class end person who is not used to living in the poverty that her sister Stella does. Her appearance described all in white “suggest a moth,” this metaphor illuminates the imbalance Blanche carries around herself. Readers understand that her comparison of the moth as an imbalance creature whose sense of smell is not fully heightened because their antennae’s do not have the club they need in order to “see” the world clearly. Her “uncertain manner,” further describes to readers that Blanche is not in a good place with herself and has gone for the comfort of her sister Stella.  “Blanche sits in a chair very stiffly with her shoulders slightly hunched' and her legs pressed close together and her hands tightly clutching her purse as if she were quite cold,” (Williams, 18). Readers would not be able to see the discomfort of Blanche without the stage directions that were placed right after readers are told that Eunice has left the room. Her discomfort would not have been able to be noticed by the readers, the character would just be sitting describing what the room looks like to her. Readers would have to analyze how she identifies with the objects in the room to understand her discomfort.

 When it comes to acting these Dramas, “A Streetcar Named Desire” helps actors portray the emotion the characters are feeling. It gives access to the actors of what the author thought these characters should look like. Stage directions in dramatic plays helps actors go the extra mile that sometimes a book cannot achieve. The introductory stage direction provides a setting for the readers, for actors it provides a stage in which a story will take place. “The exterior of a two-story corner building on a street in New Orleans which is named Elysian Fields and runs be-tween the L & N tracks and the river,” (Williams, 13) states exactly where the story will take place in. Both actors and readers are given an image of what is happening and where this story takes place. The stage directions keep actors and readers from guessing where things take place and how they are supposed to look. Stage directions are the reason why actors can portray the actions of characters clearly, signs of discomfort are directly placed in the stage directions. Blanche’s clear discomfort with Eunice in the stage directions and her snooping for the brandy in the room are clear indicators for what the actors need to do.