Loving Stanley Kowalski
Blanche Dubois' younger sister, Stella, a delicately beautiful woman, is married to Stanley Kowalski. They live in
a poor section of New Orleans. Blanche, has come unexpectedly from Mississippi to stay with the couple, who are expecting
their first child.
5
BLANCHE: ... A man like that is someone to go out with - once - twice -three times when the devil is in
you. But live with? Have a child by?
STELLA: I have told you I love him.
BLANCHE: Then I tremble for you! I just - tremble for you...
STELLA: I can't help your trembling if you insist on trembling!
(There is a pause.)
BLANCHE: May I - speak - plainly?
STELLA: Yes, do. Go ahead. As plainly as you want to.
10
(Outside, a train approaches. They are silent till the noise subsides. They are both in the bedroom. Under
cover of the train's noise STANLEY enters from outside. He stands unseen by the women, holding some
packages in his arms, and overhears their following conversation. He wears an undershirt and greasestained seersucker pants.1)
15
BLANCHE: Well - if you'll forgive me - he's common!
STELLA: Why, yes, I suppose he is.
BLANCHE: Suppose! You can't have forgotten that much of our bringing up, Stella, that you just
suppose that any part of a gentleman's in his nature! Not one particle, no! Oh, if he was just ordinary! Just
plain - but good and wholesome,2 but -no. There's something downright3 - bestial about him! You're
hating me saying this, aren't you?
STELLA: (coldly) Go on and say it all, Blanche.
BLANCHE: He acts like an animal, has an animal's habits! Eats like one, moves like one, talks like one!
There's even something - subhuman - something not quite to the stage of humanity yet! Yes, something
ape-like about him, like one of those pictures I've seen in - anthropological studies! Thousands and
thousands of years have passed him right by,4 and there he is - Stanley Kowalski - survivor of the Stone
Age! Bearing the raw meat5 home from the kill in the jungle! And you - you here - waiting for him!
Maybe he'll strike you or maybe grunt6 and kiss you! That is, if kisses have been discovered yet! Night
falls and the other apes gather! There in front of the cave, all grunting like him, and swilling and gnawing
and hulking!7 His poker night! you call it - this party of apes! Somebody growls - some creature snatches
at,8 something - the fight is on! God! Maybe we are a long way from being made in God's image, but
Stella - my sister - there has been some progress since then! Such things as art - as poetry and music such kinds of new light have come into the world since then! In some kinds of people some tenderer
feelings have had some little beginning! That we have got to make grow! And cling to, and hold as our
flag! In this dark march towards whatever it is we're approaching. ... Don't - don't hang back9 with the
brutes!
20
25
30
35
(Another train passes outside. Stanley hesitates, licking his lips. Then suddenly he turns stealthily10about
and withdraws through the front door. The women are still unaware of his presence.)
Tennessee Williams (USA, 1911-1983), A Streetcar Named Desire, Scene 4, 1947.
1
grease-stained seersucker pants: un pantalon en tissu gaufré à rayures, plein de taches de graisse;
pants (US) = trousers (GB).
2
wholesome: sain.
3
downright: thoroughly, completely.
4
Thousands of years have passed him right by: Ça faisait des milliers et des milliers d'années qu'on l'avait oublié.
5
raw meat: uncooked meat.
6
to grunt: grogner.
7
to swill, to gnaw, to hulk: boire, ronger, faire le costaud.
8
to snatch at: se saisir brusquement de.
9
to hang back: rester à la traîne.
10
stealthily: à pas de loup.
A Street Car Named Desire
GENERAL COMPREHENSION
1. In this excerpt:
R Blanche complains about Stella's husband.
R Blanche warns Stella against her husband.
R Blanche criticizes men.
2. The important thing is that:
R Stanley answers back.
R Stanley says he will have his revenge.
R Stanley overhears the conversation.
3.
Complete to obtain a summary of the passage.
Stanley …………………………………...…………...a conversation between his wife, Stella, and his sister-in-law,
Blanche. Blanche says that there is something …………………………………………………………about Stanley,
that he looks and behaves like an ……………………….………, like a ………………………………………of the
Stone Age. After saying that she loves Stanley (something which he ………………………………………….hear),
and then admitting that he is ……………………………………………. (something which he hears), Stella remains
silent while her sister …………………………………………………her husband.
WORDS IN CONTEXT
1. "when the devil is in you" (l. 2-3) means:
R … when you lose faith in God.
R ... when you can't resist the urge to have a man.
R … when you try to do harm to a man.
2. Give a synonym for "plainly" in "May I - speak - plainly?" (l. 7) …………………......………………………
3. Find in the text two synonyms or quasi-synonyms for "plain" as in "Just plain" (l. 18-19).
…………………………………………….
…………………………..……………………
4. "Why, yes" (l. 22) is:
R a question,
R an exclamation.
5. Pick out the words and expressions in connection with bestiality and / or regression.
.................................................................................................……….............................................................
.................................................................................................……….............................................................
.................................................................................................……….............................................................
.................................................................................................……….............................................................
.................................................................................................……….............................................................
.................................................................................................……….............................................................
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A Street Car Named Desire
GRAMMAR IN CONTEXT
1. How do you account for the use of the simple form, l. 10 ("Outside, a train approaches seersucker
pants")?
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
2. Explain the use of the "-ing" form in "You're hating me saying this," (1. 19-20).
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
3. Replace the underlined word: "You're hating me saying this." ........................................................
4. In "Eats like one, moves like one, talks like one" (l. 22):
a.
What is "one"? ………………………………………………………
b.
What does it stand for? ……………………………………………...
c.
What effect does its repetition create? ………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
FURTHER QUESTIONS
Lines 1-14
1. Say what, according to Blanche, you can and cannot do with a man like Stanley.
YOU CAN
YOU CANNOT
……………………………………………………
……………………………………………………
……………………………………………………
……………………………………………………
……………………………………………………
……………………………………………………
2.
3.
4.
5.
Does Stella feel that Blanche is wrong about Stanley?
Why does Blanche tremble for Stella?
Is Stella concerned about Blanche's trembling for her?
What happens just then ?
Lines 15-38
6. What is Blanche's main grievance against Stanley
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A Street Car Named Desire
7. Who are "the other apes" referred to line 28? Explain lines 27 to 30.
8. What is Blanche's idea of the history of mankind, and man's duty?
9. How does Stella react to Blanche's attack on Stanley?
10. What happens at the end?
11. What makes the scene particularly powerful?
NEW ORLEANS
New Orleans is in the State of Louisiana. It is situated on the Mississippi River, about 170 km from the Gulf of
Mexico, and is largely built below sea level11. Although it is not the capital of Louisiana (Baton Rouge is), it is its most
important city with 1.4m people, and the second largest US port, after New York. It is a very active city: cotton, car industry,
oil refineries, etc. New Orleans is very beautiful and interesting, and tourism plays an important role in its economy. In
summer it is very hot and humid.
New Orleans was founded by the French. It became American when the USA bought Louisiana from France in 1803.
It has kept very picturesque buildings and houses from colonial times, mostly around the French Quarter also known as the
Vieux Carré. In the early 20th century, it became the birthplace of jazz, and a lot of jazz fans still gather at Preservation Hall,
amongst other places, to listen to New Orleans jazz music.
New Orleans received particular attention after the production of Tennessee Williams's play A Streetcar Named
Desire (1947). There used to be a streetcar named Desire in New Orleans. Originally, it was named Désirée, after one of the
daughters of a wealthy businessman who owned several warehouses12 and docks along the Mississippi, which were named
after his daughters. The destination of the streetcar named Désirée, and later, Desire, was a dock of the same name.
New Orleans is also famous for its excellent Cajun food: the Cajuns were 18th century immigrants from Acadia, a
French province in Canada. It is also renowned for its annual Mardi Gras festival.
TENESSE WILLIAMS
Tennessee Williams's plays succeeded in liberating the American theatre from its taboos and
conventions.
Their mixture of fantasy and violence reflects the Southern Gothic influence. Set in the South
of New Orleans and the old plantations, they bring the audience face to face with brutality and
sensationalism-rape, murder, drug addiction, homosexuality-which expose the frustrated and perverted
desires of their characters. These are often outsiders, isolated beings, neurotic and sordid misfits.
There is no serious attempt at realism in the plays of Tennessee Williams: drama stops time and opens
up a distorted world of poetry, violence, and fear. Many of the characters are thus exaggerated and
more like those of ancient myths, or Christ-like figures embodying sacrifice and redemption. This is
underlined by an extensive use of symbolism, in the setting, the music and the words, a symbolism
which should help the spectators to see beyond the superficialities of life.
The attempt to escape from ones decaying life is at the core of Tennessee Williams's plays.
The Glass Menagerie shows the struggles of an American family for social and spiritual survival.
Amanda, a genteel Southern lady, wants to marry her crippled daughter Laura to a "nice young man",
but this turns into an obsession which condemns her daughter to a world of illusion and seclusion. In A
Streetcar Named Desire, the beautiful, decadent, and corrupt seductress Blanche upsets the balance
of her sisters home where she has taken refuge. Stanley, her brother-in-law, will finally defeat her by
exposing her deceit and her shady past, finally driving her to a mental home. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is
set in a large Southern plantation. While the head of the family, Big Daddy, is dying, the other members
offer us a spectacle of lust, greed, and violence.
Far from being written for the sake of sensationalism, Tennessee Williams's plays, by showing us
chaos and depravity, teach us the value of dignity and decency.
♂
A streetcar
Named
Desire
WAR, 1950
Dir. Elia Kazan
Cast :
Vivien Leigh,
Marlon Brando,
Kim Hunter.
♀
BROADWAY
Broadway is the name of a long thoroughfare13 which runs across Manhattan from South East to North West. The
section of Broadway associated with the theatre, and referred to, simply, as "Broadway" is located in the Times Square area
(mainly on 7th Avenue, from 42nd to 50th Street). It is the center of top-class and commercial theatre. Note that the expression
11
below sea level: en dessous du niveau de la mer.
warehouses: des entrepôts.
13
a thoroughfare: une artère.
12
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A Street Car Named Desire
"on Broadway" refers to the plays, musicals14 and revues performed in theatres accommodating at least 499 spectators, While
"off Broadway" refers to those performed in smaller theatres. The awards15 given "on Broadway" are called "Tonies", those
given "off Broadway", "Obies". Broadway began to be very popular in the 1920s. In the 1940s and 1950s it launched16 great
playwrights and actors: Tennessee Williams's A Streetcar Named Desire, starring the young - and at the time, very handsome
and shockingly sexy - Marlon Brando, was a major cultural event. Arthur Miller's plays (All My Sons, Death of a Salesman, A
View from the Bridge, The Crucible) are also landmarks17 in the history of Broadway. More recently, Broadway has been
mainly associated with very successful musicals, Les Misérables, Cats, Miss Saigon, but of course, it is still possible to see
excellent plays by talented American playwrights (Christopher Kyle, Richard Nelson), classics (Sophocles, Shakespeare,
Racine, Chekhov), and contemporary foreign authors (David Hare, Tom Stoppard, from GB), etc.
REPORTED SPEECH
DIRECT SPEECH
INDIRECT SPEECH
She said that he was subhuman.
¾ V-ED
1. She said:
"He is subhuman."
2. She said:
"He was drunk
yesterday."
She said that he had been drunk the day
before.
¾ HAD V-EN + marqueur de temps
3. She said:
"He will be back
here tomorrow."
She said that he would be back there the
day after.
¾ V-ED + marqueur de temps
4. She said:
"Take your car
and leave!"
5. She said to her:
"Could you
please leave ?"
6. She said to her:
"Please leave me
now!"
She told her to take her car and leave.
¾ Infinitive en TO
She asked her to leave.
¾ Infinitive en TO
She wanted her to leave at that moment /
then.
¾ Infinitive en TO + marqueur de temps
Turn the following passages into reported speech. Make the necessary adjustments (grammar,
linking words, punctuation) to obtain natural-sounding texts.
1. BLANCHE: ... A man like that is someone to go out with - once - twice -three times when the devil is in you. But live with?
Have a child by?
STELLA: I have told you I love him.
BLANCHE: Then I tremble for you! I just - tremble for you...
STELLA: I can't help your trembling if you insist on trembling!
(There is a pause.)
BLANCHE: May I - speak - plainly?
14
a musical: une comédie musicale.
an award: un prix.
16
to launch: lancer.
17
a landmark: ici, une étape importante.
15
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A Street Car Named Desire
STELLA: Yes, do. Go ahead. As plainly as you want to.
Blanche said that …………………………………………………..…………………………………………………….…………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
2. BLANCHE: He acts like an animal, has an animal's habits! Eats like one, moves like one, talks like one! There's even
something - subhuman - something not quite to the stage of humanity yet! Yes, something ape-like about him, like one of those
pictures I've seen in - anthropological studies!
Blanche said that ………………………………………………………………………………..……………………….…………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
FROM PROBABILITY TO EVENTUALITY
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
most probably
probably
presumably
possibly
maybe
perhaps
They
1.
2.
must / can't
may
have got married.
They
1.
2.
3.
must / can't
may
might
be getting married.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
is sure to
is bound to
is likely to
may
might
Do you think they will get
married?
PAST
PRESENT
FUTURE
They
+
_
get married.
Replace the underlined words by a modal auxiliary. Make the necessary adjustments.
1. "Why, yes, I suppose he is." (l. 15) : ………………………………………………………………………………………….
2. "Maybe he'll strike you." (l. 24) : ………………………………………………………………….………………………….
3. " Maybe we are a long way from being made in God's image." (l. 27) : ……………………………...………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
TRANSLATION
"He acts like an animal, has an animal's habits! Eats like one, moves
like one, talks like one! There's even something - subhuman - something not
quite to the stage of humanity yet! Yes, something ape-like about him, like one
of those pictures I've seen in - anthropological studies! Thousands and
thousands of years have passed him right by, and there he is - Stanley Kowalski
- survivor of the Stone Age! Bearing the raw meat home from the kill in the
jungle! And you - you here - waiting for him! Maybe he'll strike you or maybe
grunt and kiss you! That is, if kisses have been discovered yet!"
-6-
Attention
à la traduction du passif en
version!
Il est souvent traduit
par une forme active
commençant par "on".
A Street Car Named Desire
1.
Before you translate the passage, answer the following questions.
1. a) How will you translate "animal" (l.1)? Why? ……………………………………………………………………………
b)
R
R
R
2.
How will you translate "habits" (l.1) ?
Habitudes ?
Manières ?
mœurs ?
a) What is "one" (1. 1) a substitute for? ……………………………………………..………………………………………
b) In "Eats like one" (1. 1), the subject of "eats" is understood (= sous-entendu). Can the subject be implicit in French
too? ...........................................................................…………..........................…………….…………………….........................
c)
"Eats like one, moves like one, talks like one!" (1. 1) How will you render "one" in French, by using a pronoun, or a noun?
..........................................................……………………………………………………………….…………................................
d) Considering your answers to a), b) and c), translate "Eats like one, moves like one, talks like one!" (Think of good
translations for "moves" and "talks".) ....................................................................…………..........................................................
…………………………………………………………………………….............…………..........................................................
3.
"There's even something - subhuman" (1. 2).
a)
There is no adjective corresponding to "subhuman" in French. What is the corresponding French noun?
Un sous- ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
b)
Translate, using the French noun.
Il y a ……………………………………………………………………………………………………….…. en / chez lui.
4.
a)
R
R
(There is) "something not quite to the stage of humanity yet!" (1. 2)
What is the meaning of "humanity" here?
The state or quality of being human?
Mankind?
b) Given your answer, translate this sentence. Don't forget to render "not quite" properly,
Quelque chose qui montre qu'il n'est pas encore ………………………………………………………….…………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
5. "Survivor" (1. 6). Considering that Stanley is said to have survived the Stone Age, what French noun best translates
"survivor"? Un …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
6. "Bearing the raw meat home from the kill in the jungle" (1. 6).
A word-for-word translation would not mean anything. Which is, in your opinion, the best translation?
R
R
R
Il revient de sa chasse dans la jungle, chargé de viande crue.
Après être allé à la chasse dans la jungle, il rentre à la maison avec de la viande crue.
Une fois la chasse dans la jungle terminée, il rentre chez lui, portant de la viande crue.
7. Find a verb that will render the intermittent aspect of 'grunt" (1. 8). .........………………............................... un grognement.
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A Street Car Named Desire
8. a) Will you translate "kisses" (1. 8) by:
R les bises?
R les baisers?
R le baiser?
b)
Will you keep a passive construction in French? What do you propose?
..........................................................……………………................................………….................................................................
9.
Now translate the passage on a separate sheet of paper.
TALKING OR WRITING
1. In your opinion, what will happens if Blanche marries Stanley?
2. How do you think you would react if someone you like very much had a boy/girl friend you thought was
totally unsuitable? Explain.
3. What would Stella have said if her sister had fallen in love with a WASP?
HYPOTHESES
PROPOSTION
SUBORDONNEE
PROPOSITION
PRINCIPALE
HYPOTHESE
SUR L'AVENIR
1.
If
Blanche marries Stanley,
PRESENT
HYPOTHESE
IRRELLE
DANS LE PRESENT
HYPOTHESE
IRRELLE
DANS LE PASSE
2.
3.
If
Should
4.
If
5.
Had
I did this,
I do this,
PRETERIT
Blanche had fallen in love
with a WASP,
Blanche fallen in love with a
WASP,
she
will
may
be unhappy for the
rest of her life.
I
would
might
be unhappy for the
rest of my life.
Stella
would
have congratulated
her.
might
HAD + V-EN
WORDS FOR LOVE
Falling in Love
The End of Love
1. You may fall in love at first sight.
2. You realize that you can't do without him.
10. He cheated on her.
11. They quarrelled.
12. He let her down.
13. So she broke up / split up.
14. There are plenty more fish in the sea.
15. Go on with your life!
Symptoms of Love
3. You flush or blush.
4. You can't stand / can't bear it
when another boy/girl gets near your sweetheart.
5. You feel on top of the world / over the moon.
The Language of Love
6. I care for you.
7. You are special to me.
8. Will you go out with me?
9. She's been dating him for some time.
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