Key Learning Questions Is the play just about individual characters and their struggles? Is the play timeless or rooted in the present?
Apollonian thinking self-controlled rational, logical ordered dream state value for human order and culture celebration of appearance/illusion plastic and visual arts human beings as artists Dionysian feeling passionate irrational, instinctual chaotic state of intoxication celebration of nature brute realism and absurdity music human being as the work and glorification of art
Last week we looked at how Nietzsche believed the central conflict in society was between two different drives of people: people who were naturally restrained, Apollonian, and people who were more likely to follow their passions, Dionysian. We contrasted this with Social Darwinism, where individuals, rooted in the present, struggle for survival in a socio-political environment. October 01, 2013
We briefly entertained the idea that the play could be a social darwinist struggle, with Stella as the prize. We are now going to look at scene 2 paying more attention to this perspective.
1 "I'm taking Blanche to Galatoire's for supper"..."i put you a cold plate on ice". What do Stella's actions suggest about how Blanche's arrival has changed her relationship with Stanley? "Stan, We've- lost Belle Reve", page 16 2 Belle Reve means beautiful dream in French. Blanch DuBois is also French, meaning white, or fair, and made of wood. How might these two facts suggest these are not timeless characters, but ones firmly rooted in the present of 1940's United States? 3 "she wasn't expecting to find us in such a small place", page 16 How does this reflect the socio-political situation of the time?
4 "we have the Napoleonic code according to which what belongs to the wife belongs to the husband and vice-versa", page 17 What is symbolic about Stanley's concerns about the ownership of Belle Reve? 5 "Run to the drug-store and get me a lemon-coke", page 20 Why does Blanche deliberately send Stella away? "I hurt him in the way that you would like to hurt me", page 22 6 What does Blanche mean here? What do you think Stanley would
7 "our (relatives) exchanged the land for their epic fornications...till finally all that was left...was the house...including a graveyard", page 22 How does this relate to Blanches opening lines on page 5? 8 "she's going to have a baby", page 23 Why does Stanley tell Blanche this?
Chekov's 'Cherry Orchard' The Cherry Orchard is Russian playwright Anton Chekhov's last play. It premiered at the Moscow Art Theatre 17 January 1904. Chekhov intended this play as a comedy and it does contain some elements of farce; however, directors have had to contend with the dual nature of this play as it is often interpreted as equally tragic. The play concerns an aristocratic Russian woman and her family as they return to the family's estate (which includes a large and well-known cherry orchard) just before it is auctioned to pay the mortgage. While presented with options to save the estate, the family essentially does nothing and the play ends with the estate being sold to the son of a former serf (a person who would have worked on an aristocrat's farm), and the family leaving to the sound of the cherry orchard being cut down. The story presents themes of cultural futility both the futility of the aristocracy to maintain its status and the futility of the bourgeoisie to find meaning in its newfound materialism.
Read again Blanche's monologue on page 22. Williams admitted to being influenced by the work of Chekov. How is it apparent in these lines? In scene 3, page 30, Blanche tells Mitch to think of her, 'Like an orchard in spring!' How does this add to or change your ideas?
Is the play just about individual characters and their struggles? Is the play timeless or rooted in the present?