A Streetcar Named Desire, Tennessee Williams: Practice Questions

• a.It represents the aristocratic traditions of Belle Reve and the Old South.
• b.It represents the vibrant spirit and atmosphere of New Orleans and the world of Elysian Fields.
• c.It is used exclusively to foreshadow the tragic death of Allan Grey.
• d.It signals the onset of Blanche's auditory hallucinations regarding her dead husband.

• a.It highlights the wealth and prosperity that Blanche expects to find in her sister's new life.
• b.It emphasizes the religious salvation that Stella has found by moving to New Orleans.
• c.It serves as a metaphor for the reconciliation between the agrarian North and the industrial South.
• d.It juxtaposes Blanche's idealized, illusory past with the gritty, terminal reality of her present.

• a.It externalizes Blanche's psychological disintegration and heightened state of terror.
• b.It acts as a moralistic chorus that condemns Stanley's actions directly to the audience.
• c.It provides a realistic depiction of the street life outside the Kowalski apartment.
• d.It symbolizes the triumph of modern technology over the outdated traditions of the South.

• a.The cultural clash between the Old South and New Orleans.
• b.Her growing romantic attraction to Harold 'Mitch' Mitchell.
• c.The trauma and guilt associated with her husband's suicide.
• d.Her longing for the aristocratic social life of Belle Reve.

• a.It represents Blanche's attempt to filter reality and the fragility of the illusions she creates.
• b.It represents the light of reason that Mitch brings into Blanche's chaotic life.
• c.It symbolizes Stella's desire to modernize the apartment and move away from her past.
• d.It is a symbol of the industrialization of the South and the end of the plantation era.

Write your answer out first, then check it against the worked solution.