Sound+Overview

Sounds of “A Streetcar Named Desire” With its setting being in New Orleans, sound is a vital aspect of a melodramatic play that is "A Streetcar Named Desire" with its incorporation of jazz and blues that allowed the play to be strangely lively but more unnerving and ominous. Almost every soundtrack used throughout the play draws parallel to what is happening on the stage in terms of the overall mood and atmosphere, thoughts of the characters, and even the miniscule actions, which are oftentimes accompanied by matching miniscule sound effects. The major soundtracks of this play represent the struggle between the opposing classes; Blanche being an upper-class aristocrat trying to maintain her image, and Stanley are burly, hardworking, lively man comfortable in his own skin. The major soundtrack played during Blanche’s scenes is the Varsouviana Polka music. It is a lively, upbeat, polish dance music. Ironically, her antagonist Stanley is Polish. The polka music recurs throughout the play and in different keys, tempos, and dynamics. Throughout the play, it is described in many ways: “ // the polka resumes in a major key,” // // “the ‘varsouviana’ is heard, its music rising with sinister rapidity,” // “ // the rapid, feverish polka tune, the ‘varsouviana’, is heard; she is drinking to escape it and the disaster closing in on her.” // “ // The ‘varsouviana’ is filtered into a weird distortion, accompanied by the cries and noises of the jungle” // This is to help develop the Blanches emotions and past, which are too complex to be illustrated through dialogue alone. Varsouviana keeps recurring in Blanche’s head because it is the music that was playing in a very emotionally scarring event in which her first husband and only true lover killed himself. The music is almost like a PTSD symptom, every time she begins to feel distressed, the polka music is queued. Blanche's life was thrown into a chaotic swivel, which is what "Varsouviana" sounds like; one could imagine Blanche, in all her instability, riding a merry-go-round that are adorned by the faux luxuries of bright lights and extravagant art that serve Blanche no purpose other than making her dazed and even more confused about herself at that point of her life. Every time this – Allan, or, the point where Blanche's life falls apart – is mentioned, the "Varsouviana" polka is played to draw parallel to the allusion to show that Blanche is constantly losing grip over her life. At first the music begins in a major key, which is typically associated with a more happy, upbeat sound. It the changes to a minor key, giving it a more eerie feeling as Blanche tells Mitch about the death of her husband. It then resumes in a major key. The Blue Piano however, is a very different tune and matches the lively, hard working

lifestyle of the people of the blue-collar class of New Orleans at the time. Tennessee Williams specifically writes in the stage directions that "the Blue Piano expresses the spirit of life which goes on there." Heard in various part of the play, the Blue Piano demonstrated a wide array of emotions as interpreted by the audience during the specific moment of the play. The best way to demonstrate the usage of the Blue Piano is through examples of it being used throughout the play. It is played throughout scene 1 representing the general mood of the town, then grows louder as a conflict starts over the loss of Belle Reve. The Blue Piano change dynamics again growing louder in scene two as Stanley is introduced, suggesting his own lively and vibrant

personality. The music is loudest at the end of the scene as it climaxes in the settings for the eventual conflict between Blanche over Belle Reve. The music continues to evolve throughout the play, adding to the emotion expressed in the dialogue. Williams seems to use the Blue piano and negro music interchangeably throughout the play. Other than these two main sources of music, Williams uses a variety of other tunes to

help shape the characters and bring them to life. “Wien, wien, nur de allein” is what is Blanche chooses to dance to on the radio when she attempts to entertain one of Stanley’s friends, Mitch. This classical song, and the fact that she waltzes to it shows the class that daisy is from.

Stanley voices his objection to the music and eventually throws the radio out the window, further foreshadowing the conflict that would ensue between him and Blanche. Later in the play after Stanley strikes his wife, “The negro entertainers around the bar play ‘paper doll’ slow and blue.” The music reflects the deep sorrow Stanley feels and shows how much Stella was like the idealized paper doll and how scared Stanley was of losing Stella. As Stanley begins to tell Stella about the lies Blanche has been telling, Williams has Blanche in the bathroom singing “Paper Moon.” This song is ironic in the fact that as Stanley is telling Stella about these lies, Blanche sings “but it wouldn’t be make believe, if you believed in me!” It is almost as though she knows Stanley is telling her sister about the lies and she is vying for her sister to believe in her. It also represents the delusional, twisted, world that Blanche lives in, choosing to ignore reality to keep up appearances.