Curriculum  /  ELA  /  10th Grade  /  Unit 10: Sanity & Madness in A Streetcar Named Desire & Ma Rainey's Black Bottom  /  Lesson 16

Sanity & Madness in A Streetcar Named Desire & Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Lesson 16
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ELA

Unit 10

10th Grade

Lesson 16 of 23

Objective

Formulate and share unique arguments about A Streetcar Named Desire. 

Support arguments with strong and thorough textual evidence in a summative Socratic seminar.

Readings and Materials

  • Play: A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams 

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Target Task

Discourse Questions

Throughout the play, there is significant tension between fantasy and reality. This tension also parallels the conflict between sanity and madness. Which characters in the play are mad? In what ways does Williams portray the characters’ madness? Which characters in the play are sane? In what ways does Williams portray the characters’ sanity?

A tragic hero is a character in a dramatic tragedy who has virtuous and sympathetic traits but ultimately meets with suffering or defeat. To what extent is Blanche a tragic hero? Is the title of tragic hero an accurate interpretation of Blanche’s character? What other ways can readers reasonably interpret her character? What ultimately does Williams convey through Blanche’s downfall?

Key Thinking

Scaffolding Questions

What connections does Williams draw between reality and sanity? Fantasy and madness?

Where in the text does Williams make us feel sympathy with Blanche? Where in the text does Williams make us feel outraged by Blanche?

Key Ideas

  • Most of the major characters in A Streetcar Named Desire show signs of both madness and sanity. For example, Blanche’s madness is shown through her deception and lies about her past. She refuses to tell the truth about why she has come to Elysian Fields, hiding the fact that she has had an inappropriate relationship with a student. She makes up lies about getting money from a man named Shep. However, the night after the poker scene when she confronts her sister about accepting Stanley’s physical abuse and sleeping with him that night, she displays more reality or sanity than not only her sister but also more than we have seen from her in the entire play. Similarly, Stella’s madness or lack of reality is shown when she willingly accepts Stanley’s physical abuse, justifying his actions to her sister. Additionally it is also shown at the end of the play when she deliberately chooses to believe Stanley over Blanche, allowing him to send her sister to a mental institution. Williams portrays madness through fantasy whereas he portrays sanity through reality. 
  • Blanche is a tragic hero. While she is deceptive and tells her sister, Stanley, and Mitch lies, the more we learn about her character, the more we come to understand that deception is a defense mechanism that she uses to hide her true identity and feelings. Ultimately, when we see Blanche, we see a character that is unhappy with herself and her lack of accomplishments in life (she has no career, no husband, and no home). Through Blanche’s downfall, Williams conveys that the price of deception, or living in a fantasy state, not only literally leads one to be out of touch with reality but also is detrimental to someone's overall happiness. 

Homework

Read and annotate Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom through the following annotation focus by Lesson 19:

  • Annotation focus: 
    • Scene 1: How does Wilson create tension in Act 1 of the play? In other words, in what lines, words, and phrases does William use conflict to propel action? 
    • Scene 2: What does Ma desire? What does Levee desire?

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Standards

  • LO 1.3A — Analyze how literary elements interact to develop the central ideas of a work of literature.
  • LO 1.3B — Analyze how the writer's use of stylistic elements contributes to a work of literature's effects and meaning.
  • LO 2.3A — Assert a precise central claim that establishes the relationship between a work's features and overall meaning.
  • LO 2.3B — Organize ideas and evidence to effectively develop and support a thesis.
  • LO 2.3C — Select and incorporate relevant and compelling evidence to support a thesis.
  • LO 2.3D — Use an appropriate style and carefully selected language to strengthen an analysis.
  • LO 5.1A — Extend the conversation around an idea, topic, or text by formulating questions and recognizing the claims and perspectives of others.
  • LO 5.1B — Cite relevant evidence and evaluate the evidence presented by others.
  • RL.9-10.1 — Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
  • RL.9-10.2 — Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.
  • RL.9-10.3 — Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme.
  • RL.9-10.4 — Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language evokes a sense of time and place; how it sets a formal or informal tone).
  • SL.9-10.1 — Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grades 9—10 topics, texts, and issues, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.

Next

Analyze how Williams OR Wilson uses literary techniques to reveal the impact that desire has on each character’s development and the overall meaning of the work.

Lesson 17
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