In this video, we’re looking at one of the most important motifs in Tennessee Williams' play 'A Streetcar Named Desire' - the poker game that Stanley and his mates, Mitch, Steve and Pablo play in the Kowalski’s flat. In the play, the poker game functions as an occasion for social gathering, but just as much, as a site for masculine exhibitionism, where the various men reveal the rawer, truer side to their nature as the game brings out their emotional highs and lows. I draw on specific moments (Scene 3 and Scene 11) to analyse what the poker game might symbolise about the characters, masculinity and gender dynamics in the play.
TIMESTAMPS:
03:22 - Scene 3 analysis: playing poker as masculine performativity
10:18 - Scene 11 analysis: playing poker as power struggle
13:44 - What are Stanley's final 'cards' to Blanche?
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28 апр 2024
