"A Streetcar Named Desire," Vocabulary from the play 70 words

1. desire the feeling that accompanies an unsatisfied state NOTES: The title is a metaphor for the theme of the story. The streetcar is named Desire after the name of the (actual) street to which it goes. Incidentally, a "streetcar" is a rail vehicle that runs on tracks, used as public transportation. Nowadays, they are not as popular as they used to be, and not as many cities use them. EXAMPLE SENTENCE:
A Streetcar Named Desire

not practical or realizable; speculative NOTES: This quotation is from the opening poem. Even though this is a play that is meant to be performed, it is also a wonderful book to read, and the presence of this poem underscores the fact that it includes more than stage directions. EXAMPLE SENTENCE:
And so it was I entered the broken world To trace the visionary company of love, its voice An instant in the wind (I know not whither hurled) But not for long to hold each desperate choice.

usually depicts Stanley's actions. EXAMPLE SENTENCE:

And so it was I entered the broken world To trace the visionary company of love, its voice An instant in the wind (I know not whither hurled) But not for long to hold each desperate choice.

just around the corner, or a few doors down the street, from a tinny piano being played with the infatuated fluency of brown fingers.

6.

cosmopolitan composed of people from or at home in many parts of the world; especially not provincial in attitudes or interests EXAMPLE SENTENCE:
The white woman is Eunice, who occupies the upstairs flat; the colored woman a neighbor, for New Orleans is a cosmopolitan city where there is a relatively warm and easy intermingling of races in the old part of town.

4.

attenuate weaken the consistency of (a chemical substance) EXAMPLE SENTENCE:

The sky that shows around the dim white building is a peculiarly tender blue, almost a turquoise, which invests the scene with a kind of lyricism and gracefully attenuates the atmosphere of decay.

7.

bellow shout loudly and without restraint NOTES: This is another routine reaction from Stanley used in the stage directions. EXAMPLE SENTENCE:

3.

hurl throw forcefully NOTES: Though first showing up in the opening poem, this word is used in the stage directions, and it 5.

infatuated marked by foolish or unreasoning fondness EXAMPLE SENTENCE:

In this part of New Orleans you are practically always

2.

visionary

There he throws back his head like a baying hound and bellows his wife's name: "Stella! Stella, sweetheart! Stella!

characterized by high spirits and animation EXAMPLE SENTENCE:

She begins to speak, with feverish vivacity as if she feared for either of them to stop and think..

a quick look NOTES: Compare with the vocabulary word, "stare." EXAMPLE SENTENCE:
She laughs, but her glance at Blanche is a little anxious.

a small drink of liquor EXAMPLE SENTENCE:

I am going to take just one little tiny nip more, sort of to put the stopper on, so to speak.

8.

delicate exquisitely fine and subtle and pleasing; susceptible to injury NOTES: This word, as used in the sample sentence, is using every sense of its meaning: exquisitely fine, subtle, and easily broken. EXAMPLE SENTENCE:

17. background a person's social heritage: previous experience or training EXAMPLE SENTENCE:
Such as his civilian background!

11. spasmodic affected by involuntary jerky muscular contractions; resembling a spasm EXAMPLE SENTENCE:
They catch each other in a spasmodic embrace.

14. hypocritical professing feelings or virtues one does not have EXAMPLE SENTENCE:
Oh, Im not going to be hypocritical, Im going to be honestly critical about it!

18. radiant radiating or as if radiating light EXAMPLE SENTENCE:

Stella looks up with a radiant smile.

12. glare
Her delicate beauty must avoid a strong light.

an angry stare 15. verge NOTES: Compare with the vocabulary word, "stare." EXAMPLE SENTENCE:
I wont be looked at in this merciless glare! I was on the verge of lunacy, almost.

9.

stare look at with fixed eyes EXAMPLE SENTENCE:

They stare at each other across the yellow-checked linoleum of the table.

the limit beyond which something happens or changes EXAMPLE SENTENCE:

19. reproach express criticism towards EXAMPLE SENTENCE:

10. vivacity

16. nip 13. glance

Well, Stellayoure going to reproach me, I know that

youre bound to reproach mebut before you do take into considerationyou left!

Animal joy in his being is implicit in all his movements and attitudes.

25. perpetual uninterrupted in time and indefinitely long continuing EXAMPLE SENTENCE:
Stanley enters the kitchen from outside, leaving the door open on the perpetual blue piano around the corner.

EXAMPLE SENTENCE:
In the state of Louisiana we have the Napoleonic code according to which what belongs to the wife belongs to the husband and vice versa.

23. auxiliary 20. burden an onerous or difficult concern EXAMPLE SENTENCE:

Im not meaning this in any reproachful way, but all the burden descended on my shoulders. Branching out from this complete and satisfying center are all the auxiliary channels of his life, such as his heartiness with men, his appreciation of rough humor, his love of good drink and food and games, his car, his radio, everything that is his, that bears his emblem of the gaudy seed-bearer.

functioning in a supporting capacity EXAMPLE SENTENCE:

28. swindle deprive of by deceit EXAMPLE SENTENCE:

26. quarter a district of a city having some distinguishing character NOTES: Note that in the sample sentence it is capitalized. It is in fact the very colorful French Quarter of New Orleans. EXAMPLE SENTENCE:
So well go to one of the little places in the Quarter afterwards and youd better give me some money. It looks to me like you have been swindled, baby, and when youre swindled under the Napoleonic code Im swindled too.

21. dialogue the lines spoken by characters in drama or fiction EXAMPLE SENTENCE:

29. perpetrate perform an act, usually with a negative connotation EXAMPLE SENTENCE:
I dont understand what happened to Belle Reve but you dont know how ridiculous you are being when you suggest that my sister or I or anyone of our family could have perpetrated a swindle on anyone else.

24. gaudy tastelessly showy

As the men enter, we hear some of the following dialogue.

EXAMPLE SENTENCE:
Branching out from this complete and satisfying center are all the auxiliary channels of his life, such as his heartiness with men, his appreciation of rough humor, his love of good drink and food and games, his car, his radio, everything that is his, that bears his emblem of the gaudy seed-bearer.

22. implicit implied though not directly expressed; inherent in the nature of something EXAMPLE SENTENCE:

27. vice versa 30. preen with the order reversed

dress or groom with elaborate care EXAMPLE SENTENCE:

having an air of allure, romance and excitement EXAMPLE SENTENCE:

not provident; not providing for the future EXAMPLE SENTENCE:

NOTES: The music that runs in the background of the story sets a a mood that is inseparable from the story. At times, it almost shows up to emphasize the emotions or the events that are happening. It is almost like the weather that comes and goes. The music is often mingled with unintelligible voices that underscore this new environment that is hot, humid, and noisy to Blanche. EXAMPLE SENTENCE:
The "blue piano plays for a brief interval.

Look at these feathers and furs that she come here to preen herself in!

31. cordial politely warm and friendly NOTES: In the sample sentence, this word is used ironically in order to be sarcastic. EXAMPLE SENTENCE:
I understand theres to be a little card party to which we ladies are cordially not invited!

I once went out with a doll who said to me, I am the glamorous type, I am the glamorous type!

34. abscond run away; usually includes taking something or somebody along EXAMPLE SENTENCE:
Whats in the back of that little boys mind of yours? That I am absconding with something, attempting some kind of treachery on my sister?

There are thousands of papers, stretching back over hundreds of years, affecting Belle Reve as, piece by piece, our improvident grandfathers and father and uncles and brothers exchanged the land for their epic fornicationsto put it plainly!

37. lurid glaringly vivid and graphic; marked by sensationalism EXAMPLE SENTENCE:
The kitchen now suggests that sort of lurid nocturnal brilliance, the raw colors of childhood's spectrum.

35. antiquity extreme oldness EXAMPLE SENTENCE:

These are love-letters, yellowing with antiquity, all from one boy.

39. coarse lacking refinement or cultivation or taste EXAMPLE SENTENCE:

The poker playersStanley, Steve, Mitch and Pablo wear colored shirts, solid blues, a purple, a red-andwhite check, a light green, and they are men at the peak of their physical

32. smoldering showing scarcely suppressed anger EXAMPLE SENTENCE:

He crosses through drapes with a smoldering look.

38. blues a type of folksong that originated among Black Americans at the beginning of the 20th century; has a melancholy sound from repeated use of blue notes

36. improvident

33. glamorous

manhood, as coarse and direct and powerful as the primary colors.

40. lurch walk as if unable to control one's movements EXAMPLE SENTENCE:

He lurches up and tosses some watermelon rinds to the floor.

the entrance (the space in a wall) through which you enter or leave a room or building; the space that a door can close EXAMPLE SENTENCE:
The table is sloppy with remains of breakfast and the debris of the preceding night, and Stanleys gaudy pyjamas lie across the threshold of the bathroom.

the time of day immediately following sunset EXAMPLE SENTENCE:

I ran into Shep HundeighI ran into him on Biscayne Boulevard, on Christmas Eve, about dusk... getting into his carCadillac convertible; must have been a block longl

49. inanimate not endowed with life EXAMPLE SENTENCE:

You must have had lots of banging around in the army and now that youre out, you make up for it by treating inanimate objects with such a fury!

50. prim 47. quaint strange in an interesting or pleasing way EXAMPLE SENTENCE: affectedly dainty or refined EXAMPLE SENTENCE:
Im compiling a notebook of quaint little words and phrases Ive picked up here. What I mean ishe thinks Im sort ofprim and proper, you know!

41. flinch draw back, as with fear or pain EXAMPLE SENTENCE:

She returns his look without flinching.

44. ajar slightly open EXAMPLE SENTENCE:

The outside door is slightly ajar on a sky of summer brilliance.

51. affectation 48. wince draw back, as with fear or pain NOTES: Similar in meaning to "flinch." EXAMPLE SENTENCE:
At each noise Blanche winces slightly. Blanche speaks with an affectation of demureness.

42. sonnet a verse form consisting of 14 lines with a fixed rhyme scheme EXAMPLE SENTENCE:
Why, thats from my favorite sonnet by Mrs. Browning.

45. cultivate foster the growth of EXAMPLE SENTENCE:

Is this a Chinese philosophy youvecultivated?

a deliberate pretense or exaggerated display EXAMPLE SENTENCE:

52. effeminate 46. dusk having unsuitable feminine qualities

43. threshold

EXAMPLE SENTENCE:
There was something different about the boy, a nervousness, a softness and tenderness which wasnt like a mans, although he wasnt the least bit effeminate lookingstill that thing was there.

a man who is the lover of a girl or young woman EXAMPLE SENTENCE:

Is it because Ive been stood up by my beau?

resembling or characteristic of a phantom EXAMPLE SENTENCE:

Now she is placing the rhinestone tiara on her head before the mirror of the dressing-table and murmuring excitedly as if to a group of spectral admirers.

61. slander an abusive attack on a person's character or good name EXAMPLE SENTENCE:
And to repeat slander to me, vicious stories that he had gotten from you!

56. obscure 53. saccharine overly sweet EXAMPLE SENTENCE:

Blanche is singing in the bathroom a saccharine popular ballad which is used contrapuntally with Stanleys speech.

not clearly understood or expressed EXAMPLE SENTENCE:

There is some obscure meaning in this but I fail to catch it

62. incompatible not easy to combine harmoniously EXAMPLE SENTENCE:

Our attitudes and our backgrounds are incompatible.

59. telegram a message transmitted by telegraph NOTES: This was an older form of communication. EXAMPLE SENTENCE:
I received a telegram from an old admirer of mine.

57. soil make soiled, filthy, or dirty EXAMPLE SENTENCE:

As the drinking and packing went on, a mood of hysterical exhilaration came into her and she has decked herself out in a somewhat soiled and crumpled white satin evening gown and a pair of scuffed silver slippers with brilliants set in their heels.

54. outlook a habitual or characteristic mental attitude that determines how you will interpret and respond to situations EXAMPLE SENTENCE:
A hot bath and a long, cold drink always give me a brand new outlook on life!

63. inert unable to move or resist motion EXAMPLE SENTENCE:

He picks up her inert figure and carries her to the bed.

60. destitute poor enough to need help from others EXAMPLE SENTENCE:
How strange that I should be called a destitute woman!

64. gaze a long fixed look NOTES:

55. beau

58. spectral

Compare with the vocabulary word, "stare." EXAMPLE SENTENCE:

67. gravity a manner that is serious and solemn EXAMPLE SENTENCE:

in a softened tone EXAMPLE SENTENCE:

The luxurious sobbing, the sensual murmur fade away under the swelling music of the blue piano and the muted trumpet.

At the sound of Blanches voice Mitchs arm supporting his cards has sagged and his gaze is dissolved into space.

65. perplexity trouble or confusion resulting from complexity EXAMPLE SENTENCE:

The gravity of their profession is exaggerated the unmistakable aura of the state institution with its cynical detachment.

68. sinuous curved or curving in and out EXAMPLE SENTENCE:

Blanche stands quite still for some momentsthe silverbacked mirror in her hand and a look of sorrowful perplexity as though all human experience shows on her face.

Lurid reflections appear on the walls in odd, sinuous shapes.

69. divest take away possessions from someone EXAMPLE SENTENCE:

Divested of all the softer properties of womanhood, the Matron is a peculiarly sinister figure in her severe dress.

66. matron a woman in charge of nursing in a medical institution EXAMPLE SENTENCE:

A Doctor and a Matron have appeared around the corner of the building and climbed the steps to the porch.

70. muted