Modern times: Literature from 1945 to the present day: exemplar student response and examiner commentary
Below you will find an exemplar student response to a Section A question in the specimen assessment materials, followed by an examiner commentary on the response. This resource is designed to support you in teaching the 'Modern times: Literature from 1945 to the present day' component of A-level English Literature A.
Paper 2B, Section A
Question
Examine the view that A Streetcar Named Desire fails because the relationship between Stella and Stanley is 'inconceivable'.
Band 2 response
In this essay I am going to explain why I think the relationship between Stella and Stanley is not a failure.
Stella does not come from New Orleans, she is from the 'Old White South' and so you would think she is going to be a fish out of water in a place which is inhabited by people from different countries, including black Afro-Americans, who eat different things and play different music. Stanley is not totally at home there either, although he seems less out of place in the poor Elysian Fields than Stella does, because he is working-class, which Blanche picks up on more than once.
'He acts like an animal, has an animal's habits.'
and
'these poker players impossible to live with'
Since he left the army at the end of the war, Stanley has worked for an engineering company like his friend Mitch. They both play poker and go bowling. Blanche cannot understand how her sister Stella came to marry a 'common' man like that who has bad eating habits and swears and gets angry when he is losing at cards. But perhaps she has not made allowance for the fact that Stella found Stanley attractive to look at, in his uniform.
There is another side to their characters which sort of cancells out these different social backgrounds. They are in love and have been right from the word go. Even though Stanley hits Stella in Scene III (The Poker Night) he soon feels guilty about what he has done and wants to be forgiven. First of all Stella had left the room saying 'I want to go away', but soon she is catching his head and comforting him.
If we only saw Blanche's view of things, we would come to the conclusion that the marriage is a disaster, which she tries to undermine.
'I take it for granted that you still have sufficient memory of Belle Reve to find this place and these poker players impossible to live with.'
and
'A man like that is some one to go out with – once – twice – three times when the Devil is in you. But live with? Have a child by?'
But Stella is able to tell her sister that 'there are things that happen between a man and a woman in the dark', referring to sex. Ironically Blanche doesn't need to be told that as we find out later on she has been promiscuous in Laurel and married herself.
Belle Reve was 'lost' because members of the family squandered their fortunes and had to sell off property, and in the end there was nothing left. Stella got out before the worst happened, where as Blanche stayed to the bitter end and now she is homeless. Stella must of recognised that New Orleans and married life with Stanley was a much safer alternative than Belle Reve.
'The best I could do was make my own living, Blanche.'
And now she is having Stanley's baby, which gives her even more reasons to stay with him.
Blanche tells Stella that Stanley is driven by an animal like 'desire' and hopes to come between them, but Stella soon shows Blanche that she likes him that way.
Stella has embraced him with both arms, fiercely, and in full view of Blanche. (Stage direction)
Blanche of course wants Stella to protect her from the future which she is frightened of. Stella also criticises Blanche for having a 'superior attitude' which is obviously going to weaken her argument.
Although Stella is not prepared to accept that her husband has raped her sister it could be said that her relationship with Stanley will never be quite the same again. But she knows which side her bread is buttered. The ending of the play is very tearful (sobbing) but the last thing we see is Stanley kneeling down beside Stella and opening her blouse with his fingers, which she is presumably happy about.
So in conclusion I think the marriage of Stella and Stanley does not fail. There is too much at stake for both of them, and having the baby will help keep them together. Although Blanche finds it hard to believe in their marriage (inconceivable) a theatre audience would not, on the evidence of what they have seen and heard.
Examiner commentary
AO1
The argument is somewhat disjointed and poorly sequenced. Although a number of potentially useful facts and opinions about the characters have been assembled, they lose impact because their presentation is flawed. Expression tends to the colloquial and is therefore imprecise. There are some errors, notably of syntax.
AO2
Since this is an Open Book examination, the candidate has been able to quote directly from the text – more or less accurately – though the selected quotation does not always sit well with the point being made. Some of Stella's words are given but Stanley is represented in a generalised way, only in terms of his actions and Blanche's opinion of him.
Many other ways in which 'meanings are shaped' are overlooked.
AO3
This AO is generally better addressed than AO2. There is at least some simple awareness of contexts and a (very) brief mention of the play as theatre. There is also oblique reference to the stormy nature of the marriage.
AO4
The placing of the text in the context of modern literature about the clash of class, gender and culture within marriage, for example, is not implied or directly commented upon.
A05
In a fairly simplistic way the candidate has shown that the marriage does not fail and that the relationship is believable. By introducing Blanche's view of Stanley's bestiality etc. and Stella's readiness to discount it, the student has gone some way towards managing a balanced debate.
Overall
'This response seems to fit the Band 2 descriptors'.
- This resource is part of the Modern times - Literature from 1945 to the present day resource package.