Scene 1
- The first scene occurs in a street called Elysian Fields in New Orleans. The building contains two flats with white stairs and is as weathered down and rickety as the other houses. A blue piano plays in the background alongside the music of negro entertainers. Eunice and a negro woman are intermingling on the steps of the building.
- Stanley and Mitch come around the corner dressed up in work clothes. Stanley calls out for Stella, when she appears on the first floor landing. Stella is of the age of twenty-five, and looks like she is from a higher status than her husband. Stanley throws Stella a package of meat and leaves to go bowling. Stella follows Stanley out after Eunice tells Stella to tell Steve to get a poor boy’s sandwich.
- The negro woman laughs for an extended period of time as Blanche enters the scene. Blanche’s attire is completely white and delicate in a way which contrasts with the deteriorating surroundings. Blanche is in disbelief as Eunice then tells her that Blanche has reached her destination. Eunice lets Blanche in Stella’s house and Eunice leaves her alone. As soon as Eunice leaves, Blanche reaches for a whiskey bottle in the cabinet, downs half a tumbler, and replaces the bottle. Blanche whispers to herself that she needs to keep a hold of herself.
- Then Stella arrives and the sisters rejoice. Blanche then asks Stella to have a celebratory drink of whiskey. Blanche chases the whiskey with water as opposed to coke and mentions that she has been fired from her school teacher. Blanche then goes on to insult Stella’s appearance and the state of Stella’s house. Stella tells Blanche about Stanley’s Polish background, and Blanche doubts that Stella loves Stanley for more than his military background. Blanche then accuses Stella for abandoning Belle Reve as Blanche had to deal with slowly losing her family home through death.
- Then, Blanche hides in the bedroom as Stanley and his friends arrive. The men decide to have poker night at Stanley’s house as opposed to Mitch’s house because of Mitch’s sick mother. Stanley is described as very strong and manly, and intimidates Blanche at first glance. Stanley notices that some of the whiskey is missing and suspects that Blanche took some. As Stanley and Blanche converse, a cat screeches and Blanche becomes scared. The scene ends with Blanche feeling distraught after remember the death of “the boy”
Analysis:
- The building that is described in the first scene is run down, but the elegant white stairs suggest that the house was not always run-down but at one point was an elegant house. The street name, Elysian Fields, refers to the Greek mythology of the area in which life continues after death and where people can achieve an almost immortal state. The reason the street is called Elysian Fields is because the name is an extended metaphor for the entire setting. While the once-elegant house is now run-down, the house is still bustling with life with Stanley’s and Eunice’s family. While the sky is a shade of blue that portrays a feeling of decay, there is music from the negro entertainers and the “blue piano” that portrays its liveliness. Blanche adds to this allegory by traveling from a streetcar named Desire, to a streetcar named Cemeteries, to a street named Elysian Fields. This journey represents Blanche’s transition from her old life to her new one.
- When Stanley throws the meat towards Stella, she “cries out in protest but manages to catch it: then laughs breathlessly.” (page 4). The meat is a phallic object that portrays the power that Stanley has in the relationship. Another phallic object appears when Eunice tells Stella to “tell Steve to get him a poor boy’s sandwich ‘cause nothing’s left here.” (page 5). In this situation, Eunice has some power in the relationship. Eunice and Steve have been married longer than Stella and Stanley, Steve and Eunice show what Stella and Stanley could be in the future.
- The fact that the negro woman was able to laugh for a long period of time even when Eunice told her to stop shows how intermingled the New Orleans community was in relation to the rest of America.
- Blanche possesses a classic case of alcoholism, which is indicated by how Blanche tries to hide the fact that she drinks some of Stella’s whisky even when they drink together. Another indicator of Blanche’s alcoholism is the fact that she does not want to mix her whisky with coke, but instead asks to chase it down with water. Blanche’s alcoholism shows her instability to the audience at an early stage of the play.
- Blanche accuses Stella of abandoning her when her father died, and should not accuse Blanche of losing Belle Reve. This shows the Brute vs. Fragile relationship that Blanche has over Stella. Stella left her family after her father died because then she would have to deal with being a Fragile to Blanche in the household, which is why she would rather leave.
- The cat that screeches is symbolic of Blanche as a character, because cats like the dark, are vicious, yet hide their true intentions. The sound effect brings out Blanche’s character throughout the play.
- Stanley knows Blanche is an alcoholic from the start, claiming that “some people rarely touch it (liquor) but it often touches them.” (26). However, Stanley chooses to keep quiet about this for now.
Scene 2
- The scene opens with Stella working on a toilette while Blanche is bathing. Stanley enters and finds out that Stella and Blanche are going out while the boys play poker. Stella tells Stanley that Blanche has lost Belle Reve, and Stanley becomes upset because due to the Napoleonic Code he owns everything that Stella owns. Stanley then goes through Blanche’s stuff, finds expensive dresses and jewelry, and plans on pawning Blanche’s jewelry.
- Blanche comes out of the shower in a red satin robe and asks Stanley to button her up. Stanley tells Blanche how he prefers to be straightforward and honest, and demands that Blanche tells him what happened to the property in Belle Reve. Blanche explains that Belle Reve was lost over time through the exchange of land for the silence of other families after the uncles and grandfathers fornicated with those families until the bank foreclosed the rest of the land. Stanley tells Blanche that Stella is pregnant, and then Stella apologizes to Blanche for Stanley’s actions. The scene ends with a hot tamale vendor shouting “Red-hot!”
Analysis:
- Blanche retires to the bathroom in order to calm her nerves. However, Blanche uses her time in the hot tub as a way to avoid her past. Stella tells Stanley that Blanche needs the bath because “she’s been through such an ordeal.” (30). The “ordeal” is the loss of Belle Reve, and the ordeal should affect Stella more than Blanche because to Stella this is new information. This indicates the control that Blanche has over Stella, and at the same time reveals that Blanche is avoiding the problems of her past through bathing.
- Stanley uses his knowledge of the Napoleonic Code to maintain control over Stella. This control is strengthened by the fact that Stella says, “My head is swimming!” when Stanley tries to explain the code. Stella’s passive nature towards Stanley stems from Stella’s nature with Blanche as a child, which is why Stella does not have any control over her marriage or her sister.
- The fact that Blanche has expensive clothes in the trunk while she has no home or other money is because Blanche cares more about making herself seem rich than actually being rich. This portray the reoccurring theme of appearances vs. reality that is associated with Blanche, because Blanche portrays a thin veneer of civilization to hide the darkness that she has inside.
- The scene with Blanche’s red satin robe shows Blanche’s flirtatious side. Blanche even lets Stella know that “yes, [Blanche] was flirting with [Stella’s] husband.” (45). This scene slightly reveals the promiscuity that defines Blanche more prominently later on in the play. Tennessee Williams carefully gives the audience more and more information about Blanche’s past at a pace where the audience stays in suspense.
- Blanche’s desire for attention is seen when Blanche finds out about Stella’s pregnancy from Stanley. Stella is “sorry [Stanley] did that to [Blanche].” (page 45). This shows that Stella is unaccustomed to being the center of attention because of Blanche desire to be needed.
- When Blanche walks with Stella, she mentions “The blind are leading the blind!” (45). This is a biblical allusion, where the blind being lead and the blind doing the leading both fall. This foreshadows a conflicting resulting in a loss of a Brute vs. Fragile relationship, because the Brutes lead the Fragile.
- The Hot Tamale vendor closes out scene 2, and sets the beginning of the tension for the rest of the play with the phrase “Red-Hot!” (page 45).
Scene 3
- The opening of the third scene shows the men playing poker around the kitchen table.
- Mitch desires to leave the game and return home to his sick mother, who cannot sleep without him. Stanley is in an impatient mood due to the fact that he is losing poorly in the game. When Stella returns at 2:30 in the morning with Blanche and suggests halting the game, Stanley gets up and whacks Stella’s thigh.
- When the sisters are alone, Blanche shares her thoughts on Mitch. Blanche notices that Mitch is more sensitive than the other men, and Stella tells her that Mitch’s mother is sickly. While Stella goes to the bathroom, Blanche undresses in the light to attract the attention of the men in the other room.
- When Mitch excuses himself to go to the bathroom, he comes face to face with Blanche. She asks Mitch for a cigarette, and he takes this opportunity to show his cigarette case with an inscription on it to Blanche. Mitch explains that a girl who passed away gave it to him when they were young. Blanche requests that Mitch covers the lightbulb with a paper lantern because she finds a bare light bulb vulgar. Blanche turns on the radio and begins a waltz that Mitch clumsily tries to follow. Stanley becomes aggravated and throws the radio out of the window. Stella becomes furious and tells everyone to leave. This action only serves to anger Stanley more, who hits Stella. The men hold Stanley under the shower while Stella and Blanche go to Eunice’s apartment. After a while, Stanley emerges from his apartment and bellows for Stella. Stella returns to Stanley and they go inside their home. Mitch explains the series of occurrences to a confused Blanche, who thanks him for his kindness.
Analysis:
- The author purposefully writes Stanley losing in this scene. Not only does it make Stanley’s reactions more volatile, but it gives him a reason to be violent as well. The loss in the game is a microcosm to the state of Stanley’s life at this moment. He is losing control over his house and his property to Blanche, and he is aggravated by this turn of events.
- The fact that Blanche notices Mitch’s sensitivity is an indicator to Blanche’s own sensitivity. She is more in tune with the emotions of weaker individuals because she can relate. Stanley, however, lacks this sensitivity. He simply gets irate when Mitch’s softer emotions appear. For example, Stanley says “for the sake of Jesus, go home” (46) when Mitch expresses worries over his sick mother. This shows how impatient Stanley is with the emotions of others. He is not sensitive enough to care about the well-being of those around him. Blanche, on the other hand, relates to Mitch on a deeper level. Blanche and Mitch share a similar past: they have both lost a loved one to the merciless grip of death when they were young.
- The motif of light is prevalent within this scene. Blanche intentionally undresses under the glare of the light in order to attract attention from the men in the other room. This is important because it shows that Blanche seeks attention through her body. Blanche thrives off of the attention of men, but she worries that her body is slowly wilting away. This is why her physical appearance is such a major insecurity for her; she feels she will no longer attract attention without her youthful appearance. However, Blanche does not wish to be examined under the direct light. She asks Mitch to place a paper lantern over the bare light bulb, for she could not “stand a naked light bulb, any more than [she could] stand a rude remark or a vulgar action” (55). This quote shows that Blanche relates direct light with barbarism and the crude basics of human nature. The relation is important because it shows that Blanche’s true nature is barbaric, unlike the pristine nature she tries to keep up. She attempts to hide from the light in order to avoid confronting her distorted past. Without the light to expose her faded beauty, she is able claim that she is younger that she really is to Mitch.
- This scene also exposes Stanley’s true nature. His barbaric personality peaks when he hits Stella, leading her to seek refuge in Eunice’s house. Not long thereafter, Stella answers Stanley’s drunken calls and, to Blanche’s dismay, returns home. The type of relationship between Stella and Stanley is established when they came “together with low, animal moans” (60). This quote suggests that their relationship is purely fueled by their animal-like attraction to one another. Unlike the delicate sensitivity of the relationship between Mitch and Blanche, Stella and Stanley share a sexual relationship.
Scene 4
- The opening of the third scene shows the men playing poker around the kitchen table.
- Mitch desires to leave the game and return home to his sick mother, who cannot sleep without him. Stanley is in an impatient mood due to the fact that he is losing poorly in the game. When Stella returns at 2:30 in the morning with Blanche and suggests halting the game, Stanley gets up and whacks Stella’s thigh.
- When the sisters are alone, Blanche shares her thoughts on Mitch. Blanche notices that Mitch is more sensitive than the other men, and Stella tells her that Mitch’s mother is sickly. While Stella goes to the bathroom, Blanche undresses in the light to attract the attention of the men in the other room.
- When Mitch excuses himself to go to the bathroom, he comes face to face with Blanche. She asks Mitch for a cigarette, and he takes this opportunity to show his cigarette case with an inscription on it to Blanche. Mitch explains that a girl who passed away gave it to him when they were young. Blanche requests that Mitch covers the lightbulb with a paper lantern because she finds a bare lightbulb vulgar. Blanche turns on the radio and begins a waltz that Mitch clumsily tries to follow. Stanley becomes aggravated and throws the radio out of the window. Stella becomes furious and tells everyone to leave. This action only serves to anger Stanley more, who hits Stella. The men hold Stanley under the shower while Stella and Blanche go to Eunice’s apartment. After a while, Stanley emerges from his apartment and bellows for Stella. Stella returns to Stanley and they go inside their home. Mitch explains the series of occurrences to a confused Blanche, who thanks him for his kindness.
Analysis:
- Blanche’s inability to understand the basis of the relationship between Stella and Stanley depicts Blanche as the outsider of the group. Her old-fashioned ideals have no place in the society of New Orleans, and she is left dazed and confused. She desires to escape by seeking out the company of Shep Huntleigh, an old friend of hers who is currently rich from the profits of oil drills. Shep Huntleigh will manifest as Blanche’s chance of escape from the rough life of New Orleans back into the privileged life that she once lived.
- While Blanche is describing Stanley as a “survivor of the Stone Age” (72) to Stella, Stanley comes home. He hides his presence from the women behind the noise of a passing train, allowing him to listen to Blanche’s insults to his character. Instead of charging in angrily, he waits for the noise of another train and enters the room, pretending as though he did not hear a word. This serves to indicate his calculating nature. When he is calm, he is very thorough. These insults cements Stanley’s desire to bring about Blanche’s total downfall. He sees Blanche as a threat to his marriage by presenting these insults of him to Stella. Blanche’s harsh judgement of him ferments the resentment Stanley feels towards her.
Scene 5
- The scene starts out with Blanche reading over a letter that she wrote while Stella is dressing. Blanche reveals to Stella that she is writing a letter to her old lover Shep about how she will stop by.
- Meanwhile, Steve and Eunice get into an argument which results in Eunice getting hit by Steve. Stanley enters the scene and Blanche keeps a tally of phrases that she has not heard before. Blanche asks Stanley what his astrological sign is, to which Stanley replies Capricorn. Blanche also reveals that her sign is Virgo.
- Stanley then asks Blanche about Shaw and the Hotel Flamingo, and Blanche immediately denies knowing about any of them. Blanche is paranoid that Stanley told Stella about her past and asks her what she knows. Blanche asks Stella for a shot in her coke and starts to get hysterical as she claims that she will leave. Stella accidentally spills coke on Blanche’s white dress, but the coke did not stain the dress. Blanche expresses her nervousness towards her date with Mitch.
- Then, a man from the Evening Star comes by and asks for his collection. But then Blanche seduces him and gives him a kiss. Then Mitch comes by with roses and Blanche calls him a Rosenkavalier.
Analysis:
- Shep is a lover from Blanche’s past who is very rich. He is symbolic of Blanche’s escape out of Stanley’s house, because Blanche is uncomfortable being the Fragile to his Brute. Blanche is also seen to be hiding her true self once more because in her letter she makes herself out to be more well off than in reality, mentioning things like “most of my sister’s friends go north in the summer but some have homes on the Gulf.” (page 85).
- The fact that Eunice and Steve got into a much more violent fight than Stanley and Stella shows how the domestic violence between primitive couples only escalate. The relationship between Eunice and Steve is as primitive as the relationship between Stanley and Stella, but Eunice and Steve has been married longer. Therefore, any altercation between Eunice and Steve foreshadows what Stanley and Stella will become.
- Stanley’s disdain towards Blanche only grows when Blanche refers to him as a goat. Stanley would have many motives for kicking Blanche out, but if he did that, Stella would be upset and then would have more power over the relationship. Blanche claims she is a “Virgo, the Virgin.” (89). It is likely that Blanche fabricated this fact because she has done so with her age already. By making herself out to be the “Virgo the Virgin,” she maintains her appearance of purity.
- However, Stanley threatens her appearance by mentioning a man named Shaw and the Hotel Flamingo. While Blanche denies this, she goes into a state of hysteria, demanding Stella to tell her “what have you heard about me?” (page 91). This shows that Blanche is not comfortable with the possibility that her true past will come out into the open.
- Blanche only wants to mix the coke in with her whisky to keep up the appearance that she is not an alcoholic. However, the coke ends up spilling on her white dress. The white dress also makes up a part of her veneer of society. The fact that the coke did not stain the dress shows that two objects
- Even though Blanche tells Stella in a hysteric manner that Blanche will stay with Mitch, she immediately contradicts herself with her affair with the young man. Through this affair, Blanche’s true colors are revealed, as she has not changed from her time in the Hotel Flamingo. It is even more ironic when Blanche refers to Mitch as “My Rosenkavalier!” (page 99). A Rosenkavalier literally means a rose bearer, but in literature a Rosenkavalier is a man to which a woman has a temporary affair, making the young man more of a Rosenkavalier than Mitch.
Scene 6
- At two a.m., Blanche and Mitch return from the fair
- They note that the hot-tamale man has deserted the street
- Blanche worries that she has spoiled the night by not thoroughly entertaining Mitch
- Blanche declares that she has overstayed her welcome and is packing to leave
- Blanche leads Mitch into Stella’s house because Stella and Stanley are out
- Blanche speaks to Mitch in french (104)
- Blanche tells Mitch that she thinks Stanley hates her
- Blanche deflects attention away from herself when Mitch asks her for her age
- Mitch discusses his ill mother
- Blanche reveals that a young boy died when she was young
- Uses Mitch's ill mother to forge a connection
- Makes herself vulnerable so that Mitch may comfort her
Analysis:
- Blanche's speaking in French reveals her true self beneath her thin veneer of civilization
- “Joie de vivre”: The joy of living
- “Je suis la Dame aux Cameillas! Vou etes- Armand!”: I am the Lady of Camillias and you are Armand
- An allusion to the French play The Lady of Camellias
- The lady is a prostitute and Armand is her lover
- The relationship falls apart, thus foreshadowing that the relationship will not last
- Armand's father convinces Camilla and Armand to separate
- Stanley is like Armand's father; Stanley continues to pull at Blanche's threads until her facade unravels
- “Voulez vous couchez avec moi ce soir? Vous ne comprenez pas? Ah, quelle dommage!”: Do you want to sleep with me tonight? You do not understand? Ah, what a pity!
- French sounds beautiful, but Blanche uses it to disguise her dark nature
- Blanche reveals that she uses people
- Blanche wants to use Mitch to get out of Stella's house because of her poor relationship with Stanley
- Mitch's caring for his ill mother characterizes him as sensitive
- Makes him a fragile
- Easily malleable to Blanche's desires
Scene 7
- The scene opens with Blanche bathing and singing “Paper Moon” as Stella decorates for Blanche’s birthday.
- Stanley complains about Blanche hogging the bathroom and tells Stella what he’s found out about Blanche by asking around, including her stay at the Hotel Flamingo and the devious occurrences there before Blanche was required to turn in her key.
- The scene is interspersed with Blanche’s continual singing.
- Stanley also tells Stella that Blanche was fired from her position at the high school for sleeping with a 17 year old student.
- Stella does not believe the stories Stanley tells her and gives excuses for her sister. Stella stops short at 25 candles in Blanche’s cake.
- Stanley reveals that he has also told Mitch the stories he has heard and that Stanley has already bought a bus ticket for Blanche.
- The scene ends with Stanley in the bathroom, Stella quietly avoiding eye contact, and Blanche asking what’s wrong.
Analysis:
- Stella fetches Blanche cokes and towels while Blanche is in the tub, waits on her, reflects their fragile vs. brute relationship
- “Paper Moon” song reflects Blanche’s need to be loved / wanted by others
- “Possess your soul in patience.” (123) - Blanche to Stanley “It’s not my soul, it’s my kidneys I’m worried about!” (124) - Stanley’s response to Blanche suggesting that she drives him to drink
- Stella suggests that Allan was the cause of Blanche’s downfall / timid nature and shaped the person she became
Scene 8
- The scene opens with an uncomfortable birthday dinner shared by Stanley, Stella, and Blanche with an empty seat left for Mitch.
- Blanche asks Stanley to tell a joke to cheer everyone up. Stanley declines, saying he does not know any stories “refined enough” (129).
- Blanche tells her own story about a preacher and his cursing parrot which fails to amuse Stella and Stanley.
- Stella tells Stanley that he is greasy and needs to wash up and help her clear the table and Stanley replies by hurling his dishes to the floor to “clear the table” (131).
- Stanley goes out to smoke while Stella cries and Blanche asks what Stanley told Stella while Blanche was in the bathroom.
- Blanche calls Mitch with no response.
- Stanley assures Stella that once Blanche leaves and Stella delivers the baby they will rekindle the romance.
- Stanley snaps at being called a “Polack” and makes it clear that the name is derogatory and that he identifies as American.
- Mitch returns the call and Stanley picks up and talks for a while and hangs up without giving the phone to Blanche
- Stanley offers Blanche a birthday present, which turns out to be a ticket on the greyhound bus back to Laurel
- Blanche tries to act happy, but quickly gives up and rushes to the bathroom from which gagging sounds are heard
- Stella berates Stanley for his cruelty and accidently rips his silk bowling shirt as she attempts to stop him from going out bowling after he has upset Blanche
- Stanley explains that he and Stella have always been happy together and that Blanche has changed their relationship
- Stella suddenly goes into labor and asks to be take to the hospital
Analysis:
- Blanche’s joke - motif of duplicity, reflects Blanche herself
- “Don’t ever talk that way to me! Pig - Polack - disgusting - vulgar - greasy! - them kind of words have been on your tongue and your sister’s too much around here! What do you two think you are? A pair of queens? Remember what Huey Long said - Every Man is a King! And I am the king around here, so don’t forget it!” (131) - demonstrates Stanley’s brutish nature and need for superiority, but also how Blanche’s proximity has caused his life to worsen
- Blue piano - reflects sadness / estrangement
- “You didn’t know Blanche as a girl. Nobody, nobody, was tender and trusting like she was. But people like you abused her, forced her to change.” - theme of loss of innocence, generalization
Scene 9
- Blanche is drinking when an unshaven Mitch arrives in his work clothes
- Blanche hides the bottle and quickly powders and perfumes herself before opening the door.
- Blanche attempts to kiss Mitch and he pushes her out of the way. She remarks on his uncouth appearance, but is clearly cheerful.
- Mitch asks Blanche to turn of the fan and she complies.
- The music in Blanche’s head stops after she hears a gunshot.
- Blanche pretends to find the liquor she has been drinking and offers it to Mitch who declines, saying he does not want to take anything of Stanley’s. Blanche calls the Southern Comfort sweet and Mitch said that Stanley had complained about Blanche lapping up his liquor all summer like a wild cat
- Blanche asks Mitch “What’s in your mind? I can see something in your eye.” (143)
- Blanche says that the dark is comforting to her and Mitch remarks that he does not believe that he has ever seen Blanche in the light.
- Mitch tears the paper lantern off of the light bulb, saying he wants realism. Blanche says she prefers magic. Mitch notes that Blanche is older than she led him to believe.
- Mitch assumes that if Blanche lied about her age, then the rest of what Stanley said must also be true and Blanche is shady.
- Mitch makes continual accusations and Blanche denies them, making excuses. When Mitch brings up the Hotel Flamingo, Blanche says “Flamingo? No! Tarantula was the name of it! I stayed at a hotel called The Tarantula Arms!” (146)
- Blanche admits to having slept with many strangers after Allen’s death including one with her 17 year old student
- A blind Mexican woman called selling “Flores. Flores. Flores para los muertos.” (147), which Blanche fearfully rejects with the words “No, no! Not now! Not now!” (148)
- Blanche notes her previous proximity to death and says “the opposite (of death) is desire.” (149)
- Blanche asks Mitch to marry her and Mitch says Blanche isn’t clean enough to bring home to his mother.
- Blanche tells Mitch to leave before she yells fire. Mitch remains and Blanche yells “Fire! Fire! Fire!” (150) into the night.
Analysis:
- Blanche drinks to escape herself (loud “Varsouviana” - Blanche’s music)
- Blanche hides the bottle and powders her face to conceal her habits and herself (age), creating a mask, duplicitous
- Polka music and the gunshot that ends it reflect the traumatizing effect of Allen’s suicide on Blanche’s mindset
- “He says you been lapping it up all summer like a wild-cat!” (143) - compares Blanche to a wild cat, nocturnal, sleek, shady, avoids light, fierce at times, secretive
- “I like it dark. The dark is comforting to me.” - Blanche is secretive and the dark masks her age
- The light that Mitch shines on Blanche reveals her age and her nature, downfall as a continuation of the moth allusion
- Blanche’s response that she stayed in The Hotel Tarantula is a mockery of Mitch’s questions and accusations, but also Blanche’s recognition of the wrongness of her doings - a “black widow” (after Allen died she turned shady), wove webs of lies
- Mexican vendor selling flowers is a reminder of death including Allen and family members, opposite of desire
Scene 10
- The scene opens to an intoxicated Blanche dressed in an old, faded gown with a tiara on her head.
- Stanley enters and lets Blanche know that Stella’s baby will not arrive before morning. When asked about the strange outfit, Blanche replies that she has been invited to a cruise in the Caribbean by Shep Huntleigh. After drinking some beer, Stanley changes into the silk pyjamas of his wedding night. Blanche lies and tells Stanley that Mitch came by looking for forgiveness. Stanley snaps and attacks her while calling the invitation fake. While Blanche is looking for Shep’s address, Stanley blocks the path to the phone. Blanche threatens to twist the broken end of a bottle on Stanley’s face. Stanley roughly grabs her wrist and when Blanche sinks to her knees, Stanley picks her up and carries her to the bed.
Analysis:
- This scene shows the final confrontation between Stanley and Blanche. Stanley’s realism and pragmatism proves victorious over Blanche’s illusions and imagination. Blanche’s lies about Shep Huntleigh and the cruise are the final straw, and Stanley snaps because he cannot tolerate her baseless fibs due to his realistic nature.
- Blanche’s inability to let go of the past is expressed in this scene as well. When Mitch supposedly came to ask for forgiveness, Blanche claimed that she rejected him because “deliberate cruelty is not forgivable” (126). This thought stems from her past, when she deliberately told her young lover that he disgusted her. She knows that this comment was unforgivable because her lover did not live long enough to forgive her. She has carried the weight of the consequences of her words for many years by now.
- When Stanley rapes Blanche, it proves to be the final push to tip Blanche into the pits of insanity. The act of rape is an act of asserting dominance over Blanche. Stanley is resentful of Blanche because she seems to enjoy the benefits of all of his possessions, like his liquor and his house, but is hostile towards him, the provider of those goods. Stanley sees the rape as revenge for Blanche’s cruel remarks about Stanley in the earlier scenes. Blanche’s delusions are not strong enough to protect her from the harsh dose of reality that Stanley represents, and thus, she descends into insanity.
Scene 11
- Several weeks have passed by when this scene opens. Stella is preoccupied with packing up some of Blanche’s belongings while a poker party continues in the background. Stanley is currently in a good mood because he is winning the game. Eunice enters in order to help Stella pack up Blanche’s belongings, and Stella expresses some of her doubts about sending Blanche to a state institution. Even though Stella wishes Blanche could stay, Stella also fears that she could not go on living with Stanley if she decided to believe Blanche’s story about Stanley raping Blanche the night before Stella’s baby was due.
- Blanche walks out of the bathroom and wonders if there is a call waiting for her. While Stella and Eunice help Blanche get dressed, Blanche shares her desire to die at sea after eating unwashed grapes and be buried in a white sack.
- The doctor and the matron arrive to pick up Blanche. Once Blanche realizes who they are, she attempts to run away into the house. Stanley blocks her path and the matron pins her down. Stella runs out to the porch to avoid seeing her sister in such a sad state. The doctor’s calm tone helps Blanche relax into his arms, and she is led away after admitting that she has “always depended on the kindness of strangers” (142).
Analysis:
- A poker game serves as the final scene, and this time, Stanley’s winning. His victory in the game is also a victory in his life, for he has finally proven victorious over Blanche’s superiority complex. He is in control of his house and all of his belongings once again. Realism has trumped imagination.
- The final scene also serves as a podium for the playwright’s view on life. When Stella expresses her worries over Blanche’s institutionalization, Eunice replies, “no matter what happens, you’ve gotta keep going” (133). This best describes the general attitude of New Orleans, where the play takes place. It is a very easy going city, with a prevalent “live and let live” vibe. Blanche’s sensitivity renders her incapable of living in reality.
- When Stella is lamenting over the loss of her sister, Stanley comforts her by fondling her breasts. This act cements the animalistic nature of their relationship.
- Steve speaks the last line of the play: “this game is a seven-card stud” (142). This implies that the poker game, like the entire novel, was a particularly wild ride. However, he says this calmly. This unaffected tone indicates the unattached nature of the people of New Orleans. Sometimes, insane events take place. One simply has to let them transpire and move on.