Scene 2 Flashcards
> symbolic emotional cleansing
ritualistic
another irritating habit - W’s craft
stifling, humid, self-serving
bathing motif
“she’s soaking in a hot tub to quiet her nerves.”
> est. status + cementation in New South
irony - ignorant to legal technicalities
parallels Blanche’s creation of a false reality
“Napoleonic code”
> class antagonism -wrongly identifies her clothes
B camp component of artifice
parallels Blanche - only accepts his version of reality
ignores Stella’s explanations
“A crown for an Empress!”
“The treasure chest of a pirate!”
“Inexpensive summer furs”
> biblical allusion - ‘Scarlet Woman’
‘fallen woman’ >represents temptation and moral degradation
reliance on seduction as survival tool
deliberately weaponizes sexuality
physical manifestation of her role in society - viewed as a temptress/whore
Blanche puts on a “red satin robe”
> reveal extent of destitution
trying to maintain external appearance of wealth
“Everything I own is in that trunk.”
> proxemics - S needs status acknowledged
B completely powerless >attempts at charming him failed entirely
Blanche on the floor gathering them up
> B still believes herself superior to S and vice versa
all her cordialities rendered futile - reality is she is almost disgusted by him
isn’t attracted to him >this completely emasculates him
aversion also stems from class privilege
stab at Stanley’s ego
“Now that you’ve touched them I’ll burn them”
“The touch of your hands insults them!”
> dry humour again emasculates him
B witty and intellectual - reps class status
S attempts to retake control with the pregnancy
desire to intimidate and maintain power over B greater than his respect/ affection for S
“Present them to him with a box of aspirin tablets”
Stanley becomes “somewhat sheepish”
“Especially now that she’s going to have a baby”
