Scene 3 Flashcards
> game of chance - ideas of fate/destiny
‘American Dream’ - taking risks, everyone has a chance of success,
synonymous with American culture
gendered space - male control and aggression
excessive masculine personalities
‘Poker’
ao3 - original title ‘The Poker Night’
> expressionist painter - warped reality
Williams - expressionist writer
painting mirrors scene playing out - epitome of American culture
opening stage directions
“picture of Van Goghs of a billiard-parlour at night.”
> surreal, dreamlike atmosphere
mimics expressionist painting
sensory image is to the point of discomfort
Williams’ craft - poetic expressionism
“lurid nocturnal brilliance”
“childhood’s spectrum”
“vivid green glass”
“primary colours”
> foil for Blanche’s association with white and purity
“primary colours”
> fast-paced, topic changes
fighting for dominance in the discourse
impulsive, reaction-based mentality > tense unpredictable atmosphere
hedonistic pursuit of enjoyment
male dialogue
> appearance concerns revolving around cleanliness
wants to give off air of purity
“hot and frazzled”
> Blanche anticipates chivalry; Stanley ensures she does not receive it through abrupt vernacular
Mitch’s subsequent ‘Gentleman’ treatment - affirming ‘Southern Cavalier’ ideal
Blanche: “please don’t get up”
Stanley: “nobody’s going to get up”
followed by Mitch’s “awkward courtesy”
> borderline predatory
sexualising herself
contradicts earlier aversion to light >inconsistency in performance
“suggests a moth” attracted to light
difficult to resist temptation and moral compromise when all she knows is desperation
“certain interest”
“unbuttoning her blouse”
“in her pink silk brassiere and white skirt in the light”
> social darwinism and ‘American Dream’
Blanche’s inability to understand highlights class differences + ignorance to societal progression
“its a drive that he has”
> Stella + Blanche commonality angers Stanley in his domain
“you hens cut out that conversation”
> exerting his control over the space
trying to divide the genders
“jumps up”
“turns it off”
“jerks roughly at curtains to close them”
> scarlet woman motif - Stanley to Mitch >juxtaposes initial desire to detract attention
weaponizing her sexuality
“she has slipped on the dark red satin wrapper”
> creating damsel narrative
faking her vulnerability >constantly contradicting herself
series of deceits >possesses antagonistic traits
“reading with feigned difficulty”
> circus associations - bears in captivity for others entertainment
romantic idealism of Mitch isn’t reality - he isn’t suited to her world
“moves in awkward imitation like a dancing bear”
ao3 - 1940s censorship
violence off stage
> Stella goes back to Stanley - addicted to him >violence reignites their lust
drawn to what destroys her (Blanche parallel)
desire
moans first heard from a clarinet - moments of tenderness
“her eyes go blind with tenderness”
“low animal moans”
> cycle of abuse
Stella has chosen her side
audience lose faith she will understand detriment of her relationship
foreshadowing - already made her choice times before
Eunice “like the last time”
> melodramatic idiosyncrasies
perhaps there is some truth
dialogue is hyperbolised >performative
strategically playing damsel in distress
“there’s so much - so much confusion in the world…”
> alternative view of heterosexual masculinity or closeted homosexual
shares traits with Allan - sentimental, likes poetry
stands out against crowd
“read the inscription”
> cannot have her moral and physical decay laid bare
evading light reps avoiding truth - hers is tainted with shame
dresses it up prettily as form of external fleeting relief
ties Mitch to the fantasies she will construct under it - relationship doomed to fail; founded in illusion
“I can’t stand a naked light bulb, any more than I can a rude remark or a vulgar action”
“Put it over the light bulb! Will you, please?”
> Blanche’s manipulation of reality in the dark
in contrast with poker setting; both in their ideal climates
The bedroom is relatively dim with only the light that spills between the portieres and through the wide window on the street.
