scene 5 Flashcards
stage directions:
‘blanche is seated in the bedroom fanning herself with a palm leaf’
upper class
out of touch with the norms of the new south
ironic - symbolise integrity and eternal life
blanche:
‘darling shep. i am spending the summer on the wing, making flying visits here and there. and who knows, perhaps I shall take a sudden notion to swoop down on dallas! how would you feel about that? ha-ha!’
losing reality
moving to fantasy
lying
williams shows how individuals are influenced by an ideal - blanche needs to be perfect
eunice:
‘you ain’t pulling the wool over my eyes! i wouldn’t mind if you’d stay down at the four deuces, but you always going up’
brothels - how open new orleans is about sex and desire
how common it is
tumultuous relationship between eunice and steve is a mirroring of stanley and stella’s relationship
blanche:
‘i must jot that down in my notebook. ha-ha! i’m compiling a notebook of quaint little words and phrases I’ve picked up here’
mocking them - upper class can’t take things seriously
making memories
making herself look sophisticated
stage directions:
‘he jerks open the bureau drawer, slams it shut and throws shoes in a corner. at each noise blanche winces slightly’
lost battle over stella
scared - gender roles becoming more evident
blanche:
‘capricorn - the goat’
links to the devil
fertility and aggression - oversexualised
earth sign, known for being down to earth i.e. reasonable.
the animal goat is also a symbol of greatness and excellence
blanche:
‘virgo is the virigin’
ironic
reflects her want to be pure
stanley:
‘a hotel called the flamingo’
sounds run down
blanche wouldn’t approve
hotel setting also has links to sex and desire – rarely are hotels a place for parties or upper class expression
beauty, balance, potential, and romance.
blanche:
‘the odour of cheap perfume is penetrating’
only used to be worn by prostitutes
lower class place
blanche:
‘people are soft- soft people have got to shimmer and glow - they’ve got to put on soft colours, the colours of butterfly wings,’
only way to survive - prostitution
semantic field of fragile femininity, blanche is excusing her past behaviours on the fact she’s ageing and has been unable to fulfil her lovers, especially her ex-husband as he was homosexual.
there are anaphoric references to the paper lantern and the butterfly and she is described as a delicate moth in scene 1 and it shows that she is no longer who she wants to be, the stereotypical young southern belle
blanche:
‘but i’m scared now, awf’ly scared i don’t know how much longer I can turn the trick . and I - I’m fading now!’
telling stella - first time she’s not hiding
scared of prostitution
beauty is fading - feels as though she is getting old she is fading with her power, she relies on beauty and validation of men to source her own self worth
stella:
’ i don’t listen to you when you are being morbid!’
doesn’t want to deal with it
fed up - ignores it, becomes fantastical - normal for blanche
blanche:
‘but on the other hand men lose interest quickly. especially when the girl is over - thirty. they think a girl over thirty ought to - the vulgar term is- ‘put out’
always thinking about men - it’s a man’s world
stella knows she’s acting
shows the stereotypical gender roles in the 1940’s that a woman would change themselves to date a man. as they were the providers and create stability for their wives.
here blanche is expressing her insecurities on the fact she is not financially stable and needs a husband before its too late, this is why she uses mitch
blanche:
‘could you give me a light?’
phallic imagery
make herself feel youthful again
