Scene 8 Flashcards
sunset is serene and beautiful
authorial crafting - wants a prominent image before the subsequent
Williams’ nuance - uses colour to build surreal atmosphere
sunset symbolise passing of time - Mitch’s time to come has gone and Blanches’ time to hold on to hope has run out - set up tension
“still-golden dusk”
“a torch of sunlight blazes”
undertones of bitterness towards her socioeconomic superiority status - enjoyment in subtly mocking her for the truths she is unaware he knows yet
“I don’t know any refined enough for your taste”
Blanche’s presence and relentless commentary momentarily make her see him through a different lens—one of refinement and class distinctions
Blanche = physical reminder of the buried ideologies of her past, brought to the forefront
Genuine moment of disgust and frustration towards his behaviours?
“making a pig of himself “
“disgustingly greasy”
“go and wash up and help me clear the table”
plastic theatre - Williams still crafts a physical reaction from Stanley on top of his verbal outburst
Stanley + Blanche - oscillating antagonists
epitomises the fragility of toxic masculinity esp in 1940s
echoes his past abuse (scene 3)
“he hurls a plate to the floor”
“he seizes her arm”
lens of sympathy to Stanley’s working class struggle and social insecurity - Stella aligning herself with Blanche’s aristocratic attitude alienates him
outburst is a culmination of pent-up resentment from being belittled in his own home
“‘Pig - Polack - disgusting - vulgar - greasy!’ - them kind of words have been on your tongue and your sister’s too much around here!”
feminist reading - anger reflects his insecurity in the face of female criticism, especially his wife, who is meant to be subservient to him - he has to resort to physical intimidation to balance it
reaction was catalysed by Stella’s act of siding with Blanche - Stanley expects unconditional loyalty from Stella and even a waver in that causes him to respond with rage to supress it
“Remember what Huey Long said? ‘Every man is King’ and I am the king around here”
represents the domestic sphere as a site of male power - smashing the plate symbolically asserts his dominance over the household, making it clear that this space belongs to him and operates on his terms
significance of set (the home, dinner table) and props (the plate)
stage directions echo scene 3 - Stanley’s rage renders him genuinely out of control as the clumsy embrace suggests an attempt at affection
“takes her clumsily into his arms”
Stanley’s level of jealousy is revealed here - perhaps his primary motive
Stanley’s description cements the basis of their relationship - built on lust and raw sexual connection - brings to light that, when unable to experience that, their relationship falls apart/ becomes strained
reassert his control over her through sexual dominance - has historically kept Stella loyal to him
sees Blanche as a threat to his domestic status - she has often tried to intellectualize and moralize Stella out of loving him
“Its gonna be alright again between me and you the way that is was”
“when we can make noise in the night the way we used to”
“get the coloured lights going with nobody’s sister behind the curtains to hear us!”
stage-crafting - immediately after Stanley expressing his desire for their passionate relationship to reignite, William’s includes a physical reminder of that passion
Steve and Eunice = foil characters, represent the potential passionate working class relationships Stanley wants with Stella - although still flawed, the functionality of the neighbours’ relationship is used dramatically to illuminate how truly incompatible Stanley and Stella seem
“their upstairs neighbours are heard in bellowing laughter”
uses a babble of poetic rhetoric - mental state is deteriorating
everything tinged by Blanche’s past and her developing anxieties because of that - more evidence to suggest she may be experiencing PTSD
romanticized innocence - attachment to the idea of innocence and purity, something which will inevitably be lost in every childhood
thematic symbol of light - fear of reality in a world where hers is so bleak
“I hope his eyes are going to be like candles”
“candles burn out in little boys’ and girls’ eyes”
“electric light-bulbs go on and you see too plainly”
all characters are becoming increasingly short-tempered
Blanche’s outburst reflects her capacity for niceness and her ability to mask her growing frustration is wavering
scene is full of anticipation and immersive tension as audience know everything is about to come to a head
“I’ve said I was sorry 3 times”
As Stella grows angrier, her grammar becomes more formal
Stanley’s grammar grows sloppier and he speaks in sentence fragments
Language indicates their retreats away from each other and towards their social roles
“You needn’t have been so cruel to someone alone as she is”
“Delicate piece she is”
hyper-masculine world view - he relies on manual labour and thrives in the industrial post-war climate, traits valued in American nationalism (ao3)
desperate to assert his identity onto Blanche as a way to gain control over her as he did with Stella
social insecurity - as an immigrant, he is hypersensitive to insults and so is rejecting any lingering sense of foreignness or outsider status
“one hundred percent American”
“born and raised in the greatest country on earth”
“don’t ever call me a Polack”
greyhound - working class, impersonal, practical transport - exacerbates cruelty of the gift - stark reminder that her old world is gone.
symbolic eviction from her own life, sending her back to the place where she lost everything
universe itself is dictating her fate, and Stanley is simply delivering the news
humiliation - stripping Blanche of her dignity in front of Stella - regaining his own power and dignity
“Ticket! Back to Laurel! On the Greyhound! Tuesday!”
