Scene Nine

Question 1

Plot summary for scene 9

Answer 1

• Mitch confronts BD about her shady past whilst the polka plays
• BD continues to take shots of whiskey
• BD reveals the truth about the rumours and explains the relationship with the student
• The Mexican lady is heard in the background
• The polka fades away and Blanche kicks Mitch out

Question 2

Key quotes for scene 9

Answer 2

• “The music is in her mind”
• “Mitch comes around the corner in work clothes…He is unshaven”
• “She rushes about frantically, hiding the bottle in the closet, crouching at the mirror dabbing her face with cologne and makeup”
• “So utterly uncavalier”
• “She looks fearfully after him as he stalks into the bedroom”
• “There now, the shot! It always stops after that.”
• “Are you boxed out of your mind”
• “He says you’ve been lapping it up all summer like a wild-cat”
• “He tears the paper lantern off the light-bulb. She utters a frightened gasp”
• “I don’t want realism”
• “I’ll tell you what I want. Magic! [Mitch laughs] Yes, yes, magic! I try to give that to people. I misrepresent things to them. I don’t tell the truth. I tell what ought to be the truth. And if that is sinful let me be dammed for it”
• ## “Oh I knew you weren’t 16 anymore. But I was fool enough to believe you was straight”