Scene Seven Flashcards
1
Q
Key quotes from Scene 7
A
- “Lately you been doing all you can think of to rub her the wrong way, Stanley, and Blanche is sensitive and you’ve got to realize that Blanche and I grew up under very different circumstances than you did.”
- “I think Blanche didn’t just love him but worshipped the ground he walked on! Adored him and though him almost too fine to be human! But then she found out . . . This beautiful and talented young man was a degenerate.”
- “Yes, I do, so refreshed. [She tinkles her highball glass.] A hot bath and a long, cold drink always give me a new outlook on life!”
2
Q
What argument does John McCrae have about scene 7?
A
- BD’s ritualistic washing is done to represent the heat and claustrophobia in the apartment in contrast to Belle Reve.
- SK doesn’t understand her desire to wash as he likes being sweaty.
- BD’s washing potentially links to her looking after her body (property) - and her alone-ness – she switches off her mind.
- Paper Moon – the façade with the lyric “it wouldn’t be make-believe if you believed in me”
- Context of why she was fired changes the tone of scene 7 – becomes more sinister – takes the flirting with the Young Man up a notch
- The taboos are becoming more taboo.
- SK’s protection Mitch signals the beginning of the tragedy and reflects their homosocial bond.
3
Q
Plot summary for scene 7
A
- Stella is putting candles on BD’s cake. BD is in the bath, singing “Paper Moon” (Harold Arlen; famously linked to Ella Fitzgerald)
- SK tells Stella about BD’s activities in the Flamingo and also with a teenage pupil
- Stella in turn tells SK about BD’s marriage – TW using ‘code’ to confirm that Allen Grey was homosexual
- SK tells Stella that he’s told Mitch everything, and reveals he’s bought her a bus ticket
- BD gets out of the bath – she’s frightened by SK
- Scene ends on loud blue piano
4
Q
Contextual notes on scene 7
A
- As SK calls BD “her Majesty” is equates to the lost etiquette and eloquence of the Antebellum period.
- Ref to Barnum and Bailey – BD both illusionist and entertainer, and like the world of Showbiz, she crafting a facade that seeks to cloak the cracks in her reality.
- When SK says “downright loco…nuts” this reflects the patriarchal view that women with a sexual appetite are, as Freud would argue, “hysterical”. This links to the lobotomy of Rose Williams in 1947 for being too sexually promiscuous.
- Dangers of promiscuity are reiterated as BD is compared to a “school of sharks”
- Comradeship and homosocial bond between SK and Mitch is further emphasise as, like many soldiers, they are bound by their service, and loyalty for one another almost supplants their relationships with women.
5
Q
Notes on stagecraft and structure in scene 7
A
- Jump to mid-Sept significant – pace picks up which leads to wards the tragic climax. All hope is lost.
- Dramatic Irony in BD singing offstage – BD trying to cleanse herself whilst SK is busy making sure she can never move on from her promiscuous and scandalous past
- Juxtaposition from SK revealing her affair with 17 year old to BD laughing like a child in the bath – lyrical stage direction shows contrast between how she is presented by SK
- BD quoting Hamlet – sense of culture
- Stage Direction of BD being frightened of SK
6
Q
A
