Scene Six Flashcards
1
Q
Quotes from scene 6
A
- “Mitch is stolid but depressed”
- “It was the other little - familiarity - that I - felt obliged to - discourage”
- “We’ll have a night-cap. Let’s leave the lights off. Shall we?”
- ” We are going to be very Bohemian”
- “I am ashamed of the way I perspire”
- “I don’t want you to think I’m severe or old maid school teacherish”
- “I weight 207 pounds “
- “It was like you had turned a blinding light on something that had always been in the shadows”
- “A nervousness and tenderness which wasn’t like a man’s”
- “He was in quicksand and clutching at me”
- “A locomotive is heard and she claps her hands to her ears and crouches over”
- “We danced the vasouviana!”
- “He’d stuck the revolver in his mouth, and fired”
- “I know! I know! You disgust me…”
- “Sometimes - there’s God , so quickly!”
2
Q
Plot summary for scene 6
A
- BD and Mitch return from night out; it hasn’t gone well
- Mitch asks permission to kiss BD – she asks why he asks
- Mitch talks about sweating and weight
- BD talks about how SK hates her and how claustrophobic the apartment is
- He asks, via his mother, BD’s age -she doesn’t tell him
- BD tells Mitch (and us) about Allan Grey’s death
- They cuddle together
3
Q
What argument does John McCrae have about scene 6?
A
- The famous scene between BD and Mitch; we have been warned from the previous scene that she will deceive him as she says “I want to deceive him enough to make him want me” BD says “I was somewhat flattered that you desired me” - perhaps TW suggesting that “desire is dangerous and leads you like a moth to the flame.”
- This scene is the most optimistic part of the play – there’s a chance they can be together. Now the audience has compassion for BD they will her to succeed.
- The death of her gay husband is the “biggest single tragedy in the play” and that “love and death go all the way through history, all the way back to R&J” (what about the Greeks, John?! - Perry, 2024)
4
Q
Contextual notes on scene 6
A
- BD’s ability to speak in French and her ref to French Lit is not understood by Mitch, who is not suited to a “Bohemian life” - it highlights the social differences between BD the sophisticated and cultured Southern Belle, and the new Working Class. This links to how the new ruling classes of New America weren’t landed gentry but wealthy industrialists. This could link to the feelings of many in literary society at the time: that with the death of the Old South, culture died too.
- Her attempt at pretence and maintaining the Southern Belle façade is doomed to failure, highlighting her inability to relate to others.
- Locomotive approaching suggests Allan Grey having gay sex – similar idea to Hitchcock evading the censors by using exactly the same motif in his films.
5
Q
Notes on structure and stagecraft in scene 6
A
- BD wanting to keep lights off allows her to be in control and create an attractive personality/looks for Mitch.
- Mitch lifting BD up highlighting her femininity and desire for a Courtly Lover – wants to be seen as Southern Belle.
- Mae West statuette – - highlights Mitch’s inability to ‘deal with’ a sexualised woman – he holds her upside down.
- Locomotive – loud sound – BD claps hands to ears – we are starting to understand why BD is so traumatised by unexpected loud noises.
- Polka in a minor key – she can’t tell past from present, representing decay of her mind.
- Polka comes back in in a major key AFTER gunshot, perhaps representing that she is entirely unable to move past the trauma – it constantly haunts her.
- NOTE – the polka fades out as Mitch and BD embrace.
6
Q
Links across literature in scene 6
A
- Use of stars and astrology perhaps links to ideas of fate – BD needs guidance and direction
- Use of French enforces the fantasy BD craves – she has created her own romantic reality (romance language)
- BD’s belief that SK’s masking his attraction of her relates to the position of women and the lengths they have to go to, to survive.
- Link to traumatic effects – BD’s inability to escape her youth – links to impact of PTSD.
- The uses of dashes – little moment to perhaps link to Emily Dickinson
