Scenes 7-9 Flashcards
Why is Stella decorating the flat?
Scene 7
Because it’s Blanches birthday
Where is Blanche for the majority of the scene?
Scene 7
In the bath tub
How does the song that Blanche sings reflect her hiding something?
Scene 7
In the bath tub, Blanche sings “it wouldn’t be make-believe if you believed in me!” reflecting that she wants Stanley and Stella to keep believing her lies. Blanche also sings “Just as phony as it can be” showing that she is being fake towards them.
How is Blanche portrayed as innocent and infantile in the scene?
Scene 7
Blanche sings “ it’s only a paper moon, sailing over a cardboard sea” showing that she is living in her own magical, dream world, portraying Blanche as quite childish. She is using this fantasy world to protect her from the harsh reality of the world and from her sick fantasies with younger men. Blanche also wants other people to join her magical world to keep control.
What did Stanley tell Mitch?
Scene 7
Stanley told Mitch about Blanche staying at the hotel Flamingo and that she had been kicked out of Laurel for her inappropriate behaviour with a seventeen year old boy.
What was Stanley’s present for Blanche?
Scene 7
A bus ticket away from Elysian fields
What happens to Stella at the end of the scene?
Scene 8
She goes into labour
When does Blanche get panicked?
Scene 8
When Stanley gives her a bus ticket
How do we know that Blanche gets panicked?
Scene 8
Because the Varsouviana starts to play and it reflects Blanche’s mind when she is distressed and panicked. The example of plastic theatre plays whenever the truth about Blanche and her facade starts to slip.
How is Stanley shown to be aggressive?
Scene 8
He smashes a plate to the floor when he felt disrespected.
How do we know that Stanley feels threatened by Blanche?
Scene 8
After smashing a plate, he shouts at both Stella and Blanche saying “ I am the king around here, so don’t forget it!”. Here Stanley is being very territorial and he is shown to be a very stereotypical 1940s man where he must have control over situations and be dominant.
Who turns up at the start of the scene?
Scene 9
Mitch
When does the Varsouviana music in Blanches mind stop?
Scene 9
When she hears the shoot of the revolver.
Why does Mitch rip off the paper lantern that covers the light bulb?
Scene 9
Because he wants to see Blanche’s true self. She has been hiding from him all this time as Mitch only ever sees her in dim lighting. This reflects Mitch finally seeing Blanches true form inside and out. After Stanley told Mitch of Blanche staying at the hotel Tarantula, confronts her “Lies, lies inside and out, all lies” He can see Blanche for who she actually is.
How does Blanche and Mitch’s relationship die in the scene?
Scene 9
After Mitch confronts Blanche, a Mexican woman carries “gaudy tin flowers” that people “display at funerals”. These flowers are a symbol of death and is a stark contrast with the roses that Mitch got Blanche at their first date, when their love was still alive. Blanches ability to manipulate Mitch dies along with her sense of belonging.
