stella dubois quotes + analysis Flashcards
1
Q
‘You never did give me a chance to say much, Blanche. So I just got in the habit of being quiet around you.’
A
- scene 1,
- Stella honestly shares her experience growing up with Blanche on the plantation called Belle Reve
- In fact, Stella is always honest with Blanche
- The personalities of Stella and Blanche are in sharp contrast with each other throughout the play. Blanche, the more talkative of the two, is the sister of words, while Stella is the sister of action
2
Q
‘You have no idea how stupid and horrid you’re being! Now close that trunk before she comes out of the bathroom!’
A
- scene 2
- Stella is shocked to find Stanley rifling through Blanche’s trunk, and she criticizes him for his suspicions and his invasion of her privacy. In one of the first examples of Stella taking Blanche’s side over Stanley’s, Stella lays the groundwork for one of the play’s major themes: personal integrity
- Stella is the most thoughtful and compassionate of the main characters
- She often takes the high road while Blanche and Stanley seem to vie for places on the low road.
3
Q
‘He didn’t know what he was doing . . . He was as good as a lamb when I came back and he’s really very, very ashamed of himself.’
A
- scene 4, violence/conflict
- Animalisation and infantilisation of Stanley in Stella’s metaphor - she does not see Stanley’s violence as a deal breaker and looks past this through the stability and sexual pleasure he provides
Intensifier repetition - ‘very very’ - convincing Blanche that Stella is ‘not in a situation she wishes to get out of’ and disturbingly removing any blame from Stanley of his brutish behaviour - Blanche criticizes her for returning home and sleeping with Stanley after such violent behaviour
- Removed personal pronoun ‘he’ Stella does not name Stanley perhaps as to not provoke a reaction from Blanche and demonstrate that many men commit these acts of violence against their wives - Steve and Eunice’s tumultuous relationship
- Stella justifys Stanleys behaviour - emphatic symbolism for dominance of the patriarchy, where women are forced to make excuses for their male counterparts violence
- For Stella as for Stanley, the line between sexuality and physical violence blurs and Stella admits that Stanley has always been volatile
4
Q
“I couldn’t believe her story and go on living with Stanley.”
A
- scene 11, truth + lies
- Through this, Stella articulates the hard choice she made to preserve her own family unit, despite the cost of betraying her sister
- Stella torn between Blanche and Stanley, remorseful for calling the doctor but did it due to Stanley
5
Q
‘and when he comes back I cry on his lap like a baby’
A
- scene 1, femininity
- stella’s dependency on Stanley and her love and affection for him; shows sexual desires and male vs female
Simile - ‘like a baby’ infantilises Stella and shows how she relies on Stanley to protect her, provide for her and keep her safe - Establishes affectionate and passionate relationship that the two share and demonstrates to Blanche how Stella will prioritise Stanley above all else
- 1950s - after the war ended women were encouraged to leave their jobs and return to being a homemaker, the play was written at the time when this turmoil was at its peak and although we do see points in the play where Stella searches for her independence and takes a stand against Stanley, ultimately she chooses him as the father of her child and the person she will spend the rest of her life with.
- Simile - ‘like a baby’ infantilises Stella and shows how she relies on Stanley to protect her, provide for her and keep her safe
- Establishes affectionate and passionate relationship that the two share and demonstrates to Blanche how Stella will prioritise Stanley above all else
6
Q
‘your face and fingers are disgustingly greasy’
A
- scene 8, masculinity and femininity
- Fricative alliteration ‘face and fingers’ highlights disgust towards Stanley and dehumanisation of him as a ‘pig’
Animalistic masculinity v fragile femininity - Stanley’s gobbling of the chop and Stella’s disgust of this is a reversal of the opening scene, where she is delighted to catch his ‘meat’, indicates escalating tensions within the house and how Stanley’s hypermasculine phallic tendencies have become overpowering within the house - Stella protects Blanche from the destruction of her fantasy
she tries to establish a sense of power over her husband by commanding him to follow her instructions - This undermines Stanley status as the dominant figure in the house and here we Stella at her most assertive, which creates tension between the two, a tension which this time echoes not a tension between the classes but a tension between the genders
- Stanley resents the dehumanisation and belittling of himself at the hands of Blanche and Stella, as he sees himself as fully American and detests the snobby behaviour
- New Orleans mirrored national trends of urbanisation and was filled with immigrants experiencing clumped settlement patterns however New Orleans was unique in that it remained very mixed and multicultural
7
Q
‘stella, stella for star!’
A
- scene 1, femininity
- Stella symbolised as guidance of the old south and being the sea of the household
- ‘stella’ = star in french and ‘blanche’ = white, longing for aristocratic old tendencies and airs and graces of the DuBois
- Symbol of light, beacon of hope
Representative of the truth - sincerity, and is never changing, stability - Blanche comes to Elysian Fields, looking for Stella who is her last hope for stability
- Stella is the light her name carries
- Stella is a glimpse of hope for Blanche indicating Stella’s role as a peacemaker and a bridge between old and new world
8
Q
‘I’m going to try to keep Blanche out till the party breaks up because I don’t know how she would take it. So we’ll go out to one of the little places in the Quarter afterwards and you’d better give me some money.’
A
- scene 3, class + femininity
- Stella is trying to protect her fragile sister from the roughness of the night’s poker game. It’s loud, rough, and male-dominated—very different from Blanche’s refined, delicate sensibilities. This shows Stella’s protectiveness toward her sister, trying to shield her from something that would be upsetting or uncomfortable
- Stanley is not happy about it because he has to eat a cold dinner alone, and Blanche represents old-world Southern gentility, while Stanley represents a working-class, brash masculinity. Stella understands both worlds but recognizes how much they clash. Her line reveals her awareness of Blanche’s fragility and her attempt to manage it, and avoid the cultural conflict
- He is already beginning to resent Blanche’s presence in their household and doesn’t trust her delicate persona
9
Q
(mildly) ‘Don’t holler at me like that’
A
- scene 1, gender
- adverb ‘mildly’ juxtaposes the imperative she attempts to use, showing that she is weak and can’t hold her own against Stanley, she has it in her however Stanley takes away any own power she had and her authority showing the gender inequality in 1940’s
- Her reaction reveals her coping mechanism—downplaying Stanley’s aggression to maintain peace. This tendency contributes to the toxic dynamic that Blanche later tries to criticize.
- Passive role of women in the play,Normalisation of abuse
10
Q
‘this is my house and ill talk as much as I want to!’
A
- scene 3, gender
- In a rare moment of dominance, Stella reminds her husband that he can’t tell her what or what not to do
- Stanley has just ordered Stella and Blanche to stop talking while the men play poker, but Stella makes clear that she is her own boss in her own home
11
Q
“You take it for granted that I am in something I want to get out of”
A
- scene 4, desire
- Loves Stanley; defending his behaviour despite abusive relationship. Highlights the addiction of lust/love that Stanley and Stella have for each other
- Stella says this more than once to Blanche when Blanche suggests that they need to find a way to “get us both out.”
- This is the main point of contention between the sisters. Blanche considers Stella’s life and marriage intolerable or pretends to. Stella defends and clings to her marriage
- She is satisfied with her home and her marriage, no matter how both appear to others. Stella is comfortable in her own skin and life, while Blanche is not.
- Stella’s words also hint at her emotional dependence on Stanley, suggesting she has accepted the toxicity of their relationship as part of their intense, passionate bond.
12
Q
‘stanley doesn’t give me a regular allowance, but this morning he gave me ten dollars to smooth things over.’
A
- scene 4, gender
- notion of economic domination, Stella is a victim.
- stanley uses sec as well as money to make up for his abuse
- patriarcal society
- Stella represents the conditioned 1940s housewife who lacks freedom to express herself and is subjected to male superiority and hegemonic masculinity
