Streetcar 5 Flashcards
parallel plot
- used to emphasise certain themes of the play
- can make audiences see the main characters in a new light
- Steve and Eunice’s relationship
‘[A… is heard upstairs…’
‘[A disturbance is heard upstairs at the Hubbels’ apartment]’ - SD
‘Eunice seems to be…’
‘Eunice seems to be having some trouble with Steve.’ - Stella
- downplaying the violence
- ‘Eunice’s voice shouts in terrible wrath’ undermines this
‘I heard about…’
‘I heard about you and that blonde!’ - Eunice
- E picking the fight
- ‘that blonde’ could parallel Blanche in Stanley/Stella’s relationship
the equal violence between Eunice and Steve
‘Don’t you throw that at me!’ - Steve
‘[shrieking] You hit me! I’m gonna call the police!’ - Eunice
- explicit violence
- two-way
- Stella is presented as more vulnerable than Eunice
‘A clatter of…’
‘A clatter of aluminium striking a wall is heard, followed by a man’s angry roar, shouts, and overturned furniture.’ - SD
‘There is a crash…’
‘There is a crash, then a relative hush’ -SD
Blanche’s reaction to the steve-eunice fight
- ‘[brightly] Did he /kill/ her?’
- ‘They laugh lightly’
- ‘I must jot that down in my notebook. Ha-ha’
very different to the: ‘Lunacy, absolute lunacy!’ ‘I’m terrified!’ ‘madman’ - unbothered - perhaps feels Eunice belongs in this life unlike Stella, doesn’t feel it involves her
‘[brightly]…’
‘[brightly] Did he /kill/ her?’
- ‘They laugh lightly’
- ‘That’s much more practical!’ (drinking rather than police)
- Stella and Blanche don’t show the level of protectiveness that Eunice did for Stella
‘That’s much more…’
‘That’s much more practical!’ - Stella
- more practical to drink than get the police
Blanche’s reaction to Stanley’s presence
-‘nervous gestures’
- ‘At each noise Blanche winces slightly’
‘Steve comes down…’
‘Steve comes down nursing a bruise on his forehead’ - SD
- both of them are injured (unlike Stanley)
‘That hunk! [He looks around…’
‘That hunk! [He looks around the corner a bit timidly, then turns with affected boldness and runs after her.]’ - Steve
- similarity to Stanley (drawn to their wives)
Stanley’s behaviour in the start of scene 5
- makes noise moving around the flat to get to Blanche
‘jerks open’ ‘slams it shut’ ‘throws shoes’
‘At each noise…’
‘At each noise Blanche winces slightly’
‘I bet you were born…’
‘I bet you were born under Aries. Aries people are forceful and dynamic. They dote on noise! They love to bang things around!’ - Blanche
‘You must have had lots…’
‘You must have had lots of banging around in the army, and now that you’re out, you make up for it by treating inanimate objects with such a fury!’ - Blanche
‘Capricorn - the Goat’
- goat often symbolises the devil
- promiscuous and stubborn
- bossy (Stanley has to have his way)
- Blanche is ‘Virgo’ ‘the Virgin’ (complete opposite)
‘Virgo is…’
‘Virgo is the Virgin.’ - Blanche
- her ideal persona of purity
- Stanley responds ‘[contemptuously]’ ‘/Hah!/’
‘[He advances…’
‘[He advances a little as he knots his tie.] Say, do you happen to know somebody named shaw?’ - Stanley
- clearly being investigating her
- subtle hints at him knowing who she really is
‘Well, this somebody named…’
‘Well, this somebody named Shaw is under the impression he met you in Laurel, but I figure he must have got you mixed up with some other party because this other party is someone he met at a hotel called the Flamingo.’ - Stanley
- changed tack, less confrontational (more subtle)
- Blanche is fragile enough to take on the hints and dwell on it
‘The Hotel Flamingo is not…’
‘The Hotel Flamingo is not the sort of establishment I would dare to be seen in!’ - Blanche
‘Twenty-five…’
‘Twenty-five dollars an ounce! I’m nearly out.’ - Blanche
‘[She speaks lightly…’
‘[she speaks lightly but her voice has a note of fear.]’ - Blanche
- unsettled by Stanley’s mention of Shaw and her past in Belle Reve
‘Blanche closes her…’
‘Blanche closes her eyes as if faint. Her hand trembles as she lifts the handkerchief again to her forehead.’ - SD
‘Steve and Eunice come…’
‘Steve and Eunice come around the corner. Steve’s arm is around Eunice’s shoulder and she is sobbing luxuriously and she is cooing love-words. There is a murmur of thunder as they go slowly upstairs in a tight embrace.’ - SD
- showing affection
- reflects Stella and Stanley
‘Blanche rises from her…’
‘Blanche rises from her chair. She seems faint; looks about her with an expression of almost panic.’ - SD
- genuinely affected by Stanley
‘Stella! What have…’
‘Stella! What have you heard about me?’ - Blanche
- reputation and insecurity
‘You haven’t heard…’
‘You haven’t heard any - unkind - gossip about me?’ - Blanche
- reputation and insecurity, what she did in Belle Reve
‘I never was hard or…’
‘I never was hard or self-sufficient enough. When people are soft - soft people have got to court the favour of hard ones, Stella.’ - Blanche monologue
- hints at what she did to survive in belle reve
- being honest, dropping the facade
‘Have got to be seductive…’
‘[soft people] Have got to be seductive - put on soft colours, the colours of butterfly wings, and glow - make a little - temporary magic just in order to pay for - one night’s shelter!’ - Blanche monologue to Stella
- ‘soft colours’ vs ‘bold colours’ earlier
- ‘butterfly wings’ contrasts with the presentation of her as ‘a moth’ in scene one
- complex balancing of purity and availability
- ‘seductive’, ‘temporary magic’, ‘unless they are making love to you’ imply sleeping around, seducing or a kind of selling her body for somewhere to sleep
‘I’ve run for protection…’
‘I’ve run for protection, Stella, from under one leaky roof to another leaky roof - because it was storm - all storm, and I was - caught in the centre’ - Blanche monologue
- sees men as her protectors offering her shelter
- ‘leaky roof’ implies unreliability
‘People don’t see…’
‘People don’t see you - /men/ don’t - don’t even admit your existence unless they are making love to you. And you’ve got to have your existence admitted by someone, if you’re going to have someone’s protection.’ - Blanche monologue
- slept with men to be acknowledged and protected
- sees men as saviours and protectors
‘And so the soft…’
‘And so the soft people have got to - shimmer and glow - put a - paper lantern over the light’ - Blanche monologue
- ‘soft people’ - setting up an “us vs them” with the people like her ‘soft people’ and the people like Stanley who are ‘hard’ and ‘bold’
- ‘paper lantern’ - like she did in the previous scene
‘But I’m scared now…’
‘But I’m scared now - awf’ly scared. I don’t know how much longer I can turn the trick. It isn’t enough to be soft. You’ve got to be soft /and attractive/. And I - I’m fading now!’ - Blanche monologue
- ‘awf’ly’ is a rare break from Blanche’s formal idolect, is this a reflection of her time in Elysian Fields or the real her breaking through the “Southern Belle” facade?
- ‘the trick’ - she isn’t really this elegant, pure person she pretends to be, she uses the character to attract men in hopes of protection, depleted supply
- ‘fading’ southern belle, she isn’t the colourful butterfly she’s the moth, already faded?
- she appears tragic
‘[The afternoon has…’
‘[The afternoon has faded to dusk. Stella goes into the bedroom and turns on the light under the paper lantern. She holds a bottled soft drink in her hand.]’ - SD
- the pieces of Blanche’s facade in the environment - ‘faded’ ‘paper lantern’ ‘soft drink’ - she’s tried to create her character in the place and it has become symbolic of her pretence
- the end of Blanche’s honest monologue
‘Have you been…’
‘I don’t listen…’
‘Have you been listening to me?’ - B
‘I don’t listen to you when you are being morbid! [She advances with the bottled coke.]’ - S
- Blanche has opened up but Stella has rejected her
- ‘advances’ is reminiscent of the stage directions describing Stanley, is Stella one of these ‘hard’ people Blanche is so different from?
‘Blanche suddenly clutches…’
‘Blanche suddenly clutches Stella’s free hand with a moaning sound and presses the hand to her lips. Stella is embarrassed by her show of emotion.’ - SD
- the sisters seem completely different in this scene
‘You hate me to talk…’
‘You hate me to talk sentimental. But honey, /believe/ I feel things more than I /tell/ you! I /won’t/ stay long! I won’t, I /promise/ I -‘ - B to S
- defensive and desperate
‘[hysterically]: I won’t, I promise…’
‘[hysterically]: I won’t, I promise, /I’ll/ go! Go /soon/! I will /really/! I /won’t/ hang around until he - throws me out…’ - Blanche
- sporadic emphasis shows her to be emotional and hysterical
‘[Blanche laughs shrilly and grabs…’
‘[Blanche laughs shrilly and grabs the glass, but her hand shakes so it almost slips from her grasp. Stella pours the coke into the glass. It foams over and spills. Blanche gives a piercing cry.]’ - SD
- Blanche is unstable and out of control, ‘cry’ ‘shrilly’ ‘shakes’
- ‘Right on my pretty white lace skirt!’ - the coke spills onto the skirt, echoes Stella’s ‘pretty white lace collar’ - the stain is suggestive of the staining of Elysian Fields/Stanley on the upper-class characters
‘Right on my…’
‘Right on my pretty white lace skirt!’
- the coke ‘spills’ onto the skirt
- echoes Stella’s ‘pretty white lace collar’ which was stained in scene 1
- the stain is suggestive of the staining of Elysian Fields/Stanley on the upper-class characters
- Blanche claims it didn’t ‘stain a bit’
‘I don’t know why I screamed…’
‘I don’t know why I screamed! [Continuing nervously] Mitch - Mitch is coming at seven. I guess I am just feeling nervous about our relations.’ - Blanche
‘He hasn’t gotten a…’
‘He hasn’t gotten a thing but a good-night kiss, that’s all I have given him, Stella. I want his respect. And men don’t want anything they can get too easy. But on the other hand men lose interest quickly. Especially when the girl is over - thirty.’ - Blanche about Mitch
- trying to toe the perfect line
‘But on the other hand…’
‘But on the other hand men lose interest quickly. Especially when the girl is over - thirty. They think a girl over thirty is ought to - the vulgar term is - ‘put out’… And I - I’m not ‘putting out’. Of course he - he doesn’t know - I mean I haven’t informed him - of my real age!’ - Blanche about Mitch
Why does Blanche say she is sensitive about her age?
‘Because of hard knocks my vanity’s been given. What I mean is - he thinks I’m sort of prim and proper, you know! [She laughs out sharply.] I want to /deceive/ him enough to make him - want me…’
- ‘deceive’ - can’t be loved for herself
‘I want to /rest/…’
‘I want to /rest/! I want to breathe quietly again! Yes - I /want/ Mitch… /very badly/! Just think! If it happens! I can leave here and not be anyone’s problem…’ - Blanche
- tired of the deception, Mitch represents safety
- emphasis represents desperation
‘[kissing Blanche…’
‘[kissing Blanche impulsively]: It /will/ happen!’ - Stella
- almost as if Stanley’s arrival outside prompts her to be more positive towards Blanche and her romantic hopes
‘It will, honey, /it…’
‘It will, honey, /it will/… But don’t take another drink! [Her voice catches as she goes out of the door to meet her husband.]’ - Stella
- more positive, excited in contrast to the ‘I don’t listen to you when you’re being morbid’
- presence of Stanley has changed the tone of Stella
‘The Young Man shakes…’
‘The Young Man shakes his head violently and edges hastily up the steps.’ - SD
- clearly uncomfortable, he appears naiive and vulnerable
- the woman has been harassing him
What suggests that the Young Man is being harassed by the Negro Woman, what is his reaction?
- ‘snaps her fingers before his belt’
- ‘Hey! Sugar!’
- ‘shakes his head violently and edges hastily up the steps
‘Well, well…’
‘I’m collecting…’
‘Well, well! What can I do for /you/?’ - Blanche
‘I’m collecting for the /Evening Star/.’ - YM
- Blanche makes it personal with emphasis on ‘you’ and her tone is suggestive
- in contrast, the young man tries to keep the interaction professional
How does Blanche control the situation with the Young Man?
- she uses questions like ‘Have a drink?’ ‘Could you give me a light?’ ‘You - uh - didn’t get wet in the shower?’ to prolong the conversation
- she moves closer to him when he moves away: ‘He starts to go out. She approaches a little.’ ‘She goes close to him’ ‘crosses quickly to him’
‘He starts to go…’
‘He starts to go out. She approaches a little.’ - SD
- he is trying to leave the conversation/interaction but she intentionally moves closer throughout the conversation
- note that Mitch could arrive at any moment
‘Hey! [He turns back…’
‘Hey! [He turns back shyly. She puts a cigarette in a long holder.] Could you give me a light? [She crosses towards him.’ - Blanche
- ‘shyly’ emphasises his youth and vulnerability, the idea is repeated subsequently with ‘uncertainly’, ‘glancingly’, and ‘uncomfortably
- Blanche continues to advance irrespective of his attempts to leave and asks questions to prolong the interaction
‘Hey! [He turns again, still…’
‘Hey! [He turns again, still more uncertainly.’ She goes close to him.] What time is it?’ - Blanche
- he clearly wants to leave and is becoming more uncertain
- she asks questions of him, this one she could find out for herself, it is purely to keep him in the apartment
‘The Young Man clears…’
‘The Young Man clears his throat and looks glancingly at the door.’ - SD
- still trying to leave but remains polite calling her ‘ma’am’ and answering the questions
‘And had a soda?’ conversation
‘And had a soda?’ - B
‘Uhhuh.’ -YM
‘Chocolate?’ - B (childish sweetness)
‘No, ma’am. Cherry.’ - YM
‘You make…’
‘You make my mouth water.’ - Blanche to YM
- in response to ‘A cherry soda!’ - unprompted and suggestive, contrasts with the innocence of his comment
‘Well, I’d…’
‘Young man! Young, young…’
‘Well, I’d better be -‘ - YM (trying to leave, she cuts off to ask him more questions)
‘Young man! Young, young, young, young - man! Has anyone ever told you that you look like a young prince out of the Arabian Nights?’ - B
- repetition of ‘young’ shows that she is very aware of his age (is it that she wishes to be youthful again?)
how does Blanche appear in her conversation with the young man?
- uncontrolled and desperate for him to be interested in her, he replies with a sense of distance and formality, however
‘The Young Man laughs…’
‘The Young Man laughs uncomfortably and stands like a bashful kid. Blanche speaks softly to him.’ - SD
- this is alarming, he is clearly supposed to come off as a child and yet Blanche makes advances
- Blanche’s softened tone reflects her experience as a teacher of young men and appears to be an attempt to reassure him and entice him closer, she is definitely treating him as a child
‘Well, you do, honey…’
‘Well, you do, honey lamb. Come here! Come on over here like I told you! I want to kiss you - just once - softly and sweetly on your mouth.’ - Blanche
- very apparent that she is a teacher, the phrases have that note of authority yet she is abusing that and her interest in this ‘Young man’ seems incredibly alarming
- ‘Run along now!’ after the kiss reinforces this reading
‘[Without waiting for him to…’
‘[Without waiting for him to accept, she crosses quickly to him and presses her lips to hers.] - SD
- doesn’t give him a chance to react or reject her
- trying to hold onto her youth, doesn’t want to give him the chance to reject her like he most likely would
‘Run along now…’
‘Run along now! It would be nice to keep you but I’ve got to be good and keep my hands off children. Adios!’ - Blanche after kissing the young man
- ‘Run along now!’ feels very authoritative, like something a teacher would say to a young child
- she recognises his young age, and even refers to him as a child (‘children’)
- subtle suggestion to her past, ‘got to be good and keep my hands off’
‘She opens the door for him and…’
‘She opens the door for him and blows a kiss to him as he goes down the steps with a dazed look.’ - SD
- reinforced innocence in the ‘dazed look’
‘Then Mitch appears around…’
‘Then Mitch appears around the corner with a bunch of roses.’ - SD
- he could have arrived at any time while Blanche was with the boy, predicts the downfall of their relationship?
‘Look who’s coming…’
‘Look who’s coming! My Rosenkavalier! Bow to me first! Now present them. - B
‘[He does so. She curtsies low.]’ - SD
- elegant society imitation
- very theatrical
- ‘Rosenkavalier’ means ‘night of the role’ and is a reference to sophisticated literature/culture
- ‘He does so’ shows Mitch’s willingness to follow Blanche’s lead
