Streetcar 7 Flashcards
‘It is late afternoon…’
‘It is late afternoon in mid-September./ The portieres are open and a table is set for a birthday supper, with cake and flowers.’ - SD
- domesticity, hopeful note from the previous scene is still there
- it is now September and Blanche has been in Elysian Fields for many months
- Stanley has lost the upper hand since the smirks over the shoulder of Stella’s embrace
Stanley’s attitude towards Blanche in scene 7
his attitude hasn’t really changed except that he has become more active: he is also more confident and determined as part of this
‘[Stella is completing the…’
‘[Stella is completing the decorations as Stanley comes in.]’
- the atmosphere was calm but Stanley disrupts it
Stanley mimicking Blanche
‘[mimicking]: ‘Washing out some things’?’
‘[mimicking]: ‘Soaking in a hot tub’?’
- he is clearly irritated and wanting to bring up what he has found out about Blanche
- trying to get Stella back by getting her to resent blanche as he does
- stella doesn’t rise to Stanley’s immature behaviours: ‘I reckon so.’ ‘Yes’
‘And you run out…’
‘And you run out an’ get her cokes, I suppose? And serve ‘em to Her Majesty in the tub? [Stella shrugs]’ - Stanley
- bringing up class, this is clearly something that gets to him, perhaps he feels he cannot relate to Stella like Blanche can
- dislikes the dynamic that has formed, possibly thinks it should be him stella waits on
‘That girl calls…’
‘That girl calls /me/ common!’ - Stanley
‘you’ve got to realize that…’
‘you’ve got to realize that Blanche and I grew up under very different circumstances than you did’ - Stella to Stanley
‘So I been told. And…’
‘So I been told. And told and told and told! You know she’s been feeding us a pack of lies here?’ - Stanley
‘[Blanche is singing…’
‘[Blanche is singing in the bathroom a saccharine popular ballad which is used contrapuntally with Stanley’s speech.]’ - SD
- ‘contrapuntally’ - in direct contrast, two melodies clashing and connecting
‘Some, canary…’
‘Some, canary bird, huh!’ - Stanley
- in response to Blanche’s singing
- associates Blanche with being ‘flighty’ as Stella puts it (‘moth’), she is something to be “kept”
‘Lie Number One: All this…’
‘Lie Number One: All this squeamishness she puts on! You should just know the line she’s been feeding to Mitch. He thought she had never been more than kissed by a fellow!’ - Stanley
- The ‘Lie Number One’ gives Stanley’s narrative theatrics
- we already knew that Blanche had been put5ting on a facade but she seems to have been going beyond this to lie flat-out to Mitch
‘But Sister…’
‘But Sister Blanche is no lily! Ha-ha! Some lily she is!’ - Stanley
- ‘Sister’ is a play on words: Blanche is Stella’s sibling but also acts as if she is pure and untouched (like a nun)
- ‘lily’ is the idea of purity, innocence, and “de-flowering”
‘Our supply-man down at…’
‘Our supply-man down at the plant has been going though Laurel for years and he knows all about her and everybody else in the town of Laurel knows all about her.’ - Stanley about Blanche
‘She is as famous in…’
‘She is as famous in Laurel as if she was the President of the United States, only she is not respected by any party!’ - Stanley
What does Blanche repeatedly sing throughout scene 7?
‘Say, it’s only a paper moon, Sailing over a cardboard sea - But it wouldn’t be make-believe If you believed in me!’ - Blanche
- it feels like she’s commenting on Stanley’s revelation of her lies in the ‘paper moon, ‘cardboard sea’, and ‘make-believe’ theme
‘This is after the home…’
‘This is after the home-place had slipped through her lily-white fingers. She moved to the Flamingo!’ - Stanley about Blanche
- reiterating the ‘lily’ comparison
‘A second-class hotel which…’
‘A second-class hotel which has the advantage of not interfering in the private social life of the personalities there!’ - Stanley
‘The Flamingo is uses to all…’
‘The Flamingo is used to all kinds of goings-on. But even the management of the Flamingo was impressed by Dame Blanche that they requested her to turn in her room-key - for permanently!’ - Stanley
- from this point continues to call her ‘Dame Blanche’ to make fun of her status and significant fall from grace
- ‘goings-on’ (Blanche is worse than most of the people there)
‘It’s a Barnum and…’
‘It’s a Barnum and Bailey world, Just as phony as it can be - But it wouldn’t be make-believe If you believed in me!’ - Blanche [singing]
- ‘Barnum and Bailey’ refers to the circus
- her fantasy world
‘It’s pure invention…’
‘It’s pure invention! There’s not a word of truth in it and if I were a man and this creature had dared to invent such things in my presence -‘ - Stella
- unimpressed with Stanley for continuing to spread the ‘lies’
‘The trouble with Dame…’
‘The trouble with Dame Blanche was that she couldn’t put on her act any more in Laurel! They got wised up after two or three dates with her and then they quit, and she goes on to another, the same old lines, same old act, same old hooey! But the town was too small for this to go on for ever!’ - Stanley