Streetcar 9 Flashcards
‘Blanche is seated in a tense…’
‘Blanche is seated in a tense hunched position in a bedroom chair that she has re-covered with diagonal green and white stripes.’ - SD
- leaving her mark on the flat
- sitting in one of the few places that seems to be hers
‘She has on her…’
‘She has on her scarlet satin robe.’ - SD (Blanche)
- like when Mitch and Blanche met: ‘dark red satin wrapper’
- she seems delicate and vulnerable (unlike Mitch in his work clothes)
- echoes the lantern parallel
‘On the table beside chair is a bottle…’
‘On the table beside chair is a bottle of liquor and a glass. The rapid, feverish polka tune, the ‘Varsouviana’ is heard. The music is in her mind; she is drinking to escape it and the sense of disaster closing in on her’ - SD (blanche)
- more and more we’re seeing the storyline through Blanche’s eyes, her internal music is now witnessed by the audience
‘An electric…back and…’
‘An electric fan is turning back and forth across her.’ - SD (Blanche)
- luxury
‘Mitch comes around…’
‘Mitch comes around the corner in work clothes: blue denim shirt and pants. He is unshaven.’ - SD
- links to Stanley: ‘roughly dressed in blue denim work clothes’
- he seems strong and rough compared to Blanche in her satin robe
- shows lack of effort and therefore lack of respect
What happens to Blanche’s music when Mitch arrives?9
‘[The polka tune stops.]’ when he says it is him at the door (Mitch has the ability to let Blanche escape her past, he represents hope of a new life)
‘[She rushes about…’
‘She rushes about frantically, hiding the bottle in a closet, crouching at the mirror and dabbing her face with cologne and powder. She is so excited that her breath is audible as she dashes about.’ - SD
- still attempting to keep up appearance despite how downhill the relationship has gone in the last few scenes, she still has hope of their relationship (perhaps she still thinks they will get married)
- her attempts to maintain appearances are in direct contrast with Mitch’s distinct lack of effort
‘I really shouldn’t let you…’
‘I really shouldn’t let you in after the treatment I have received from you this evening! So utterly uncavalier! But hello, beautiful!’ - Blanche
- making it about her, perhaps manipulating him (suggesting he’s guilty but forgiving him and showing her graciousness)
‘[She offers him her lips…’
‘[She offers him her lips. He ignores it and pushes past her into the flat. She looks fearfully after him as he stalks into the bedroom.]’ - SD
- he wants to upset her, showing her his disrespect (breaking the gentlemanly character she put on him)
- Mitch is described with words usually associated with Stanley: ‘pushes’ ‘stalks’
‘My, my, what a cold…’
‘My, my, what a cold shoulder! And a face like a thundercloud! And such uncouth apparel! Why, you haven’t even shaved! The unforgiveable insult to a lady! But I forgive you.’ - Blanche
- he doesn’t look like the Mitch she wants (not smart or tidy)
- he probably doesn’t even know what ‘uncouth apparel’ means
- she makes herself seem charitable by calling his actions ‘unforgiveable’ before saying ‘I forgive you’
‘I forgive you because…’
‘I forgive you because it’s such a relief to see you. You’ve stopped that polka tune that I had caught in my head.’ - Blanche
- he provides escapism from her past, represents hope that she can escape from Laurel and her reputation permanently (of course we know why he’s there, what he knows)
‘Have you ever had anything…’
‘Have you ever had anything caught in your head? Some words, a piece of music? That goes relentlessly on and on in your head? No, of course you haven’t, you dumb angel-puss, you’d never get anything awful caught in your head!’ - Blanche
- still takes the opportunity to insult him, showing how incompatible they were
‘It is obvious that he has…’
‘It is obvious that he has had a few drinks on the way over.’ - SD
‘Then let’s turn…’
‘Then let’s turn it off, honey. I’m not partial to them!’ - Blanche
- trying to please him, keeping things light
‘She clears her throat uneasily as…’
‘She clears her throat uneasily as Mitch plumps himself down on the bed in the bedroom and lights a cigarette.’ - SD
- uncaring (or trying to seem as such)
‘I don’t want…’
‘It isn’t… Some things on the…’
‘I don’t want Stan’s liquor.’ - M
‘It isn’t Stan’s. Everything here isn’t Stan’s. Some things on the premises are actually mine!’ - B
‘How is your…’
‘How is your mother? Isn’t your mother well?’ - Blanche
- trying to get an explanation from him, has she considered that it might be because he has found out about her?
‘Something’s the matter tonight…’
‘Something’s the matter tonight, but never mind. I won’t cross-examine the witness. I’ll just - [She touches her forehead vaguely. The polka tune starts up again.] - pretend I don’t notice anything different about you! That - music again…’ - Blanche
- ‘cross-examine the witness’ - again showing her education with references to law and the court-room
- the restart of the polka tune shows that Mitch is slipping from her grasp and, so, her past is consuming her again
what does Mitch’s ‘What music?’ show?
- that it is inside Blanche’s head (and yet we can here it) - the play is becomingly increasingly from Blanche’s perspective
‘The polka tune they were…’
‘The polka tune they were playing when Allan - wait! [A distant revolver shot is heard, Blanche seem relieved.]’ - Blanche
- is the ‘wait’ aimed at Mitch? Herself? Allan?
- the fact she is relieved not startled suggests a frequency to such flashbacks
‘There now, the…’
‘There now, the shot! It always stops after that. [The polka music dies out again.’ - Blanche
- the reliving happens frequently hence she is able to predict it
‘Oh, by the way, excuse…’
‘Oh, by the way, excuse me for not being dressed. But I’d practically given you up!’ - Blanche
- trying to draw attention to her lack of clothes? like when they first met with the light
‘Wait a minute. I can’t…’
‘Wait a minute. I can’t hear what you’re saying and you talk so little that when you do say something, I don’t want to miss a single syllable of it…’ - Blanche
- flattery
‘[She pretends suddenly to…’
‘[She pretends suddenly to find the bottle. He draws his foot up on the bed and stares at her contemptuously.] Here’s something. Southern Comfort! What is that I wonder?’ - Blanche
‘If you don’t…’
‘Take your foot…’
‘If you don’t know, it must belong to Stan.’ - M
‘Take your foot off the bed. It has a light cover on it. Of course you boys don’t notice things like that. I’ve done so much with the place since I’ve been here.’ - Blanche
- avoids Mitch’s comment about the liquor not being hers
- reemphasising how much she’s changed the flat, we can see why Stanley gets annoyed
‘You saw it before I…’
‘You saw it before I came. Well, look at it now! This room is almost - dainty! I want to keep it that way.’ - Blanche
- implies she’s staying even though we know that she was given a ticket to leave by Stanley earlier the same day
‘It’s terribly…’
‘It’s terribly, terribly sweet! Why, it’s a liqueur, I believe!’ - Blanche
‘I told you already I don’t want…’
‘I told you already I don’t want none of his liquor and I mean it. You ought to lay off his liquor. He says you been lapping it up all summer like a wild-cat!’ - Mitch
- Stanley’s words coming through Mitch
‘What a fantastic…’
‘What a fantastic statement! Fantastic of him to say it, fantastic of you to repeat it! I won’t descend to the level of such cheap accusations to answer them, even!’ - Blanche
- manages to avoid the accusations by repeating ‘fantastic’ and confusing Mitch: ‘Huh.’
examples of Blanche rejecting realism in the play
- the persona she puts on (southern belle, her clothes case, the purity ideal, france)
- the pretend ‘artists’ cafe’ - france
- hers and Mitch’s entire relationship (staying out of the light, acting like he is like the gentlemen she used to date)
- the singing and bathing (escapism)
- poetic, romanticising, theatricalism, her idiolect
- hiding from light
how is Blanche’s avoidance of realism shown through staging and the other characters?
- reality has damaged her - she is detached from what is going on in the play
- conflicts with realistic people like Stanley
- plastic theatre: the trains (unnaturally timed), play becomes less and less realistic as it goes on
‘I like it dark…’
‘I like it dark. The dark is comforting to me.’ - Blanche
- moth metaphor, avoiding realism
- she can hide in the dark and maintain the persona she puts on more easily
