A Streetcar Named Desire: Scenes 5-7

 

A Streetcar Named Desire (Scenes 3 & 4)

     In the beginning of Scene three, Stanley hosts a poker night in his kitchen with his friends Steve, Mitch, and Pablo. There they crack jokes and drink beer. Right after Steve makes a joke about a rooster chasing a hen, the sisters appear around the corner of the building. In the first few moments of their arrival, Blanche asks Stella about her appearance. Stella quickly reassures her sister that she looks "lovely" and "fresh as a daisy". As the sisters walk into the apartment they see the men are still at their poker game. Stella is uninterested however Blanche is fascinated and asks if she could "kibitz" or be a spectator, however Stanley immediately declines. He says, "You could not. Why don't you women go upstairs and sit with Eunice?"(Williams 50). Stanley believes that the women should not be around while they play poker. Blanche then decides to take a bath and runs into Mitch who just came out of the bathroom door. They both introduce themselves and of their backgrounds and it seems that right off the bat they may be interested in eachother. After their encounter and as the night progresses, we start to notice Stanley's nature become more and more aggressive. He yells at the sisters to be quiet while they talk, yells at Blanche to turn the radio off while she listens, and demands Mitch to "sit down!" when he wants to leave the table. Mitch tells Stanley he needs to use the bathroom and goes back to see Blanche. They talk again for a while and we learn of Blanche's former profession as an English teacher and the death of Mitch's past lover. It seems that they both have a lot in common with eachother. After Stella's bath, Blanche decides to turn on the radio one more time and she and Mitch dance together. Suddenly, Stanley comes out of nowhere, snatches the radio, and throws it out the window. Stella shrieks, "Drunk- drunk- animal thing, you!"(62) , and tells everyone to go home. Stanley then charges at her and out of sight we hear the sound of a blow and Stella's cries. The men subdue Stanley and Stella runs off with Blanche to Eunice's floor. Shortly after Stanley recomposes himself, and cries out for Stella with animalistic growls. Despite everything, Stella comes back to Stanley and the scene ends with them going back to the apartment together and Blanche's utter confusion.

    Scene four starts with Blanche appearing in Stella and Stanley's bedroom asking her sister why on earth she is back with Stanley after last night. Stanley went off to get the car greased, so they talk freely with one another. Stella tells her sister to calm down and that what happened last night was not that serious. She even jokes about all of the violent actions Stanley has done over the years and claims that what happened was just another one of Stanley's bad habits. Blanche tells Stella that she is going to help her escape Stanley by first making money and getting a job through Shep Huntleigh, a wealthy man that owns oil-wells in Texas. Despite her efforts, Blanche's offer is declined by Stella. Frustrated, Blanche goes off on an angry rant on how Stanley is an "animal" in every way and "survivor of the stone age", all while not knowing that Stanley got back from his trip and has been listening to their conversation the whole time. Stanley decides to act as if he hadn't eavesdropped and opens the door to the apartment. Stella then rushes to her husband and as they hug, Stanley wickedly grins at Blanche through the curtain.

Questions:

Will Blanche's plan to escape Stanley work? How will she convince Stella to leave?

What does Stanley have planned for Blanche? Are there more violent scenes to come?

A Streetcar Named Desire (Scenes 1 & 2)

In the beginning of A Streetcar Named Desire, we meet Stella and her husband Stanley, who live in a two-bedroom apartment on Elysian Fields in New Orleans, Louisiana. The story begins when Stanley tells his wife he is going bowling with friends. Stella decides to go with him. Two women begin to talk, one of whom is Eunice; a white woman who lives in their building. Later, a woman dressed in all white and pearls approaches the scene. This is Stella’s sister Blanche, who is paying an expected visit to Stella, but an unexpected one to Stanley. After Eunice tells Blanche her sister is out, she takes her to the apartment and, to Blanche’s surprise, is quite cramped. After Eunice leaves to go get Stella and Stanley, Blanche looks around the place while having a drink. Upon Stella’s arrival home, we see the two sisters embrace, thrilled to see one another. We learn that Blanche is on a leave of absence from her teaching job and is not excited about living in such tight quarters. Additionally, we learn their family owned a plantation in Mississippi called Belle Reave. Blanche expresses bitterness towards Stella for leaving the plantation and not staying back to help her save it. After Stanley and his friends come home from bowling, we see Blanche and Stanley first interact in a conversation about Blanche’s previous marriage.

To begin scene two, Stella tells Stanley to take is easy on Blanche because she’s upset about losing Belle Reave. We also learn Stella is pregnant, but doesn’t want Blanche to know. Stella decides that her and Blanche are going out, but before she can go, Stanley demands to see papers that record Belle Reave was sold. We learn that that Belle Reave was not sold but instead lost. Stanley doesn’t believe its true and tells Stella about the Napoleonic Code: A code that states whatever belongs to the wife also belongs to the husband. After Stella walks away, upset, he begins to rummage through Blanche’s things only to find furs and jewelry. When Blanche comes out, she acts flirtatious with Stanley which annoys him. When Stanley asks about the money, she continues to flirt. Stella walks in, but Blanche sends her away to get something from the drugstore. After she leaves, Blanche tells Stanley she will answer any questions. Stanley finds what he thinks are documents, but are instead are love letters that are important and valuable to Blanche. She later hands over all documents that are related to Belle Reave. Stanley tells her a lawyer will look them over and says “a man has to take an interest in his wife’s affairs --- especially now that she’s going to have a baby” (Williams 44). When Stella comes back, Blanche admits she flirted with her husband and expresses her new-found excitement for her being pregnant.

Stella is a more quiet and subtle character, who seems to be extremely genuine in her actions and relationships. Blanche is very lady like and flirtatious, which clashes with Stanley characteristics. Stanley is dominant, confident and blunt. He is not afraid to get his point across or hurt someone along the way.

How do we think Blanche and Stanley’s relationship will evolve? Will they clash or ultimately get along?

How will the theme of desire play an important role in these relationships and the plot of the novel?