Scenes 1&2
At the beginning of the book, Stanley is described to be a brawny Polish man without a thinking brain. The way he acts around Blanche and the way he treats his wife also depicts him as a big who views women as objects. However as he is illustrated through scene two it's evident he becomes weary of Blanche. Stanley is easily confused and doesn't know how to handle Blanche's boldness and vibrant mood swings. My impression of Stella is that she was the sole person of the family to leave the "old south" life behind. She chose her own path, even though it doesn't seem to be a great one. Stella early on appears to be a pushover to both her husband and her sister, yet there is a feisty side in her that knows how to handle both of them. The impression of Blanche however is much more contrasting. She appears to be a woman who is as frail as a flower, but yet she can down two shots of whiskey in one gulp. Her entire background is a mystery, where did she get the money for her clothes, what happened to Belle Reve, and how exactly did her young husband die? Her entire presence is as impressionistic as it is mysterious.
The whole confrontation between Blanche and Stanley is an illustration of the jumbled mess that both of them are. It's evident at the beginning the meeting that both are slightly interested in each other because Blanche asks Stanley to button her dress, which typically is done by a man that has significant meaning to the woman. Also the confrontation is odd because Stanley's intentions are to find out what happened to Belle Reve and why he hadn't received any money from it. At the start Blanche is so persistent to the fact it wasn't her fault she doesn't want to share what happened. But when Stanley discovers Blanche's love letters from her late husband she becomes much more defensive about those and shoves the paperwork into his hands. This confrontation between the two illustrates how broken Blanche truly is, considering she can go from complete opposite moods and that Stanley genuinely only cares for the well-being of himself.
The whole confrontation between Blanche and Stanley is an illustration of the jumbled mess that both of them are. It's evident at the beginning the meeting that both are slightly interested in each other because Blanche asks Stanley to button her dress, which typically is done by a man that has significant meaning to the woman. Also the confrontation is odd because Stanley's intentions are to find out what happened to Belle Reve and why he hadn't received any money from it. At the start Blanche is so persistent to the fact it wasn't her fault she doesn't want to share what happened. But when Stanley discovers Blanche's love letters from her late husband she becomes much more defensive about those and shoves the paperwork into his hands. This confrontation between the two illustrates how broken Blanche truly is, considering she can go from complete opposite moods and that Stanley genuinely only cares for the well-being of himself.
Scenes 3&4
During scenes three and four the poker scene occurs. At this time, however, is when Blanche first witnesses Stanley's aggression and anger taken out on Stella. After the evening when Stella returns to Stanley, Blanche is flabbergasted, she doesn't comprehend why she would do such a thing. The following morning, tension between Blanche and Stella is evident, Blanche is continuously ridiculing Stanley and telling Stella she needs to get out of there. Personally I was somewhat proud of Stella for standing up towards her sister. At the end of scene four, Stella runs to Stanley in open arms, which implies that she chose Stanley over her sister. This action also exemplified the desire that Stella has towards her husband. Stella and Stanley's relationship may have a few traces of actual love between the lines, but overall, their relationship is strictly physical desire. And the entire encounter from the poker scene to the morning following illustrates this concept.
Scenes 5&6
Throughout scene five Blanche and Stanley's relationship is incredibly cautious, yet very direct and insulting. Their primary argument in scene five is when Stanley addresses Blanche on her past experiences in Laurel. This terrifies Blanche, knowing that Stanley knows that what shes faking a large chunk of her actions and life. After the encounter of Stanley hitting Stella, Blanche and Stanley have also tried to go out of their way to insult one another. These arguments at first appear to be because they dislike each other, but directly their about the idea that Blanche views Stanley as an animal and common. In order to get back at Blanche, Stanley digs deep into her roots and finds every way to destroy her.
Blanche had encountered an incredibly joyous first love, she describes it as "you suddenly turned a blinding light on something that has always been half in shadow..." However her love ended abrubtly and awfully, because of this she now views love as dark as a pitch black room. Since she now has this bad experience with love, it's exemplified by the dark lighting of the room where she tells her story to Mitch. Blanche also always prefers to sit in the dark, she'll only meet Mitch in the dark, and she covers everything that produces light. The darkness is preferred by Blanche because it hides her true identity, it is something that can hide who she truly is and gives her a way to put on a false character.
Blanche had encountered an incredibly joyous first love, she describes it as "you suddenly turned a blinding light on something that has always been half in shadow..." However her love ended abrubtly and awfully, because of this she now views love as dark as a pitch black room. Since she now has this bad experience with love, it's exemplified by the dark lighting of the room where she tells her story to Mitch. Blanche also always prefers to sit in the dark, she'll only meet Mitch in the dark, and she covers everything that produces light. The darkness is preferred by Blanche because it hides her true identity, it is something that can hide who she truly is and gives her a way to put on a false character.
Scenes 7-11
At this point in the play there are many major shifting points. One of them is when Blanche finally explains how she lost her late husband, and it also exemplifies why she is so weary of that event. Because of this occurrence, Blanche now is slightly mentally ill, she constantly hears polka music playing that is always followed by a gunshot. Also one of the events is when Stanley hints to Blanche that he really knew what occurred in Laurel, that maybe Blanche isn't as fragile as she appears to be. The happenings in Laurel are one of the greatest things that Blanche wants to hide, so she is deeply afraid that these facts will get out.
During the majority of the play, Blanche lives majorly in a fairy tale. She prefers to hide in the dark and hide her true being. Blanche wants to put the idea out that she is a fragile southern belle who is in need of a home and a husband. However, once Stanley reveals to Mitch of who Blanche truly is, he has an outburst. In a cry of plea Blanche explains that she wants magic and that she would lie to someone to hide the truth. The entire play Blanche tells lies to people because she believes that live should be lived in a make-believe world.
While Blanche was in Laurel she lived in the hotel "Flamingo," however while she lived there she wasn't just living. The general person may explain her "intimacies with strangers" because she only wanted sexual encounters and enjoyment. However, I believe that these encounters, were somewhat out of desire, but also what she had lost. Blanche had lost everything when her family died, her late husband died, and she lost Belle Reve, so in order to cope with this she sought out men to take care for her in her times of struggle.
When the woman appears with the flowers for the dead, Blanche is already just about to hit her breaking point. Her relationship with Mitch has been trampled on and her identity has been revealed. The appearance of the woman greatly fears Blanche and causes her to panic even more. Also the woman's flowers greatly signify Blanche's loses. Many of the people that Blanche had loved had died and these flowers brought back these horrific memories. However, the flowers also represent Blanche's symbolic death. Soon after the woman appears, Blanche hits her absolute zero and loses everything, her sanity and pride are now dead.
In scene ten while Stanley and Blanche have another encounter, Stella is in the hospital giving birth to her son. During this time Blanche references that Shep Huntleigh has called her and said that she is going on a cruise with him to the Caribbean. Although Shep never called at all. Blanche relies on these lies of Shep Huntleigh to illustrate the life she wants to have and what she came from. This man represents her ties to the old south and her social class. In order to prove to Stanley that she is actually okay, Blanche makes up this lie to exemplify that she still believes she is superior to him. Even though Stanley believes she is lying he asks her indirectly to forget their feud for a while and share a merry cup of beer. However, Blanche directly says "no" explaining she does not want share merriment with a man she strongly despises.
The end of scene ten is when Blanche hits her breaking point. Without Blanche's consent, and since Stanley is stronger than her, he takes her to bed. Because of this event, Blanche has gone completely insane, she is continuously imagining things and making things up. She tried to explain what Stanley had done to her to Stella, but in order to protect her marriage, Stella just claimed her to be insane. In order for Blanche to be away from Stanley, Stella decides to send her to a mental ward. Stella also made this choice because she couldn't listen to what her sister claimed and still live in the same house as her husband. At the end of the play, Stella is devastated she makes Blanche leave and because of the entire predicament, Stella becomes very cautious her husband.
Another poker game is played during scene eleven and Stanley is obviously beating Mitch. This game also exemplifies that Stanley beat Mitch at Blanche, he showed Mitch Blanche's true identity and also the fact that he took Blanche to bed, while Mitch never did. Throughout most of the play, Mitch was almost disgusted of Stanley. He understood that he was in charge, but that he also acted in unreasonable manners. Later in the play, although, Mitch has a moment where he is acting as Stanley would have and at the end of the play he realizes this and is again disgusted by Stanley. When Blanche gets led off to the mental ward, Mitch punches Stanley illustrating that he disrespects him. But as a reader, it's evident that Mitch will still tag along to Stanley afterwards.
After the Doctor and Matron first arrive, Blanche is severely weary of them. Blanche had put in her mind that Shep Huntleigh was the one coming to take her on a vacation and when this man wasn't at the door, she was terrified. Later though, Blanche agrees to go with the doctor and begins to trust him, this is because he approached not as a crazed patient, but rather a human being and he did so with chivalry, which pleased Blanche. When Blanche explains that she "had always relied on the kindness of strangers" she is referencing her intimacies in Laurel. These men were strangers to her, yet they had helped her in her hardest struggles. Once Blanche had left, Stella had grown incredibly cautious of Stanley, yet Stanley is incredibly glad to be rid of Blanche and a physical interaction occurs between the two.
Expressionism is strongly evident in the play, especially in scenes 10 and 11. One point is that Blanche chooses to live in her own reality, rather than in the real one going on around her. Williams creates Blanche to become and insane and imagine fake possibilities of a vacation into her mind. He also uses these elements when Blanche is dressing up in her finest clothes and accessories. She is doing this in order to hide how much she has lost her innocence and how much she has broken on the inside. Much of Blanche's breaking points were because of her fake reality being broken, these expressionistic features had become lost and her reality has been shoved into her face.
During the majority of the play, Blanche lives majorly in a fairy tale. She prefers to hide in the dark and hide her true being. Blanche wants to put the idea out that she is a fragile southern belle who is in need of a home and a husband. However, once Stanley reveals to Mitch of who Blanche truly is, he has an outburst. In a cry of plea Blanche explains that she wants magic and that she would lie to someone to hide the truth. The entire play Blanche tells lies to people because she believes that live should be lived in a make-believe world.
While Blanche was in Laurel she lived in the hotel "Flamingo," however while she lived there she wasn't just living. The general person may explain her "intimacies with strangers" because she only wanted sexual encounters and enjoyment. However, I believe that these encounters, were somewhat out of desire, but also what she had lost. Blanche had lost everything when her family died, her late husband died, and she lost Belle Reve, so in order to cope with this she sought out men to take care for her in her times of struggle.
When the woman appears with the flowers for the dead, Blanche is already just about to hit her breaking point. Her relationship with Mitch has been trampled on and her identity has been revealed. The appearance of the woman greatly fears Blanche and causes her to panic even more. Also the woman's flowers greatly signify Blanche's loses. Many of the people that Blanche had loved had died and these flowers brought back these horrific memories. However, the flowers also represent Blanche's symbolic death. Soon after the woman appears, Blanche hits her absolute zero and loses everything, her sanity and pride are now dead.
In scene ten while Stanley and Blanche have another encounter, Stella is in the hospital giving birth to her son. During this time Blanche references that Shep Huntleigh has called her and said that she is going on a cruise with him to the Caribbean. Although Shep never called at all. Blanche relies on these lies of Shep Huntleigh to illustrate the life she wants to have and what she came from. This man represents her ties to the old south and her social class. In order to prove to Stanley that she is actually okay, Blanche makes up this lie to exemplify that she still believes she is superior to him. Even though Stanley believes she is lying he asks her indirectly to forget their feud for a while and share a merry cup of beer. However, Blanche directly says "no" explaining she does not want share merriment with a man she strongly despises.
The end of scene ten is when Blanche hits her breaking point. Without Blanche's consent, and since Stanley is stronger than her, he takes her to bed. Because of this event, Blanche has gone completely insane, she is continuously imagining things and making things up. She tried to explain what Stanley had done to her to Stella, but in order to protect her marriage, Stella just claimed her to be insane. In order for Blanche to be away from Stanley, Stella decides to send her to a mental ward. Stella also made this choice because she couldn't listen to what her sister claimed and still live in the same house as her husband. At the end of the play, Stella is devastated she makes Blanche leave and because of the entire predicament, Stella becomes very cautious her husband.
Another poker game is played during scene eleven and Stanley is obviously beating Mitch. This game also exemplifies that Stanley beat Mitch at Blanche, he showed Mitch Blanche's true identity and also the fact that he took Blanche to bed, while Mitch never did. Throughout most of the play, Mitch was almost disgusted of Stanley. He understood that he was in charge, but that he also acted in unreasonable manners. Later in the play, although, Mitch has a moment where he is acting as Stanley would have and at the end of the play he realizes this and is again disgusted by Stanley. When Blanche gets led off to the mental ward, Mitch punches Stanley illustrating that he disrespects him. But as a reader, it's evident that Mitch will still tag along to Stanley afterwards.
After the Doctor and Matron first arrive, Blanche is severely weary of them. Blanche had put in her mind that Shep Huntleigh was the one coming to take her on a vacation and when this man wasn't at the door, she was terrified. Later though, Blanche agrees to go with the doctor and begins to trust him, this is because he approached not as a crazed patient, but rather a human being and he did so with chivalry, which pleased Blanche. When Blanche explains that she "had always relied on the kindness of strangers" she is referencing her intimacies in Laurel. These men were strangers to her, yet they had helped her in her hardest struggles. Once Blanche had left, Stella had grown incredibly cautious of Stanley, yet Stanley is incredibly glad to be rid of Blanche and a physical interaction occurs between the two.
Expressionism is strongly evident in the play, especially in scenes 10 and 11. One point is that Blanche chooses to live in her own reality, rather than in the real one going on around her. Williams creates Blanche to become and insane and imagine fake possibilities of a vacation into her mind. He also uses these elements when Blanche is dressing up in her finest clothes and accessories. She is doing this in order to hide how much she has lost her innocence and how much she has broken on the inside. Much of Blanche's breaking points were because of her fake reality being broken, these expressionistic features had become lost and her reality has been shoved into her face.