A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams (Scenes 3 and 4, p. 45-78)

A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams (Scenes 3 and 4, p. 45-78)

Summary: In Scene 3, Stanley, Mitch, Paolo, and Steve are drinking and playing poker at Stanley and Stella’s house. Meanwhile, Stella and Blanche are out at a show and drinking. However, when the two women return, the men are still there playing poker. Of the four men, Mitch is the least drunk and seems the most civilized, as he contemplates whether or not to return home to his ailing mother. Blanche and Mitch speak for a while until Blanche turns on the radio, which causes a drunk Stanley to storm in and throw the radio out the window. When Stella retreats, Stanley hits her. Stella, stunned, flees to the woman who lives upstairs, Eunice, to stay. Stanley calls Eunice to ask for Stella to return, and when she refuses, he angrily slams the phone to the ground. He then goes outside and yells her name “with heaven-splitting violence.” After a few calls, Stella surprisingly appears, and Stanley carries her inside. In Scene 4, Stella and Blanche have a serious conversation about the abuse that took place, and Stella assures Blanche that although the incident was not uncommon, it was not too bad. Flustered, Blanche insists that they call rich ex-boyfriend to help them rebuild their lives, despite the fact that Stella insists she’s perfectly content. Unbeknownst to Blanche, Stanley overhears a conversation between Blanche and Stella, in which Blanche launches into a tirade about how primitive Stanley is.

Unfamiliar Vocabulary
Wolf: a man who habitually seduces women
Improvident: irresponsible
Bestial: savagely cruel

Quote Analysis

“Drunk – drunk – animal thing, you!” (57). – Stella

Stella says this to Stanley after he drunkenly throws the radio out of the window. After Stella says this, Stanley is enraged and wildly attacks her, which forces the guys to hold him back. This scene not only shows Stanley’s short-temperedness, but also his insecurity, as he is angered at the accusation of being animalistic.

“I’m not in anything I want to get out of” (65). – Stella

After Blanche confronts Stella the morning after the commotional night, the reader and Blanche are thoroughly surprised to find that Stella is perfectly calm and speaks of the prior incident as if it were no big deal. She regards Stanley’s alcoholism as simply one of his “pleasures” and compares it to her enjoyment of bridge and movies. When Blanche prepares her message to the wealthy ex-, she writes, “Sister and I are in a desperate situation.” When Stella sees her write this, she vehemently protests. Later, when Blanche says again that she needs to plan for them both to get out, Stella responds saying, “You take it for granted that I am in something that I want to get out of.” Blanche is blinded by her own judgment and cannot see that Stella truly is content to continue to live the way she is, and Stella is blinded by her love for Stanley and cannot see the unhealthy abuse she is putting up with.

“He acts like an animal, has animal’s habits! Thousands and thousands of years have passed him right by, and there he is – Stanley Kowalski – survivor of the stone age! Bearing the raw meat home from the kill in the jungle! And you – you here – waiting for him! His poker night! – you call it – this party of apes! God! Maybe we are a long way from being made in God’s image, but Stella – my sister – there has been some progress since then! Such things as art – as poetry and music – such kinds of new light have come into the world since then! In some kinds of people some tenderer feelings have had some little beginning! That we have got to make grow! And cling to and hold as our flag! Don’t – don’t hang back with the brutes!” (72). – Blanche

In the brutally honest monologue, Blanche unrestrainedly tells Stella her true feelings and impression of Stanley, after seeing his performance the night before. Through this speech, all of the previous implications of Stanley are explicitly spoken. Blanche has clearly been broken, as she desperately tries to convince Stella that Stanley’s primitive ways are indeed harmful to her and to society. However, she realizes that Stella is oddly drawn to the violence, and so seems even more desperate, as she knows her words have had little effect on Stella’s judgment. This is confirmed, as after the speech when Stanley enters, Stella fiercely hugs him in front of Blanche. Also, it is interesting to note that though Stanley hears Blanche’s entire rant about him, he chooses not to address it and instead pretends as if nothing had happened.

A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams (Scenes 1 and 2, p. 1-44)

A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams (Scenes 1 and 2, p. 1-44)

Summary: In the first scene, Blanche, Stella’s sister, unexpectedly arrives at Stella’s house to find that she is living with her husband in a small, rather unassuming home in comparison to the house they lived in before. Blanche brings news about the loss of their former house in Belle Reve. However, upon seeing Blanche’s extravagant clothes and jewelry, Stanley believes Stella made up the reason for losing their home and is instead keeping the money for herself and cheating Stella. In frustration, Stanley throws Blanche’s belongings onto the bed. When Stanley confronts Blanche with his accusations, Blanche then provides him with paperwork showing transactions from various mortgage firms to prove that the house was indeed lost through mortgages. In the last part of scene two, Stanley tells Blanche that Stella is pregnant.

Unfamiliar Vocabulary:
Bodice: the part of a woman’s dress that is above the waist
Perpetrate: to carry out or commit
Valise: a small traveling bag or suitcase

Character Analysis: Stanley

From the very first line of the play, Stanley is portrayed bellowing, “Hey there! Stella, baby!” right before he heaves a package of meat to a presumably dainty Stella. Just after that, he rounds the corner as he goes off to a bowling game with his friends. Right from the beginning, the contrast between Stanley and Stella’s characters is emphasized, and Stanley is portrayed as an extremely virile, almost primitive man. This is further accentuated with the arrival of Blanche. The first conversation held between Blanche and Stanley showed the difference in upbringing of the two people; Stanley uses very unrefined language and doesn’t engage in small talk, and seems almost impolite when first meeting and speaking with Blanche. Furthermore, there was a subtle hint at this when Stanley refused to tie Blanche’s buttons on her dress, saying that he, “can’t do nothing with them.” Also, in the director’s notes, he describes that, “Animal joy in his being is implicit in all his movements and attitudes. Since earliest manhood the center of his life has been pleasure with women… branching out from this complete and satisfying center are all the auxiliary channels of his life, such as his heartiness with men, his appreciation of rough humor, his love of good drink, and food and games, his car… he sizes women up at a glance with sexual classifications and crude images flashing into his mind.”

Aside from initially being portrayed as crude and dissimilar to Stella and Blanche in nearly all aspects, Stanley is also shown as having a short temper. When he first becomes suspicious of Blanche “swindling him through the Napoleonic Code” after Stella tells him what Blanche reported to her about the lost house in Belle Reve, he immediately storms into the bedroom and immediately throws Blanche’s clothes onto the bed and snatches a fist-full of her jewelry, saying that the clothes and jewelry were too expensive to have come from Blanche’s pay, and were rather paid for through money gained from selling the house. He swears that he has acquaintances who will appraise all of Blanche’s belongings to prove to Stella that Blanche is a fraud. However, this is all even before Stanley confronts Blanche about the situation. Not only does this show that Stanley is short-tempered, but also, it suggests that Stanley may be jealous of Blanche’s former wealth and their social standings.