bowling regalia. He is rude to Blanche and insinuates some knowledge of her
past. Finally, he asks her if she knows a certain man. This man often
travels to Blanche's town, and claims she was often a client of a
disreputable hotel. Blanche denies it, insisting the man must have confused
her with someone else. Stanley says he'll have the man check on it. He
heads off to the bar, telling Stella to meet him there.
Blanche is shaken to the core by Stanley's remarks. Stella doesn't seem to
take much notice. Blanche demands to know what Stella has heard about her,
what people have been saying. Stella doesn't know what she's talking about.
Blanche admits she was not "so good" the last two years, as she was losing
Belle Reve. She quite lucidly describes herself as soft, dependent, reliant
on Chinese lanterns and light colors. She admits that she no longer has the
youth or beauty to glow in the soft light. Stella doesn't want to hear her
talk like this.
Stella brings Blanche a drink. She likes to wait on Blanche; it reminds her
of their childhood. Blanche becomes hysterical, promising to leave soon,
before Stanley throws her out. Stella calms her for a moment, but when she
accidentally spills her drink slightly on her skirt, Blanche begins to
shriek.
She is shaking and tries to laugh it off. At last she admits that she is
nervous about her relationship with Mitch. She has been very prim and
proper with him; she wants his respect, but doesn't want him to lose
interest. She wants him very badly, needs him as a stabilizing force.
Stella assures her that it will happen. She kisses her older sister and
runs off to meet Stanley.
Blanche sits alone in the apartment and waits. A young man comes to the
door collecting for the newspaper. Blanche irts with him, offers him a
drink, and generally works her wiles. The young man is very nervous and
would like to leave. Blanche declares that he looks like an Arabian prince.
She kisses him on the lips then sends him on his way. "I've got to be
good," she says, "and keep my hands off children." A few moments later,
Mitch appears with a bunch of roses. She accepts them irtatiously while he
glows.
Scene 6 Summary
Two a.m. the same night. Blanche and Mitch appear. She is exhausted, he
seems a bit depressed. Mitch apologizes for not giving her much
entertainment this evening, but Blanche says it was her fault. She reveals
that she will be leaving soon. They discuss a goodnight kiss and the other
night by the lake when Mitch tried for a bit more "familiarity." Blanche
explains that a single girl must keep her urges under control or else she
is "lost." Perhaps he is used to woman who like to be lost on the first
date. Mitch says he likes her simply because she is difierent from anyone
he has ever met. Blanche laughs and invites him in for a nightcap.
Blanche lights a candle and prepares drinks. Mitch remains standing
awkwardly. He won't take his coat off because he's embarrassed about his
perspiration. They discuss Mitch's imposing physique, her slighter one, and
this leads to a brief and somewhat clumsy embrace. Blanche stops him,
claiming she has "old-fashioned ideals" (she rolls her eyes as she offers
this gem, but he cannot see her face). After an awkward silence, Mitch asks
where Stanley and Stella are, and why the four of them never go out
together.
Blanche expresses her conviction that Stanley hates her. Mitch thinks that
Stanley simply doesn't understand her. Blanche knows it's more than that,
that he wants to destroy her.
Mitch asks Blanche how old she is. He has told his ailing mother about
Blanche, but could not tell her how old Blanche was. His mother is not long
for the world and wants to see him settled. Blanche says she understands
how he will miss his mother when she's gone. She understands what it is to
be lonely. She gives a revealing account of what happened with the tender
young man she married. She loved him terribly but somehow it didn't seem to
be enough to save him from whatever it was that tormented him. Then one day
she came home to find her young husband in bed with an older man who had
been his longtime friend. At first they all pretended nothing happened.
They went out to a casino together, the three of them. On the dance floor
she drunkenly confronted him, telling him he disgusted her. Then the boy
rushed out of the casino and everyone heard a shot. He killed himself.
Mitch comes to her and holds her, comforting her. "You need somebody. And I
need somebody, too," he says. "Could it be{you and me, Blanche?" They kiss,
even as she sobs. "Sometimes{there's God{so quickly," she says.
Scene 7 Summary
Late afternoon, mid-September. Stella is decorating for Blanche's birthday.
Stanley comes in. Blanche is in the bathroom, bathing, and Stanley mocks
her to Stella. He tells Stella to sit down and listen because he's got the
dirt on Blanche now. As Blanche, unconcerned, sings "It's Only a Paper
Moon," Stanley gleefully recounts to Stella how Blanche earned a notorious
reputation at the Flamingo hotel and was asked to leave (presumably for
immoral behavior unacceptable even by the standards of that establishment).
She came to be regarded as "nuts" by the town and was declared 'off-limits'
to soldiers at a nearby base. She was not given a leave of absence by her
school; she was kicked out for having a relationship with a seventeen-year-
old boy.
Stella defends her sister. She's not convinced this story is true{certainly
not all of it. Stanley tells Stella not to expect Mitch for the birthday
dinner. He has told Mitch all he heard, and there's no way Mitch will marry
her now.
Stanley has bought Blanche a birthday present: a one-way bus ticket back to
Laurel, Mississippi. He yells at Blanche to get out of the bathroom. She
emerges at last, in high spirits. But Stanley's face as he passes by gives
her a fright. And the dazed way that Stella responds to her chatter alerts
her that something is wrong. She asks Stella what has happened, but Stella
can only feebly lie that nothing has.
Scene 8 Summary
Three quarters of an hour later, the birthday dinner is winding down. The
place set for Mitch is empty. It has obviously been a strained meal.
Blanche tries to break the gloomy silence by asking Stanley to tell a
story. He declines. So Blanche tells one herself- -a lame joke involving a
priest and a swearing parrot. Stanley pointedly does not laugh. Instead, he
reaches across the table for a chop and eats it with his fingers. Stella
scolds him. He smashes his plate, declares that he is sick and tired of
being called "pig Polack disgusting vulgar greasy!" He is the king of this
house. He smashes his cup and saucer and storms out onto the porch. Blanche
again asks Stella what happened while she was taking a bath. What did
Stanley tell Stella about her? Nothing, Stella says, but she is clearly
upset.
Although Stella implores her not to, Blanche calls Mitch's house to find
out why he stood her up. Mitch is not home. Stella goes to Stanley out on
the porch. They embrace, and Stanley promises her things will be all right
again after the baby comes and Blanche leaves. Stella goes back inside and
lights the candles. Blanche and Stanley join her. Stanley's patent ill will
produces another tense exchange with Blanche. One of Stanley's bowling
buddies calls up. While he's on the phone, Stanley unnecessarily yells at
Blanche to be quiet. She tries her best to control her nerves. Stanley
returns to the table, and with a thin veneer of kindness offers Blanche a
birthday envelope. She is surprised and delighted|until she opens it and
Stanley declares its contents: a one-way ticket back to Laurel, Mississippi
on a Greyhound bus, leaving Tuesday.
Blanche tries to smile, tries to laugh, runs to the bedroom, and then to
the bathroom, clutching her throat and making gagging noises, as if
Stanley's cruelty has literally taken her breath away. Stanley, pleased
with himself and his just actions (considering, he says, "all I took off
her"), prepares to go bowling. But Stella demands to know why Stanley has
treated Blanche so callously. He reminds her that Stella thought he was
common when they first met, but that he took her off her pedestal and
things were wonderful until Blanche arrived. While he speaks, a sudden
change comes over Stella.
She slowly shufies from the bedroom to the kitchen, then quietly asks to be
taken to the hospital. Stanley is with her in an instant, speaking softly
as he leads her out the door.
Scene 9 Summary
Later the same evening, a scarlet-robed Blanche sits tensely on a bedroom
chair. On a nearby table are a bottle of liquor and a glass. We hear polka
music, but not from the radio: it's playing in her own head. She is
drinking, we are told in the stage directions, not to think about impending
disaster.
Mitch appears in work clothes, unshaven, making no attempt to play the
gentleman caller. He rings the doorbell and startles Blanche. She asks who
it is, and when he replies, the polka music stops. She frantically scurries
about, applying powder to her face, stashing the liquor in a closet, before
letting him in with a cheerful reprimand. Mitch walks right past her
proffered lips into the apartment. Blanche is frightened but takes it in
stride. She continues in her light and airy mode, scolding him for his
appearance and forgiving him in the same breath. Mitch stares at her,
clearly a bit drunk. He asks her to turn off the fan; she does so. She
offers him a drink, but Mitch doesn't want Stanley's liquor. She backs off,
but the polka music begins again. It's the same tune that was played, she
says out loud, when Allen (her husband)...She breaks off, waiting for the
gunshot. It comes, and the music subsides. Mitch has no idea what she's
talking about.
Blanche goes to the closet and pretends to discover the bottle. She takes
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