okay welcome to this guided read of a street car Named Desire by Tennesse Williams we'll be looking at scene one before the play begins Tennessee Williams includes an epigraph which is by the poet Hart Crane now for some quick contextual points for Williams Williams belonged to a modernist School of play rights based out of the United States of America who were attempting to comment on the modern world social cultural political changes which were being enacted after the second world war he's a postwar playright and he writes in the genre of the Southern Gothic which is something for you to research he takes the epigraph for the play from Hart Crane and a poem entitled the broken Tower anytime in your essays when you write on Tennessee Williams you should include some reference to his inclusion of this epigraph at the beginning of the play this is helpful to you for a number of reasons the first reason is that har crane belonged to a French symbolist School of writers and symbolism is something which ten Williams will imbue a street car Named Desire with you will see that in his use of props his use of Music even costume what Tennessee Williams himself called his use of plastic theater heart cranes the broken Tower might be seen as a metaphor for the type of world which Tennessee Williams is is describing I think there are two quotations from this poem included in the epigraph which you can apply to any essay that you write on Tennessee Williams one thing before we look at those quotations you need to make sure that if you're writing on the epigraph that you in your essays make it explicitly clear that you are referencing Tennesse Williams's use of the epigraph as a narrative framing device if you just use quotations from the epigraph without attributing them to the source I.E heart Crane or to the structure I.E the use of an epigraph you'll either confuse your examiners or even worse than that you'll confuse yourself because it's not a quotation which is taken directly from the play itself but rather something which Williams is using to frame The Narrative of his text and so it was I entered the broken world to trace the Visionary company of Love its voice an instant in the wind I know not with h but not for long to hold each desperate choice so I think there's a couple of things that we could comment on straight away the phrase the broken world is something which can be attributed to the type of society and culture which Tennessee Williams is depicting in this postwar play the world of this play is broken in a number of ways and this metaphorical phrase the broken world is something which you can use when analyzing Williams's display of conflict in the society which he depicts this world is broken for a number of reasons from the intergender conflict which ensues between a clash of sexual identities and a Clash of gender identities a clash of political ideologies a clash of the old and the new the past and the present the ways in which blanch Dubois as you will see in her opening stage description is described as being in congruous to her setting she no longer belongs to the world which Williams is depicting there has been a rapid shift in the Paradigm of the world after the second world war so I've always liked this phrase the broken world and it gets to the heart of one of the things which this play is attempting to outline to its audience or reader another quotation which is helpful from the epigraph is this idea of desperate choice so again the broken world and the sort of theme of desperate choices and if you were to use desperate choices you would put square bracket s Clos square bracket at the end of the word choice desperate choices this is a play about desperation desperation which is born out of Desire desperation which is born out of being part of a broken World there are other aspects of this epigraph which could be used for example you could think of this idea that Williams in his epigraph reduces love itself the Visionary company of love he reduces the voice of love to nothing other than an instant in the wind so love is something which is no longer coherently and easily possible in the world of this play the world is broken as heart Crane's epigraph outlines and characters make desperate choices so the use of this epigraph is in particular helpful to you because a lot of the themes of this play which you will be asked to write about will link to these ideas which I have underlined in front of you and you can always get yourself a quick mark for structure if you acknowledge the use of the epigraph or in your introductions this can be something really helpful for you to link the question that's being asked to the broader themes and intentions of the playright when it comes to writing this play scene one the exterior of a two story Corner building on a street in New Orleans which is named Elian fields and runs between the elen and tracks and the river the section is poor but unlike corresponding sections in other American cities it has a rayfish charm the houses are mostly white frame weathered gray with rickety outside stairs and Galleries and quaintly ornamented Gables this building contains two Flats upstairs and down faded white stairs Ascend to the entrances of both so the opening scene description we would refer to this as the exposition of the play and Williams is unlike other playwrights in that he has these lengthy stage directions and scene setting prosaic passages in his play where he really attempts to describe the type of world which he is depicting elisium was a classical Heaven and the building is named Elian fields and there's an irony to this because there certainly won't be an alium for blanch dup War but it is seen as a type of Heaven let's say for her sister and her brother-in-law her sister's husband Stanley quick descriptions the section is poor so we're dealing with a sort of working class area of the location New Orleans which is important to us and unlike other corresponding sections it has raish charm so you're going to see this sort of dichotomy of description of New Orleans and the French Quarter where this play takes place the building alian fields which has a raish charm so this is a sort of Bohemian Metropolitan culturally happening and emerging area of New Orleans the houses are white frame they're gray they've got rickety outside stairs um ornamented Gables and Faded white stairs I wouldn't perhaps read too much into that description of the building but already we've started to establish what sorts of setting this play is going to take place in it the first Arc of an evening earling in May the sky that shows around the dim white building is a peculiarly tender blue almost a turquoise which invests the scene with a kind of lyricism and gracefully attentuates the atmosphere of Decay so again you have this this sort tension between the lyricism of the scene it almost has a romantic quality look at the ways in which he describes the sky as being a peculiarly tender blue almost turquoise there's a kind of lyricism to the scene there's a Romanticism to the scene but at the same time there is an atmosphere of Decay New Orleans and this particular section the French Quarter is being seen as it's almost like it's on the cusp of these two worlds the one which came before the war the an Bellum South so to speak and then the the one which came after the war you can almost feel the warm breath of the brown River beyond the river warehouses with their faint rences of bananas and coffee a corresponding air is evoked by the music of negro entertainers at a barro around the corner in this part of New Orleans you are practically always just around the corner or a few doors down the street from a tiny piano being played with the infatuated fluency of brown fingers this blue piano expresses the spirit of the life which goes on here so in this scenario here and you'll see that race will be a particularly important part of this play we get an introduction to the sort of Multicultural multiethnic um setting of New Orleans we have reference to the Negro entertainers um we have coming up shortly the reference to the easy intermingling of races in this old part of the town so I will highlight that for you now you have the reference to the tiny piano New Orleans being the birthplace of jazz you have the infatuated fluency of brown fingers you have references even simple references to things like bananas and to Coffee everything exotic imported a place where different cultures and races are mixing um he refers to it as a Cosmopolitan City in the same scene direction as it comes on straight forward and the play actually opens which I'm going to highlight let's put it in green um it opens with a white woman Unice our land lady and also what he describes as a colored woman sat together at the base of the steps talking taking the air two women one white and one colored so he's attempting to show you at a time in America where pre um civil rights here New Orleans is that type of an of a city which is seen as Progressive it's modern it's almost ahead of the curve and the blue piano which is given to us here and we'll play throughout the rest of the text a motif a reminder the sound of jazz we are in this Bohemian rickety Cosmopolitan City with its alleged easy intermingling of races it has an atmosphere of Decay a kind of lyricism a raish charm it's poor but it's elesium as well so already from the opening stage Direction you can see this kind of tension between these competing and emerging worlds of the play two men come around the corner Stanley Kowalski and Mitch so for the purposes of our um guided read I will highlight Stanley and Mitch in Green for the remainder and we'll pick out different colors for the female characters you get a quick description of both of them they're 28 or 30 years old roughly dressed in blue denim work clothes a sense of equality I think between Stanley and Mitch which will be dispelled slightly later in the play by Stella who will comment that Stanley's the only one of his crew that's likely to get anywhere because of a drive that he has but you can see here from the description of the blue denim work clothes two workingclass men Stanley carries his bowling jacket so we have his bowling jacket with him a sign of leisure activities that people could engage in this is after the war war after all there's more free time there's a slight sense of headism people pursuing their interests and their pleasures and then symbolically he carries a red stained package from The Butchers this is the opening Association of Stanley with a predator this predatory behavior which will characterize Stanley all the way throughout the play symbolized here in the use of the red stained package for boding and perhaps foreshadowing the violence which he will unleash as the play progresses but also firmly establishing a traditional gender role Stanley is the bread winner he's the worker blue denim workclothes red stained package from The Butchers returning home with his friend Mitch they stop at the foot of the steps and instantly with Stanley his characterization in this play He will always be bellowing or yelling or shouting always at the top of his voice this kind of alpha male hyper masculine character hey there Stella baby Stella comes out on the first floor Landing so instantly as the play begins we're introduced to Stella Stella baby comes out on the first floor Landing she is a gentle young woman about 25 and interestingly in the stage direction of a background obviously quite different from her husbands so you see even as the play begins Williams going to Great length visually this is a stage Direction so visually on the stage in front of the audience it will be clear just from the way in which they move the way in which the characters speak the way that they're dressed their posture that these are two people locked in a marriage but from completely different or as he says obviously quite different backgrounds to each other whereas Stanley Bellows Stella mildly begins with her opening lines of the play don't holler at me like that so you will see this repeated in scene three her reaction to him slapping her on the back of the thigh I hate it when he does that when he humiliates me like that in front of other characters that Stella and Stanley have this sort of relationship in which they are constantly on the cusp of conflict they're constantly on that cusp or that knife edge of it descending into a fight a shouting match let's say and this declarative don't holler at me like that you see that she also has a little bit of bite in her but this tension gives way very quickly to also the thing I think which is important in their characterization cell being thrill thrilled by Stanley's animalism Stella being attracted to Stanley for his RAF fishness for his sort of um his sort of un um restrain sprawling masculinity hi Mitch Stanley catch Stella what Stanley meat he heaves the package at her and this is a crucial bit she cries out in protest but manages to catch it then she laughs breathlessly so you'll see this repeated all the way throughout this play this character is drawn to this other character for his sort of Macho raw animal magnetism animal magnetism is a phrase which Williams will use to describe their relationship her husband and His companion have already started back around the corner Stella calling after him Stanley where are you going bowling he Hollows back can I come watch come on he goes out be over soon and then Stella turns to the white woman her land lady hello Eunice how are you I'm all right says Eunice tell Steve Eunice's husband to get him a poor boy sandwich cuz nothing's left here now all the way throughout this text Unice and Steve will act as a foil to Stella and Stanley a married couple who have a dysfunctional relationship but at the same time persist together with each other tell Steve to get him a poor boy sandwich cuz nothing's left here the difference between Steve and Unice and Stanley and Stella is that Eunice is the more empowered figure of the relationship here she's telling Stella to tell her husband to get himself a poor boy sandwich because there's nothing left at home she's been waiting for him and as a result has eaten dinner they all laugh Stella goes out what was that package he threw at her she rises from the steps laughing louder you Hush Now Catch what she continues to laugh and this brings us to the introduction of our main character so we'll keep blanch for this guided read in blue blanch comes around the corner carrying aiz carrying her suitcase she looks at a slip of paper then at the building then again at the slip of paper and again at the building her expression is one of shocked disbelief so amongst a lot of the things that we can say about Blanch from her being a tragic heroine a figure of sympathy and pity she's also also for her flaws snobbish prudish and here as you can see looking at the slip of paper again and again and then at the building this shock disbelief could my sister really live in a place like this and a key quotation for blanch her appearance is in congruous to this setting so we're going to get a description of her appearance next but just the notion that blanch visibly physically on the stage looks alien to her setting in congruous to her setting she doesn't belong to that setting begins this constant reminder for the rest of the play that blanch is really out of time out of place she is daintily dressed in a white suit with a fluffy bodice necklace earrings of pearl white gloves hat looking as if she were arriving at a summer tea or cocktail party In the Garden District she's about five years older than Stella so this is an important um bit of information in the play because you'll see that blanch will lie about this as a player progresses I'll just highlight some of this and then come back to comments on it uh a reference to her delicate Beauty must avoid a strong light so this will be a recurring theme in the play that blanch avoids strong lights and that's partly because light symbolically is revealing and blanch wants to conceal a lot of her past mistakes and secrets but also because she is hyper aware of the fact that she is aging her delicate Beauty so to speak is breaking and is succumbing to the passing of time so she avoids the light prefers to be in the dark we get a reference here to her uncertain Manner and a comparison between blanch and a moth she's daintily dressed so there's a Fittin to blanch she is an embodiment of the idea or the archetype of the Southern bell Southern Bells beautiful women from the south middle class families well-mannered polite used to assist civil manage Society associated with the Antebellum South pre- Civil War she wears white blanch in French means white as she'll tell us later in the play now if you're going to analyze this I wouldn't spend an entire paragraph just looking at this description of her clothing if you were going to write on the symbolism of blanche's clothing then you need to group together examples of different things that she wears all the way throughout the play so it's impossible I think to write on blanche's white suit here without commenting on her red sassin robe from later in the play you can't write on FL on blanche's use of the Fluffy bodice and the necklace without looking at Stanley pulling out the costume jewelry in scene two Unice finally what's the matter honey are you lost blanch with faintly hysterical humor they told me to take a street car Named Desire then transfer to W call cemeteries and ride six blocks and get off at allean Fields so some critics have read this as symbolism you ride the street car desire desire leads to death death to the afterlife this is the journey that blanch has taken to arrive here but the title of the play being referenced a street car Named Desire so desire naturally is going to be a major theme of the play and as we progress through it you'll see that we can um attribute blanche's ironic hamashia let's say um her flaw or let's say the main source of her tragedy to to the idea of Desire itself that's where you are now says Unice at alion Fields this here is alian Fields they mustn't have understood what number I wanted says blanch she's still in that shocked disbelief from earlier she can't believe that her sister who we already know visibly looks as though she's from a different background to her husband would reside in a place like this what number you looking for blanch wearily refers to the slip of paper 632 you don't have to look no further says Unice and again blanch uncomprehendingly she can't quite work out what do you mean I'm looking for my sister Stella dub I mean Mrs Stanley Kowalski so even here it's only a slight thing but you notice that blanch Begins by referring to Stella informally as her sister before postm modifying that to Mrs Stanley Kowalski which is just speaking a little bit about the types of manners and the sort of um what would you call it the um sort of what she will call what she will refer to uh with Mitch later in the players her old-fashioned ideals um she's Mrs Stanley Kowalski now of course and there's a formality to blanche's voice which is also in congruous to Unice who SATs excuse me who SATs on the steps outside that's the part he says Unice that's her you just did miss her though this can this be her home it's an example of that shocked disbelief she's got the downstairs here and I got the up oh she's out you noce that bowling alley around the corner I'm not sure I did says blanch well that's where she's at says Unice watching her husband bowl there is a pause you want to leave your suitcase here and go find her no says blanch fearful doesn't want to leave and go further into the French Quarter I'll go tell her you come thanks says blanch she goes out she wasn't expecting you says Unice No No not tonight says blanch so again as the play begins we are sensing that there must be something that has happened in blanche's life her sudden arrival in New Orleans at her sister's house what is she hiding what's being kept from us as readers and audiences well why don't you just go in and make yourself at home till they get boxes Unice how could I do that we own this place Place says Unice so I can let you in Unice gets up and opens the downstairs door a light goes on behind the blind turning it light blue blanch slowly follows her into the downstairs flat the surrounding areas dim out as the interior is lighted two rooms can be seen not too clearly defined the one first entered is primarily a kitchen but contains a folding bed to be used by blanch the room Beyond this is a bedroom off this room is a narrow door to a bathroom Unice defensively noticing blanche's look it's sort of messed up right now but when it's clean it's real sweet says Unice with a touch of defensiveness to her so this is one of the things in terms of if you're analyzing a snobbishness or a prudian branch that you can touch upon here without blanch even see saying anything I mean she will in a moment she will ask her sort of sarcastically um is clean when it's clean said Unice it's real sweet is it asks blanch but also here she's notices blanche's look that blanch can um have this sort of disgust almost on her face as to the types of conditions into which she has arrived so your Stella's sister yes blanch wanting to get rid of Unice thanks for letting me in porada says Unice as the Mexicans say poor nard we've had already a depiction of black people in New Orleans the reference to the Mexicans here again it's all constantly driving towards this idea that he's depicting a multicultural setting Stella spoke of you yes I think she said you taught school yes says blanch and you're from Mississippi huh yes says blanch she showed me a picture of your home place the plantation B reev says blanch a great big place with white columns yes says blanch a place like that must be awful hard to keep up if you will excuse me says blanch I'm just about to drop so I just want to comment very quickly on two things here um the tness of blanches replies yes yes yes yes yes and so on really wants to get rid of um Unice and also now our first reference to Bel Reef which we know has been lost B Reef a plantation um and as Unice describes it a great big place with white columns and the white Columns of B reev will be mentioned later by Stanley B reev is the the family home of the dubo family we will find out shortly that it has been lost due to poor finances Bel reev in French beautiful dream an irony to the symbolic name that's what's been lost a place like that must be awful hard to keep up if you'll excuse me I'm just about to drop sh hun why don't you sit down what I meant was I'd like to be left alone says punch oh I'll make myself scarse in that case I didn't mean to be rude but I'll drop by the bowling alley and her SAR up says Unice and she goes out the door so we're left now with blanch on stage on her own blanch sits in a chair very stiffly with her shoulders slightly honed and her legs pressed close together so we're just picking up in these stage descriptions on her um how uncomfortable she is um as she sits in the chair in the middle of the room after a while the blind look goes out of her eyes and she begins to slowly look around a cat screeches she catches her breath with a startled gesture so this sort of anxiety of blanches the the cat's screeching will return at the end of this scene as well when Stanley is in the room with her she's on edge her nerves are shot so to speak suddenly she notices something in a half open closet she Springs up and Crosses to it and removes a whiskey bottle she pours herself half a tumbler of whiskey and tosses it down she carefully replaces the bottle and washes out the tumbler at the sink so in other words trying to conceal that she's had a drink washing out the tumbler a quick drink struggling with her alcohol intake then she resumes her seat in front of the table and again I think this is a key quotation for blanch because it shows a degree of self-awareness she's on stage on her own talking to herself faintly she says I've got to keep hold of myself and that opening line of blanches with herself on stage alone shows you that this is a character who is aware of the fact that her grip on reality her mental stability is slipping Stella comes quickly around the corner of the building and runs to the door of the downstairs flat Stella calling out joyfully blanch for a moment they stare at each other then blanch Springs up and runs to her with a wild cry Stella oh Stella Stella Stella for Star Stella mean star a pet name Stella for Star um you'll see that blunch constantly treats Stella as though she's still a young girl her younger sister almost infantilizing her but there's no doubt I think at the beginning of this play that the two sisters are um happy to see each other Stella is certainly happy to see blanch they do have a warmth in their relationship which is constantly tested and will be tested um as this progress es she begins to speak with ferish vivacity as if she feared for either of them to stop and think they catch each other in a spasmodic Embrace blanch now then let me look at you but don't you look at me still and no no no not till later not till I've bathed and rested and turn that overlight off turn that off I won't be looked at in this merciless glare says blanch so blanch in terms of a character you can see here these imperatives these commands that she gives to Stella automatically adopts the role of a bigger sister let me look at you um don't you look at me no no not till later not till I've bathed turn that overlight off turn that off I won't be looked at in this merciless Gare to that motif of her not wanting to be in the light and you see Stella just laughs and complies because Stella knows her sister she plays along with blanch his um idiosyncrasies and her um sort of you know more eccentric types of behavior come back here now she continues with the commands come back here now she says to her oh my baby Stella Stella for Star so no doubt there is warmth in this relationship they both speak with feverish verocity uh they embraced in a spasmodic Embrace there is love between the sisters blanch plays that role of bigger sisters to Stella Stella complies as the stage Direction tells us they Embrace again I thought you would never come back to this horrible Place says blanch what am I saying I didn't mean to say that I meant to be nice about it and say oh what a convenient location and such haha precious lamb you haven't said a word to me so you see here with this notion of the horrible place with blanch she is often unable to control um what she's actually saying so before she's actually thought about the effects of her words they come out and this will be something which later in the play I believe it's in scene four with Stanley overhearing blanes criticisms of him unable to hold her tongue um her snobbishness um and precious lamb you haven't said a word to me you haven't given me a chance to Honey says Stella she laughs but her glance at blanch is a little anxious so I think Stella here is aware of the fact that there is a sort of uh there's a sort of what like a nervous energy to blanch something's not quite right well now you talk says blanch open in your prissy mouth and talk while I look around for some liquor I know you must have some liquor on the place where could it be I wonder oh I Spy I Spy she rushes to the closet and removes the bottle she is shaking all over and panting for breath as she tries to laugh the bottle nearly slips from her grasp so I think you could analyze this as dramatic irony I suppose um the um liquor that she's looking for we know as an audience that blanch knows where the liquor is she's already had a drink on stage and washed a tumbler out just before Stella arrived and it's indicating to us that blanch is both drinking to settle her nerves and perhaps has some kind of problems with alcohol Stella notes says blanch you sit down and let me pour the drinks I don't know what we've got to mix with maybe a Coke's in the ice box look and see honey while I'm No Coke honey not with my nerves tonight she wants a a neat whiskey a strong whiskey and then it begins already um the antagonism the fear between the protagonist and the antagonist where where where is Stanley bowling he loves it they're having a found some soda tournament just water baby to chase it says blanch now don't get worry your sister hasn't turned into a drunkard she's just all shaken up hot tired and dirty chances are if you have to say it it's probably not true she describes herself as shaken up hot tired and dirty you sit down now and explain this place to me what are you doing in a place like this now blanch says Stella because she knows that blanch is about to start the critique of New Orleans and Elian fields and the apartment now blanch oh I'm not going to be hypocritical says blanch I'm going to be honestly critical about it never never never in my worst dreams could I picture only Poe only Mr Edgar Alan Poe could do it justice out there I suppose is the ghoul haunted Woodland of we she's an English teacher she alludes to Edgar Alan po American Gothic writer there seems to be something Gothic and perverse about this location to blanch she tells Stella that she's going to be honestly critical rather than hypocritical she couldn't imagine somewhere in her worst dreams that would do justice she comp she Compares New Orleans to the ghoul haunted Woodland of the weer the um I can't remember full story was but there's a story with the where is a location that PO uses in one of his short stories she laughs no honey those are the lnn tracks no now seriously putting joking aside says blanch why didn't you tell me why didn't you write me honey why didn't you let me know tell you what blanch says Stella why that you had to live in these conditions aren't you being a little intents about it it's not that bad at all New Orleans isn't like other cities so I think this is a nice little moment of this um scene and play really which shows you these two sisters's competing ideas on life on Society on the world they have different outlooks they perceive um nicity in different things blanch thinks that this is um a ghoul haunted Woodland that it's something that only Edgar Alan Poe himself could do justice too whereas Stella you know you being intense it's not that bad New Orleans is like other cities Stella is much more accepting let's say of this modern world that blanch herself has derided this has got nothing to do with New Orleans you might as well say forgive me blessed baby she stly stop short the subject is closed says blanch Stella a little dry thanks during the pause blanch stares at her she smiles at blanch blanch looking down at her glass which shakes in her hand You're All I've got in the world and you're not glad to see me so we have the kind of um it's not intense but it's just this sort of telling pause on the stage they just sit quietly for a moment and stare at each other blanch has gone in quite critical about New Orleans cell has become defensive and it's just a little bit of tension that it's treated with the Paw and then posos for blanche's character is generated we get this sense of blanche's desperation of her loneliness her isolation You're All I've got in the world and you're not glad to see me Stella sincerely why blanch you know that's not true says Stella no I'd forgotten how quiet you were says blanch you never did give me a chance to say much blanch says Stella so I've just got in the habit of being quiet around you it's just telling I think to the dynamic between the sisters Stella and blanch have this Dynamic it's one-sided blanch is the more dominant sister in their relationship as the older sister 5 years older than Stella he told us in the stage Direction and Stella is aware of the fact that she can't outt talk blanch that blanch has a certain way of being which she's sort of happy to accommodate and she'll tell Stanley as such as the play progresses Blan vaguely a good habit to guess into you haven't asked me how I happened to get away from the school before the spring term ended well I thought you'd volunteer that information if you wanted to tell me says Stella you thought I'd been fired no I thought you might have resigned I was so exhausted by all I'd been through my nerves broke get it's really fascinating moment between the two sisters um blanch anticipates um that Stella will think the worst how she's managed to get away from the school before the spring term ended you thought I'd been fired says blanch no I thought you might have resigned um blanch has been fired but that's not something which will be revealed to us until much later in the play fired for a relationship an inappropriate relationship she had with a student I was so exhausted says blanch by all I'd been through my nerves broke nervously tamping a cigarette I was on the verge of lunacy almost again I was so exhausted nerves broke Taps a cigarette nervously mentions that she was on the verge of lunacy when she was on stage a moment ago on her own I've got to keep hold of Myself by the end of this play blanch will be carted off to an insane asylum and mental institution her mind will have broken entirely by the end of the play and at the beginning of the play we're getting a character here who is aware of the fact that they are on edge that they are teetering on the brink of insanity the deconstruction of their personality Mr grave she says is the high school superintendent he suggested I take a leave of absence I couldn't put all those details into the wire she drinks quickly oh this buzzes right through me and feels so good won't you have another says Stella no says blanch ons my limit and you see the audience here might laugh um I don't think there'll be audible gasps in the audience but certainly we are aware of the fact that blanch has already started to lie she is lying to Stella here because we've seen her have a drink already so one certainly cannot be her limit she's attempting to maintain a certain image let's say to her sister okay sure you haven't said a word about my appearance says blanch you look just fine God love you for a liar says blanch daylight never exposed so total a ruin self-conscious self-deprecating her beauty is slipping she's aware of it again later scene six with Mitch she will make reference to soft people and hard people I think that's with Mitch it might be in scene five where she talks about running from one leaky roof to another leaky roof before the hard collector but anyway later in the play blanch will make reference to women need to maintain their sexual attractiveness because that's what men predicate their identity on that women need to be beautiful they need to be um delicate creatures and awareness of um and obviously everything blanch says um is slightly hyperbolic and exaggerated but there's always like a tinge of Truth in there about how she actually feels but you've put on some weight yes you're just as plump as a little partridge and it's so becoming of you now she doesn't know this but she will learn it it's just interesting that blanch is observant like this she notices that Cella has put on some weight and she's plump and what she's not aware of but she will become shortly is that Stellar is pregnant so the plumpness that she's noticing is probably a natural part her belly of being pregnant now blanch yes it is or I wouldn't say it you just have to watch around the hips a little stand up not now you hear me I said stand up so again the relationship these commands um um treats her like a a younger sister very much almost mother and daughter style of relationship Stella complies reluctantly and then the infantilization continues you messy child you you've spilled something on the pretty white lace collar about your hair you ought to have it cut in a feather Bob with your dainty feature Stellar you have a maid don't you no says Stella I mean even the expect ation that they would have made Might reveal to you something so just this question alone might reveal to you a lot about blanche's character her expectations the world that she comes from no says Stella with only two rooms it's what two rooms did you say this one and Stella is embarrassed the other one says blanch she laughs sharply there's an embarrassed silence so you see Stella embarrassed blanch laughs sharply and it creates ultimately an embarrass silence one's my limit she said I'm going to take just one little tiny niit Mor say blanch sort of to put the stopper on so to speak then put the bottle away so I won't be tempted she Rises I want you to look at my figure I want you to look at my figure she turns around you know I haven't put on 1 o in 10 years Stella I weighed what I weighed the summer you left Bel reev the summer dad died and you left us and she sort of trails off so we get this sense that there is an agenda here there was something hidden of almost like a resentment or accusation might be the right word for it um it starts with the weight and that she's not put on a an ounce in 10 years allegedly she weighs what she weighed in the summer that Stella left B reev i' put this in yellow for Stella you know you left B ree it sounds kind of accusatory the summer dad died you left us and then again Stella as a result is a little wary she avoids this she doesn't comment on leaving B reev she doesn't comment on the dad dying she doesn't comment on leaving them it's just incredible blanch says Stella how well you're looking they both laugh uncomfortably but Stella there's only two rooms I don't see where you're going to put me we're going to put you in here what kind of bed is this one of those collapsible things she sits on it does it feel all right blanch dubiously wonderful honey I don't like a bed that gives much but there's no door between the rooms and Stanley will it be decent will it be decent interesting um use of the word um again there's oldfashioned ideals that she'll expound to Mitch a lot about this idea of whether something will be decent whether that's something that we could necessarily um the fact that blanch is asking about decency um sah makes a joke back um when she comments on Stanley being polish um and what she means by that is not that Polish people aren't decent is um she's referring to the fact that um Stanley is um from a different culture and in that culture um they don't think about whether this is decent or not whether there's a a door between two rooms or not so it's kind of indicating to you that Clash of cultures blanch oh yes they're something like Irish aren't they she says the audience would laugh uh no they're not really the only um commonality between the Polish and the Irish are that they are both of them had a fairly large immigrant population in the United States well only not so highbrow says blanch they both laugh again in the same way I brought some nice clothes to meet all your lovely friends in says blanch and again Stella who's aware of of her older sister knows her I'm afraid you won't think they are lovely what are they like they're Stanley's friends POA says blanch Polish people can only have polish friends you know poak itself is a derogatory term blanche's use of it blanche's assumption that Stan's friends would also be polish you know there's an implied sense of ignorance to blanch I don't know I mean you could possibly say that this is some of her sort of ingrained racist attitudes a sort of um what might you call it a sort of fear of the outsider um a dislike of immigrants the changing nature of the United States people from different cultures that don't necessarily align with your own um they're a mixed lot blanch heterogeneous types she says oh yes yes types is Right says Stella well anyhow I brought nice clothes and I'll wear them I guess you're hoping I'll stay um I'll say I'll put up at a hotel but I'm not going to put up at a hotel and then I think what are key lines for blanch she says I want to be near you got to be with somebody I can't can't be alone because as you must have noticed I'm not very well her voice drops and her look is frightened so again These are nice statements to pick out from blanch because they go to the heart of this tragic character that's being built one that is aware of its um slipping grip on reality and Sanity one who is alone and desperate one who is looking for as she says you know I've got to be near you I have to be with somebody I cannot be alone I'm not very well um it's quite you know she's a certain degree of self-awareness here of her own destitution and a cry for help maybe Stella says You seem a little bit nervous or overwrought or something will like me or will I just be a visiting in-law Stella I couldn't stand that you'll get along fine together if you'll just try not to well compare him with men that we went out with at home so again it's another indicator to you that Stellar is aware of the fact that blanch you know her mind belongs to a certain time and that Stanley for example is not exactly the type of man that blanch would necessarily um have been familiar with is he so different yes says Stella a different species in what way what's he like oh you can't describe someone you're in love with says Stella here's a picture of him she hands a photograph to blanch an officer so he's in his uniform in the photograph and Stella tells us that St was a master sergeant in the engineer core so in the second world war he was a master sergeant in the engineer cor um decorations he has medals on it's a photograph of Stanley um she's in love with him I'm putting these in green because that's do with Stanley she says that he's a different species entirely to the type of men um that they went out with at home so it's a nice little bit of the two sisters talking about Stanley and his differences to other men blanch says he had those on when you met him in other words his uniform and his uh medals I assure you I wasn't just blinded by all the brass says Stellar that's not what I but of course there were things to adjust myself to later on and blanch comments on what those things might be I'll keep it in green sh I for Stanley um his civilian background but really it's also a critique from blanch he he's a civilian um he's from a working class ordinary background how did he take it when you said I was coming oh Stanley doesn't know yet frightened you haven't told him he's on the road a good deal oh travels yes good I mean isn't it and then a a key part for Stella um Tod do with Stanley so I'll try and do this in such a way that you can point out to yourselves um Stella I can hardly stand it when he is away for a night why Stella when he's away for a week I nearly go wild she exclaimed gracious and when he comes back I cry on his lap like a baby she says so a dependency on Stanley a love of Stanley she can hardly stand it when he's away she goes wild and when he comes back she cries on his lap for a baby so it is an attempt to s of established the dynamic of Stella and Stanley's relationship there is that animal magnetism which he'll comment on later between them blanch will call it brutal desire she will see that as the nature of Stanley and stell's relationship brutal desire it's a relationship as far as blanch is concerned anyway which is fundamentally predicated on the sexual attractiveness that the two people feel to each other but also here with Stella she's dependent on her husband she can't cope without him thus the nearly going wild and the crying on his lap like a baby Blane says I guess that's what is meant by being in love Stella looks up with a radiant smile Stella what I haven't asked you the things you probably thought I was going to ask and so I'll expect you to be understanding about what I have to tell you what blanch her face turns anxious so we are coming out to the sequence of um scene one which is the loss of B reev and the revelation of that so I was just showing you how much of this scene we have left um and blanch begins this by um almost sort of anticipating Stella's reaction so even before she actually tells her what's happened um you know she's anticipating that you're going to reproach me I know that you're bound to reproach me to tell me off but before you do take into consideration and then you know her accusations come in thick and heavy you left she exclaimed the exclamation it gets very emotive very impassioned I stayed and struggled uh she says you came to New Orleans and looked out for yourself I stayed at B reev and tried to hold it together I'm not meaning this in any reproachful way but all the burden descended on my shoulders and Stella simply says the best I could do was make my own living blanch blanch begins to shake again with intensity so blanch you see anticipating Stella's disappointment and potential anger at her for loss of B reev Begins the sequence by anticipating that and then also you know sort of trying to paint this picture of herself as the one and there's probably some truth to this as well as the one who suffered um in the loss of Bel reev I know I know but you are the one again these accusations you are the one that abandoned Bel reev not I so you abandoned it but I stayed and fought for it bled for it almost died for it Stella getting a little bit angry stop this hysterical outburst and tell me what happened what do you mean fought and bled what kind of I knew you would Stella I knew you would take this attitude about it about what please blanch slowly the loss the loss B Reef lost is it no yes Stella so quite a dramatic almost like a climactic moment in scene one the Revelation that B reev has been lost blane's accusations towards Stella of having abandoned her and them blanch framing herself as the one with the burden on her shoulders who tried to hold it together who stayed struggled even her verbs you know are nice here um stayed struggled um stayed fought bled died they stare at each other across the yellow CH Lineum of the table blanch slowly nods her head and Stella looks slowly down at her hands folded on the table the music of the blue piano grows louder that motif of the blue piano you see a reminder of the world that we're in it's a reminder of New Orleans of jazz of post-war World blanch touches a handkerchief to her forehead but how did it go what happened blanch springing up you're a fine one to ask me how it went right blanch you're a fine one to sit there accusing me of it so just Stella's questions here um I'll underline these ones like how did it go what happened you can see with Stella she's shocked at the loss of it of the family home and blanch interprets those questions as accusations that she's the one to blame you're a fine one to ask me how it went ufy on sit there accusing me of it blanch and then we get this long important monologue of blanches which is full um of lots of key ideas for blanch that you can I think this is one of those sort of sections of the play where if you're writing on blanch you should take something from this speech so I won't be commenting on this speech I'm just going to read through it well I will comment on it but I'm just going to read through it and kind of pluck out things that you could pick out on in this long speech of blanches which is about death and how she suffered I I I took the blows to my face and my body and then this entire speech is about death all those deaths she says the long parade to the graveyard father mother Margaret we don't know who Margaret is that Dreadful way whatever that might be it could be some kind of terminal illness it could be slow decaying death but it's the long parade to the graveyard and what blanch is basically saying here is that when Stella left she was the one that was left to look after the aging and dying family members the mother and the father so big with it it couldn't be put in a coffin it's quite sort of visceral powerful imagery here um of death as something which you know inflates bodies so big with it it couldn't be put in a coffin the body itself dehumanized to it had to be burned like rubbish you just came home in time for the funeral stellar and funerals are pretty compared to deaths funer ferals are quiet but deaths not always sometimes their breathing is horse sometimes it rattles sometimes they cry out don't let me go even the olds sometimes say don't let me go as if you were able to stop them but funerals are quiet with pretty flowers and oh what gorgeous boxes they pack them away in unless you were there at the bed when they cried out hold me you'd never suspect that was the struggle for breath and bleeding you didn't dream but I and then a repetition of importance here you didn't dream but I saw saw saw it's almost as though she's sort of traumatized by it you know that's the way that I would like you to sort of interpret and analyze the sequence that there is some trauma here for blanch associated with both the idea of death and being around what she calls this long parade to the graveyard that she's seen it that she taken blows to her face and to her body to her mind and now you sit there telling me with your eyes that I let the place go how in the hell do you think all that sickness and dying was paid for death is expensive Miss Stella and old cousin Jesse's right after Margaret's hers um I was like this the Grim Reaper had put his tent on our doorstep Stella B reev was his headquarters honey that's how it slipped through my fingers which of them left us a fortune which members of the family left us anything which of them left a sense of insurance even and I with my pitiful salary at the school yes accuse me sit there and stare at me thinking I let the place go I let the place go where were you in bed with your poock she fires back at her so you see it kind of it's an interesting um speech of blanches here because it comments on a range of things so we have um her commenting on the nature of death and the long parade to the graveyard and death is something which is noisy and ugly the decaying of bodies the breathing that rattles and it's horse the crying out that don't let me go the hold me um the struggle for for for breath and for bleeding so it's quite you know she paints quite a vicious sort of image image of what death would have looked like if you were around it her own sort of position in that as somebody who saw things somebody who was living in B ree when the Grim Reaper turned it into his um headquarters um her pitiful salary that she couldn't afford basically all of this death what had any of the family left for them to pay for their deaths and then finally ends with this sort of resentful contemptuous um criticism blanch you be still says Stella springing up that's enough she starts to leave where are you going I'm going into the bathroom to wash my face oh Stella Stella says blanch you're crying does that surprise you forgive me I didn't means to the sound of men's voices is heard Stella goes into the bathroom closing the door behind her when the men appear and blanch realizes it must be Stanley returning she moves uncertainly from the B bathro door to the dressing table looking apprehensively toward the front door Stanley enters followed by Steven Mitch Stanley pauses near his door Steve by the foot Mitch slightly above um there might be some textual variances there won't be very many in the Edition that I've got on the penguin one that you're using uh but if there are um ignore any that have come up in these videos and just focus on the ones which are in front of you is that how we got it sure that's how he got it don't tell him the those things he'll believe it Mitch starts out hey Mitch come back here blanch the sounds of the voices retires in the bedroom Stanley picks up Stanley's photo from the dressing table looks at it and puts it down when Stanley enters the apartment she darts and hides behind the screen at the head of the bed hey are we playing poker tomorrow says Steve sure at Mitch is Mitch no not at my place my mother's still sick so Mitch with his sick mother and this sort of scale of masculinity which we'll be talking a lot about as we get into more Mitch just important this details in here Stanley okay at my place so this is setting up um Scene Three you bring the beer Mitch pretends not to hear good night all un's voice is heard break it up down there I made the spaghet dis it myself Steve I told you and phoned you we was playing so they having like little argument you never phone me once I told you at breakfast and phoned you at lunch well never mind about that you just get yourself home here once in a while you want it in the paper so you see this s of dis function between Steve and Unice as they disappear the Mitch disappears around the corner and Stanley now comes in to the apartment okay so this is a major scene description for Stanley and full of key quotations for his character so let's just quickly pluck those out we're almost at the end of this scene Stanley throws the screen door of the kitchen open and comes in medium height 5'8 on N um strongly compactly built 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 the giving and taking of it um not with weak Indulgence dependency but with the power and pride of a richly feathered male bird among hens branching out from this complete and satisfying Center all the auxiliary channels of his life so all the things that he likes his heartiness with men his appreciation of rough humor his love of drink um food games his car his radio which he will smash later everything that is his that bears his emblem of the Gody seed Bearer he sizes women up at a glance with sexual classifications crude images flashing into his mind and determining the way he smiles at them so again if you're ever writing on Stanley this tells you almost everything that you need to know about his character alpha male hyper masculine sexist misogynistic objectifies women reduces them to sexual objects for his own pleasure he has that metaphorical quality of being a richly fed male bird among hens that's the alpha male there he's the Gody seed Bearer so there's something about Stanley this sort of godess to him a kind of um a sort of sexual energy that's pervasive his animal Joy um he likes his own possessions and looks to make everything into his own possession you must be Stanley I'm blanch Stella sister yes hello where's the little woman in the bathroom oh didn't know you were coming in town I uh where you from blanch why I live in Laurel he's crossed to the closet and removed the whiskey bottle in Laurel huh oh yeah yeah and Laurel that's right not in my territory what he means by territory is because he's a traveling worker so he moves around a lot as Stella said earlier he notices that the booze has gone down in the bottle liquor goes fast in hot weather he holds the also to the light to observe its depletion have a shot no I uh rarely touch it says blanch we know this is not true look at the her language you know in his presence he kind of strikes that fearing her um I uh why I uh no I uh some people rarely touch it but it touches them often he jokes blch faintly haha my clothes are sticking to me do you mind if I make myself comfortable he starts to remove his shirt please please do and then Stanley's motto be comfortable is my motto takes a shirt off so you get this kind of like you know this sort of it's very nice tense awkward interaction between blanch and Stanley it's mine too it's hard to stay looking fresh I haven't washed or even powdered my face and here you are you know you can catch a cold sitting around and dump things especially when you've been exercising hard like bowling is you're a teacher aren't you yes what do you teach blanch English I was never a very good English student so Stanley how long you here for blanch I don't know yet you're going to shack up here I thought I would if it's not inconvenient for you all good traveling wears me out well take it easy a cat screeches near the window and blanch Springs up so it's similar to what happened at the beginning of the scene with the cat and she sprung up but again at the end of the scene here this tension between protagonist and antagonist this feeling or this anticipation blanch has already started to develop for us before she came on stage um that you know she started to developed that for us already this idea that she's fearful of Stanley she's asked Stellar a couple of times about where Stanley is and when's he coming home and what will he think of me so the cat screeches what's that cats sayy Stella yes Stanley haven't fallen in have you he grins at blanch she tries unsuccessfully to smile back there is silence Stanley says probably based on the way that she looks in terms of what she's wearing I'm afraid I'll strike you as being the unrefined type Stella spoke of you a good deal and now we learn a little bit about blanche's past you were married once weren't you and then all of a sudden the music of pulker Rises up so the poker music is something which only blanch hears so this is a type of music that is used by Williams as a motif to indicate the psychological trauma that blanche's character suffered the POA music is the music that they were dancing the vui to When Alan gray blanche's husband shot himself yes when I was quite young what happened the boy says blanch the boy died she sinks back down I'm afraid I'm going to be sick she exclaims and her head falls on her arms to bring to an end scene one so it ends in this quite emphatic and dramatic way with our tragic hero our protagonist our heroin falling down quite dramatically with this idea that she's going to be sick and part of that sickness is associated with this sort of trauma that's attached to this body Bo that has died and more on that later and also has come to a peak in this confrontation with the antagonist Stanley so that brings to an end our analysis of scene one of a street car Named Desire