A Streetcar Named Desire Study Notes Scene 9 PDF

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A Streetcar Named Desire- Study Notes: Scene 9 _ scripted_ on TES Quotation

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[Seated in a tense hunched position… has on her scarlet satin robe… rapid, feverish polka tune… is heard… music is in her mind; she is drinking to escape it and the sense of disaster closing in on her…]

Character/Setting How is the character portrayed? Image created depending on descriptors/dialogue Blanche’s reality:  Blanche’s composure is beginning to crack as she is trying to survive amidst her inescapable guilt; the past seemingly haunts her. 

The Varsouviana clings onto Blanche as she “whispers the words” almost as if the ghost of her husband is haunting her.

Analysis Language or structural techniques? Effect? Perceptive points?

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[Mitch comes… in work clothes, blue denim… unshaven] (83)

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[Rushes about… hiding the bottle… crouching at the mirror… dabbing her face] (83) [Looks fearfully… as he stalks into the bedroom]

“You’ve stopped the polka tune that I had caught in my head… goes relentlessly on in your head.” (84) “Some things on the premises are actually mine! [The polka tune starts up again] “That- music

Blanche still maintaining a performance:  The irony lies with the fact that Blanche continues to uphold her illusion. 

Mitch is the only one who can save Blanche from her misery.

Blanche’s mental instability:  Blanche’s mental instability is directed at the audience for the first time, conveying how she is trapped in her youth.

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“Tense, hunched… scarlet satin robe”Semantics of “tense” and “hunched” are suggestive of how Blanche is weighed down by her past and the fact that Stanley has now revealed it to Mitch and Stella. The sibilance of “scarlet satin” is ironic in echoing the hissing nature, forewarning the rape. The “scarlet” symbolises Blanche’s sexual desire and the danger involved with this, which completely juxtaposes to white and her innocence. “Rapid, feverish polka… in her mind… drinking to escape it”- “Rapid, feverish” is symbolic of Blanche’s past becoming a disease that clings onto her; her sickness is portrayed in the form of her mental instability. Her alcoholism is heightened at this stage, suggesting how she cannot distinguish reality form fantasy; by drinking, she is further shattering her own illusion, whilst being trapped in her past. “Mitch… work clothes, blue denim, unshaven”- The fact that Mitch wears his “work clothes’ epitomises the fact that he chooses Stanley’s side in the battle between the old South and the new world. “Blue” is symbolic of the divine and represents truthfulness, suggesting how Mitch is the embodiment of the new world and reality, as opposed to Blanche’s ethereal fantasy. “Unshaven” suggests his detachment from being a “gentleman” as Blanche requests. “Rushes… hiding the bottle… dabbing her face”- The fact that she resorts to a “mirror” is ironic, as she has lost touch of reality. “Looks fearfully… stalks”- Mitch has also adopted Stanley’s attitude of Blanche, as he “stalks” towards Blanche, determined to break her illusion. “Utterly uncavalier… Stopped the polka tune… caught in my head… goes relentless on”- Alliteration conveys how she maintains her façade and assonance in “utterly uncavalier” alludes to her fragmented nature as she begins to give up on her illusion. The rhetorical questions as she talks about the “polka tune” convey her panic, almost as if she is trying to reassure her sanity. “Some things… actually mine!”-The aggressive nature of “mine” is expressed by the exclamation mark, highlighting how she is angered by the power shift in society. “Polka starts up again”- The “polka” begins again to signify that Mitch is no

Contextual/Thematic Significance What aspects of the context does it link to in relation to themes?  

Fantasy and reality Society

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Fantasy and reality

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Fantasy and reality

A Streetcar Named Desire- Study Notes: Scene 9 _ scripted_ on TES again… The polka tune they were playing when Allan… [A distant revolver shot is heard, Blanche seems relieved] (84)

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“You ought to lay off his liquor. He says you been lapping it up all summer like a wild-cat!”

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“Fantastic of him to say it and fantastic of you to repeat it. I won’t descend to the level of such cheap accusations…” (85) [He tears the paper lantern… She utters a frightened gasp]

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“I don’t want realism… I misrepresent things to them. I don’t tell the truth. I tell what ought to be the truth…”

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Mitch vs. Blanche:  Mitch refuses to play along with Blanche’s version of the world, whilst Blanche pretends she is naïve to reality.

“Tarantula arms… That’s where I brought my victims… I had many

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Mitch breaking Blanche’s illusion:  Mitch is desperate to reveal the truth; in the hope of Stanley being wrong about his Blanche- his disappointment acts as a final push to sever ties with Blanche. 

[He turns the light on and stares at her… She cries out] (86)

“The merchant Kiefbar of Laurel… He whistled at me. I put him in his place. So now for revenge he makes up stories about me.”

The fact that she realises the music is playing in her head adds to her mentally unstable state.

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Mitch wants to get rid of the persona Blanche has constructed; he knows he has been deceived. 

Mitch and Stanley destroying Blanche:  Blanche tries to maintain her façade until she realises Mitch is aware of her past. 

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Blanche continues to deny her past until she notes that Mitch sides with Stanley.

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longer her saviour, thus she will have to live in a world of her guilt. “That- music again… playing when Allan… distant revolver… Blanche seems relieved”- Her happiness is drained out by the death of those she loved; it is ironic to use the word “relieved,” juxtaposing her fear and loneliness. Perhaps, the word choice acts as a façade. “Lay off his liquor… lapping it up… like a wild-cat!”- Simile and comparison to a “cat” acts as an extended metaphor; the cat, which seemed to continually warn Blanche, is now also being represented as helpless. “Fantastic of him to say it and fantastic of you to repeat it”- Repetition of “fantastic” mirrors her state of fantasy. “Won’t descend to… cheap accusations”- “Descend” is ironic as her downfall is near. The “cheap accusations” evoke a defensive tone on Blanche’s past, alluding to how Stanley’s words are true.

“Tears the paper lantern… frightened gasp”- “Tears the paper lantern” symbolises Mitch’s extermination of the façade; she relies on darkness to obscure reality, as it gives her freedom to say what she wishes, whereas Mitch ruins this. “Don’t want realism… misrepresent things… don’t tell the truth… tell what ought to be the truth”- Blanche’s use of colloquial contractions highlights her desperation in wanting to live in her fantasy rather than be hurt by her reality. “What ought to be the truth” is symbolic of how Blanche grieves for the death of Belle Rève and herself perhaps, as she wonders if she deserved more. “Turns the light on… stares at her… cries out”- The light pierces through Blanche’s illusion and her panic adds to the sense of pathos. Mitch violates Blanche’s feigned dignity however he has never reacted negatively towards her physical appearance. “Merchant… whistled at me… put him in his place”- “Put him in his place” is suggestive of her challenging demeanour; she does not realise she is a danger to herself, in such a patriarchy. “For revenge he makes up stories about me”- All the men in her life have used her; the merchant is out to get her as she challenges his power and tries to shift the power dynamic; he tries to ruin her. However, the Kiefbar does not lie about Blanche’s past, thus the audience are left to battle their opinion of Blanche. “Tarantula arms… brought my victims… had many intimacies with

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Fantasy, reality and downfall

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Reality: She no longer has an audience for her lies and thus begins a performance for herself, which is labelled as mental instability by those around her.

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Masculinity

A Streetcar Named Desire- Study Notes: Scene 9 _ scripted_ on TES intimacies with strangers… hunting for some protection.” (87)

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“This woman is morally unfit for her position! [… Throws back her head… repeats the statement, gasps and drinks] (87) “You seemed to be gentle- a cleft in the rock of the world that I could hide in.” (88) [Mexican… gaudy tin flowers… display at funerals…]

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“I lived in a house where dying old women remembered their dead men.”

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“Crumble and fade andregretsrecriminations… ‘If you’d done this, it wouldn’t have cost me that!’” (88)

Blanche’s revelations:  Blanche’s revelations indicate tat she is the victim, yet no one ever acknowledges this. 

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Her only form of satisfaction is by fulfilling strangers’ needs.

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Blanche’s fate:  The flowers seem to remind Blanche of her dead husband. 

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All men in her life have let her down apart form the strangers she does not know personally. 

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strangers”- “Tarantula” is symbolic because just as the spider lures in others by weaving a web, Blanche also weaves and constructs an illusion in order to present herself in the best light and draw in Mitch. Juxtaposition of “victims” and intimacies” are indicative of her mental instability. “Brought” suggests a passive nature emanating from the men, which is questionable, as the patriarchy is responsible for constructing Blanche into the way she is. “Woman is morally unfit… throws back her head… repeats the statement, gasps”- “Morally unfit” labels her as a social outcast, even in her society, thus she has never been a part of this world. As she “gasps”, we realise that Blanche understands that her illusion is broken. She is pushed out of her own world, desperately trying to fit into the new world. “Seemed to be gentle- a cleft in the rock of the world… I could hide in”“Gentle” links Mitch to Allan Gray; even if Blanche has a life with Mitch, she will never be able to satisfy his needs. “Mexican… gaudy tin flowers… funerals”- “Tin flowers” suggest how man-made objects are suppressing nature, just as Blanche’s reality is being suppressed by the artificial concepts of society. “Gaudy” suggests that the flowers are unappealing and need to be masked by something artificial, just as Blanche believes her interior cannot be known to the world, thus creating an illusion. “Dying old women remembered their dead men”- Contrast between the present “dying” and the past “dead” is suggestive of the cyclical nature of life; Blanche is also distanced from the old South as she is still alive in a world of change. “Crumble and fade and- regretsrecriminations”- She seems to punish herself for Allan’s death; the overcrowded hyphenations create a broken syntax to suggest how guilt overpowers her illusion. “’If you’d done this, it wouldn’t have cost me that!’”- Women seemed to be left behind to pick up the pieces; she descends into madness as she starts up conversations in her head and her sentences become fragmented.

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Fantasy and reality

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Masculinity Society and class

A Streetcar Named Desire- Study Notes: Scene 9 _ scripted_ on TES 

“”Legacies… blood-stained pillow slips… Death- I used to sit here and she used to sit over there and death was as close as you are… the opposite is desire.” (88)

Blanche’s fear of death:  Blanche descends into madness as her sentences become fragmented.

“I don’t think I want to marry you anymore… You’re not clean enough to bring in the house with my mother.”

Mitch breaking Blanche’s illusion:  The only way Mitch is aware of expressing himself is through physical aggression and sex.

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“Death- I used to sit here and she used to sit over there”- Personification of “death” suggests her extent of fear towards the idea of mortality; she is living both in her memories and in the present. “Death was as close as you are… opposite is desire”- Blanche chooses the route of “desire” in the hope of surviving the new world, perhaps because she was born into a society which suppresses desire and entitlement to power.

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Mortality

“Don’t think I want to marry you anymore”- Despite his anger, Mitch is sexually attracted to Blanche; he cannot overcome Blanche’s past. “Not clean enough… bring in the house with my mother”- “Not clean enough” adds emphasis to the fact that Blanche is never accepted in any society that she lives. “Bring’ is suggestive of Mitch almost treating her as an object; his rejection shatters blanche’s world. “Starts screaming fire”- “Fire” is indicative of natural light, which can harm others, thus she uses reality in order to escape Mitch’s aggression. “Distant piano… slow and blue”Marriage is Blanche’s only escape yet Mitch’s rejection results in Blanche’s sentence to live in an internal world. The music is reflective of how Blanche breaks down; her only mode of escape is her own mind.

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Fantasy and reality Society and class

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[Blanche staggers back from the window and falls to her knees… distant piano… slow and blue]” (89)

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