MITCH Flashcards
(9 cards)
Mitch is presented to be the foil of Stanley with his awkward, courteous manner. Shows the diversification of men within the play - doesnt aim to criticise, until the ordeal with Blanche. He is reminiscent of Blanche’s late husband.
(With awkward courtesy) “How do you do, Miss Dubois.”
B: “That one seems - superior to the others.”
B: “I thought he had a sort of sensitive look.”
Mitch attempts to embody the literacy and behaviour of a higher class, they have both suffered loss - these unique attributes make the pair of them compatible
“And if God chose, I shall but love thee after death! Why, that’s from my favourite sonnet from Mrs Browning!”
Stanley sabotages Blanche’s and Mitch’s relationship - it seems as though Stanley actively plots against Mitch under the ploy that he is ‘looking out for his best friend.’
“Well, he’s not going to marry her. Maybe he was, but he’s not going to jump in a tank with a school of sharks.”
“Hold this bone-headed crybaby.”
Mnemonic/memory aid of the varsouviana foreshadows that Blanche and Mitch are doomed to fail. Both Mitch and Blanche are using each-other as a means to an end
“Dame aux camellias!”
(Polker tune fades out)
“I want to rest! I want to breathe quietly again! Yes - I want Mitch… very badly.”
“You need somebody. I need somebody too.”
Mitch does not exercise his authority, unlike Stanley, and is always remindful of Blanche’s boundaries - in this way, this characterisation contrasts Stanley’s after the rape. Despite this, he seems open and disregards Stanley’s abuse of Stella
“Can I- uh- kiss you - goodnight?”
“Ho-ho. There’s nothing to be scared of. They’re crazy about each other.”
Blanche is seen to be using Mitch, disinterested as his working-class origins are highlighted. This can be linked back to Shep Huntingleigh and how she attempts to use his wealth to get her out of New Orleans and retreat to a higher status once again. Uses her higher social status as a weapon.
(She rolls her eyes, knowing he cannot see her face.)
“Oh” (repetition)
“I guess it is just that I have - old-fashioned ideals!”
“We are going to pretend that we are sitting in a little artists’ cafe on the Left Bank.”
Mitch adopts to the cruel ideologies of male society, criticising Blanche’s chastity. Mitch embodies stereotypical hypocrisy of women in sexual relationships
(Fumbling to embrace her) “What I have been missing all summer.”
to
“You’re not clean enough to bring into the house with my mother.”
Stanley faces Mitch’s sensitivity when he learns of Blanche’s past
“Are you boxed out of your mind?”
“Lies, lies, inside and out, all lies.”
(He tears the paper lantern off the light-bulb)
Despite this, he is still upset when Stanley has Blanche sectioned. He is the only one who attempts to stand up to Stanley at the end - highlights his weakness in comparison to Stanley
(Wildly) “You! You done this, all o’ your Goddamn interfering with things you- I’ll kill you!”
