Scene 3 Quotes Flashcards
(12 cards)
“a picture of Van Gogh’s of a billiard-parlour at night.”
Stage Directions
-Cultural allusion
Masculinity
“The poker players… wear coloured shirts, solid blues, a purple, a red-and-white check, a light green, and they are men at the peak of their physical manhood,a s coarse and direct and powerful as the primary colours.”
Stage Directions
-Rich colours show the men rich in masculinity - The listing of the colours may represent the different aspects of society, easy intermingling of races.
-Primary colours are bold - representing the bold and explosive attitudes of the men who take over the play.
Abuse
“Stanley gives a loud whack of his hand on her thigh.”
Stage Directions
-Shows the abusive relationship of Stella and Stanley, creates shock when Stella returns to Stanley at end of the scene.
Light
“She takes off the blouse and stands in her pink silk brassiere and white skirt in the light through the portieres.”
Stage Directions
-Blanche stands in the light to reveal her beauty, she is emotionally and physically vulnerable now and lets Mitch see her beauty.
Blanche
“that’s from my favourite sonnet by Mrs Browning!”
“an English instructor”
Blanche
-We learn of Blanche’s education as she is of an high status.
Reality vs appearance
“It’s a French name. It means woods and Blanche means white”
“We are French by extraction”
Blanche
-We learn of Blanche and Stella’s cultural heritage.
-Blanche’s name suggests her innocence which she tries to project.
Symol of light
“I bought this adorbale little coloured paper lantern… I can’t stand a naked light-bulb”
Blanche
-The paper lanter hides the light-bulb which then masks Blanche’s true identity, age, and past, as she feels protected by the light.
Hamartia
“I’m very adaptable - to circumstances.”
Blanche
-Irony, as Blanche’s hamartia i sher inability to adapt to her surroundings and she is overtaken by the strength of the New South, overtaken the French Quarter.
Masculine animalistic qualities
SD “Mitch is delighted and moves in awkward imitation like a dancing bear.”
Stella “Drunk - drunk animal thing, you!”
Stage Directions and Stella
-Both Mitch and Stanley are compared to animals, however Mitch seems to be a more innocent animal.
-Stella repeats drunk to show the motif of alcohol, which makes Stanley a brute, suggesting his true power which he will eventually use over Blanche in her rape.
Repetition
“Poker shouldn’t be played in a house with women”
Mitch
-Refrain, shows the possibility of abuse and destruction between relationships, Blanche now thinks of Stanley as an abusive brute who is no good for her sister - but Stella’s delusion leads her back to him.
Bathing
“they lead him to the bathroom.”
Stage Directions
-The men force Stanley into the shower to rid him of his drunkern state.
