Scene Five Flashcards
1
Q
“You hit me! I’m gonna call the police!”
A
- empty threat; the police wouldn’t do anything
- shows how common violence is: accepted culture
- subverts expectations of violence
2
Q
“Have got to be seductive - put on soft colours, the colours of butterfly wings, and glow - make a little temporary magic just in order to pay for - one nights shelter!”
A
- butterfly wings connote sexual freedom
- semantic field of fragile femininity
- Blanche is excusing her past behaviours: blaming it on aging. trying to earn PATHOS
- unfinished utterances: trying to process her emotions
3
Q
“And so the soft people have got to - shimmer and glow - put a - pale lantern over the light…”
A
- suggesting you must deceive to survive the ugly reality
- fantasy lexis shows how her past scares her
4
Q
“I don’t listen to you when you are being morbid
A
- dismissive
- doesn’t speak back to Blanche
- fantasy vs reality; Blanche confronts her reality but Stella doesn’t want to confront her
5
Q
“Right on my pretty white skirt!”
A
- connotes lost innocent
- coke = reality
- skirt = facade
- the spilling of the coke is a metaphor for Blanches over sharing
6
Q
“Could you give me a light?”
A
- Blanche is drawn to men like a flame; literally playing with fire
- unsettling
- link to Mitch: her way of flirting
7
Q
“Has anyone ever told you that you look like a young prince out of the Arabian Nights?”
A
- Blanche is clinging onto her youth
- simile and allusion to literature
- drawn back to toxicity
8
Q
“It would be nice to keep you”
A
- objectifying the young man
- dramatic irony
- Blanche knows she is in power, relishing her youth, but this is only temporary
9
Q
“My Rosenkavalier! Bow to me first!”
A
- allusion to Richard Strauss’ opera: means ‘knight of roses’
- imperative is ironic; Blanche has delved into her brutal desires and has power
- dramatic irony manipulated the audience into feel sorry for Mitch
