Studied by 0 people“Her appearance…”
“…is incongruous to this setting. She is daintily dressed in a white suit […] white gloves and hat” - stage directions, scene one, pg 3
“Her delicate…”
“…beauty must avoid a strong light. There is something about her uncertain matter, as well as her white clothes, that suggests a moth.” - stage directions, scene one, pg 3
“They told me…
“…to take a streetcar named Desire, and then transfer to one called Cemeteries and ride six blocks and get off at - Elysian Fields!” - blanche, scene one, pg 3
“Blanche sits in…”
“…a chair very stiffly with her shoulders slightly hunched and her legs pressed close together and her hands tightly clutching her purse as if she were quite cold.” - stage directions, scene one, pg 5
“She catches…”
“…her breath with a startled gesture. […] She pours a half tumbler of whisky and tosses it down. She carefully replaces the bottle and washes out the tumbler at the sink.” - stage directions, scene one, pg 5
“Stella, oh Stella,…”
“…Stella! Stella for Star!” - blanche, scene one, pg 6
“I was on the…”
“…verge of - lunacy, almost!” - blanche, scene one, pgs 7-8
“You haven’t said…”
“…a word about my appearance. […] God love you for a liar! Daylight never exposed so total a ruin! But you - you’ve put on some weight, yes, you’re just as plump as a little partridge! And it’s so becoming to you!” - blanche, scene one, pg 8
“You know I haven’t…”
“…put on one ounce in ten years, Stella? I weigh what I weighed the summer you left Belle Reve. The summer Dad died and you left us…” - blanche, scene one, pg 8
“Because - as you…”
“…must have noticed, I’m not very well…” - blanche, scene one, pg 10
“I stayed at…”
“…Belle Reve and tried to hold it together! I’m not meaning this in any reproachful way, but all the burden descended on my shoulders.” - blanche, scene one, pg 11
first monologue of the play
loss of belle reve - blanche, scene one, pg 12
“BLANCHE comes out…
“…of the bathroom in a red satin robe.” - stage directions, scene two, pg 20
“Would you think…”
“…it possible that I was once considered to be - attractive?” - blanche, scene two, pg 21
“Poems a dead…”
“…boy wrote. I hurt him the way that you would like to hurt me, but you can’t! I’m not young and vulnerable any more. But my young husband was and I - never mind about that! Just give them back to me!” - blanche, scene two, pg 23
“Stella? Stella going…”
“…to have a baby? [Dreamily.] I didn’t know she was going to have a baby! […] Stella, Stella for Star! How lovely to have a baby!” - blanche, scene two, pg 25
“That one seems - …”
“…superior to the others. […] I thought he had a sort of sensitive look.” - blanche, scene three, pg 30
“I’m sorry, but…”
“…I haven’t noticed the stamp of genius even on Stanley’s forehead.” - blanche, scene three, pg 30
“Why, that’s from…”
“…my favourite sonnet by Mrs Browning!'“ - blanche, scene three, pg 33
“Yes, Stella is…”
“…my precious little sister. I call her little in spite of the fact that she’s somewhat older than I. Just slightly. Less than a year.” - blanche, scene three, pg 34
“I can’t stand…”
“…a naked light-bulb” - blanche, scene three, pg 34
"Married? No,…”
“…no. I’m an old maid school-teacher!” - blanche, scene three, pg 34
“Stella, Stella, precious!…”
“…Dear, dear little sister, don’t be afraid!” - blanche, scene three, pg 36
“You're married to…”
“…a madman! […] Yes, you are, your fix is worse than mine is!” - blanche, scene four, pg 42
“Do you remember…”
“…Shep Huntleigh?” - blanche, scene four, pg 43
“Honey, would I…”
“…be here if the man weren’t married?” - blanche, scene four, pg 44
“I can’t dial…”
“…I’m too-” - blanche, scene four, pg 44
“Money just…”
“…goes - it goes places.” - blanche, scene four, pg 45
second monologue of the play
talking about stanley - blanche, scene four, pgs 46-47
“Myself, myself,…”
“…for being such a liar!” - blanche, scene five, pg 49
“I must jot…”
“…that down in my notebook.” - blanche, scene five, pg 59
“Oh, my birthday’s…”
“…next month, the fifteenth of September, that’s under Virgo. […] Virgo is the Virgin.” - blanche, scene five, pg 51
“She speaks lightly…”
“…but her voice has a note of fear.” - stage directions, scene five, pg 52
third monologue of the play
soft colours / soft people - blanche, scene five, pg 53
“[hysterically]: I won’t,…”
“…I promise, I’ll go! Go soon! I will really! I won’t hand around until he - throws me out…” - blanche, scene five, pg 54
“I want his…”
“…respect. And men don’t want anything they get too easy. But on the other hand men lost interest quickly. […] I want to deceive him enough to make him - want me.” - blanche, scene five, pg 55
“Young man!…”
“…Young, young, young, young - man! Has anyone ever told you that you look like a young prince out of the Arabian Nights?” - blanche, scene five, pg 57
“Come here! Come…”
“…on over here like I told you! I want to kiss you - just once - softly and sweetly on your mouth.” - blanche, scene five, pg 57
“The utter…”
“…exhaustion which only a neurasthenic personality can know is evident in BLANCHE’s voice and manner.” - stage directions, scene six, pg 59
“I was just…”
“…obeying the law of nature. […] The one that says the lady must entertain the gentleman - or no dice!” - blanche, scene six, pg 60
“Why do you…”
“…always ask me if you may?” - blanche, scene six, pg 60
“She rolls her…”
“…eyes, knowing he cannot see her face.” - blanche, scene six, pg 63
fourth monologue of the play (on the shorter side)
discussing stanley’s hatred for blanche - blanche, scene six, pg 65
fifth monologue of the play
allan grey story - blanche, scene six, pgs 66-67
“BLANCHE has a…”
“…tight, artificial smile on her drawn face.” - stage directions, scene eight, pg 76
“There’s no excuse…”
“…for it, Stella. I don’t have to put up with insults. I won’t be taken for granted.” - blanche, scene eight, pg 79
“I’ve said I…”
“…was sorry three times. [The piano fades out.] I take hot baths for my nerves. Hydro-therapy, they call it. You healthy Polack, without a nerve in your body, of course you don’t have what anxiety feels like!” - blanche, scene eight, pg 79
“I’d much rather…”
“…forget it - when you - reach twenty-seven! Well - age is a subject that you’d perfect to - ignore!” - blanche, scene eight, pg 80
“BLANCHE tries to…”
“…smile. Then she tries to laugh. Then she gives both up and springs from the table and runs into the next room. She clutches her throat and then runs into the bathroom. Coughing, gagging sounds are heard.” - stage directions, scene eight, pg 81
“El pan de…”
“…mais, el pan de mais, / El pan de mais sin sal.” - blanche, scene eight, pg 82
“The ‘Varsouviana’?…”
“…The polka tune they were playing when Allan - Wait!” - blanche, scene nine, pg 84
“Why, it’s a…”
“…liqueur, I believe! Yes, that’s what it is, a liqueur!” - blanche, scene nine, pg 85
“I misinterpret things…”
“…to them. I don’t tell the truth. I tell what ought to be truth. And if that is sinful, then let me be damned for it! - Don’t turn the light on!” - blanche, scene nine, pg 86
“Don’t say I…”
“…lied to you. […] Never inside, I didn’t lie in my heart…” - blanche, scene nine, pg 88
“Go away,…”
“…then. [He stares at her.] Get out of here quick before I start screaming fire! [Her throat is tightening with hysteria.] Get out of here quick before I start screaming fire.” - blanche, scene nine, pg 89
“…she has decked…”
“…herself out in a somewhat soiled and crumpled white satin evening gown and a pair of scuffed silver slippers with brilliants set in their heels.” - stage directions, scene ten, pg 90
“Tremblingly she lifts…”
“…the hand mirror for a closer inspection. She catches her breath and slams the mirror face down with such violence that the glass cracks.” - stage directions, scene ten, pg 90
“I received a…”
“…telegram from an old admirer of mine.” - blanche, scene ten, pg 91
“A cultivated woman,…”
“…a woman of intelligence and breeding, can enrich a man’s life - immeasurably! I have those things to offer, and this doesn’t take them away. Physical beauty is passing.” - blanche, scene ten, pg 93
“He returned with…”
“…a box of roses to beg my forgiveness! He implored my forgiveness.” - blanche, scene ten, pg 93
“Oh!” repeated…
…three times and then “Oh - God…” - blanche, scene ten, pg 94
“She smashes…”
“…a bottle on the table and faces him, clutching the broken top.” - blanche, scene ten, pg 96
“She cries out…”
“…and strikes at him with the bottle top but he catches her wrist. […] She sinks to her knees.” - blanche, scene ten, pg 97
“You’re both…”
“…mistaken. It’s Della Robbia blue. The blue of the robe in the old Madonna pictures.” - blanche, scene eleven, pg 101
“You are not…”
“…the gentleman I was expecting. […] That man isn’t Shep Huntleigh.” - blanche, scene eleven, pg 103
“[retreating in panic]:…”
“…I don’t know you - I don’t know you. I want to be - left alone - please!’ - blanche, scene eleven, pg 105
“Whoever you are - …”
“…I have always depended on the kindness of strangers.” - blanche, scene eleven, pg 107
“BLANCHE walks on…”
“…without turning” - blanche, scene eleven, pg 107
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