ASCND scene 1

scene summary? (5 points)

• stanley throws meat at stella, leaves to go bowling

• blanche arrives, the black woman lets stella know

• blanche critiques stella’s living conditions

• blanche reveals bella reve is gone and their parents have died

• stanley and blanche meet, blanche declares her fiance has died

significance of the setting elysian fields?

greek myth reference - elysium is a resting place for heroes, foreshadowing blanche’s fate

what does stanley represent as a polish immigrant?

the changing face of america

significance of the ‘blue piano’ and music in general? (2 points)

• music expresses the melting pot of cultures/classes

• blue has connotations of sadness

significance of stanley’s first appearance (throwing meat at stella on page 2)? (3 points)

• meat symbolizes provider role

• characterizes him as primitive

• calls stella ‘baby’ - power imbalance

significance of blanche being compared to a ‘moth’ on page 3?

• symbolizes her as fragile and delicate

• moths like light even though it can kill them - blanche is self destructive

significance of eunice’s line - ‘we own this place, so i can let you in’ on page 4?

contrasts blanche as an outsider who owns nothing

significance of blanche claiming she ‘doesn’t drink’ despite doing so in secret?

implies her as a sympathetic character

why does blanche claim ‘funerals are pretty compared to death’ on page 12?

shows she is obsessed with beauty, uses it to distract from reality

main theme in blanche’s lines starting ‘i, i, i took the blows’ on page 12?

death

dramatic significance of blanche’s lines starting ‘i, i, i took the blows’ on page 12?

conveys blanche’s character and hatred for stanley, calling him a ‘polak’

language techniques in blanche’s lines starting ‘i, i, i took the blows’ on page 12? (4 points)

• metaphor - the ‘blows’ are her losing her home

• melodramatic language

• personification of the ‘grim reaper’

• repetition emphasizing hysteria

ways blanche and stanley are foils of each other? (2 points)

• blanche is delicate while stanley is brutish

• blanche is romantic while stanley is lustful

stanley’s characteristics? (4 points)

• strong

• hearty

• primitive

• brutal

blanche’s characteristics? (4 points)

• frivolous

• hysterical

• insensitive

• self-obsessed

why might the audience side with stanley in this scene?

blanche is superficial in judging stella’s house, while stanley is social and unpretentious