A Streetcar Named Desire Scene Summaries

Scene 1

• Blanche moves to Elysian Fields to see how Stella lives to her horror.

• Blanche is an alcoholic, grabbing liquor when home alone

• Blanche reveals she lost their plantation, Belle Reve, to Stella

• Stella and Blanche talk about Stanley; Blanche disapproves of him

• First interaction between Blanche and Stanley: awkward but cordial until Stanley mentions Blanche’s late husband – first sign of Polka music and her mental decline. She feels physically sick from the trauma.

Scene 2

• Blanche bathes while Stella and Stanley argue about Blanche having lost Belle Reve. 

• Stanley looks through Blanche’s suitcase and laments over how expensive all her clothing and jewellery look (to him – in reality they are cheap costume attire).

• Stella leaves to wait outside for Blanche in her frustration, when Blanche finishes bathing and starts flirting with Stanley: she asks him to button up her dress, take a drag of his cigarette; there is obvious sexual tension.

• He refuses to compliment her and asks for the papers/bill of sale on Belle Reve. The news is revealed to Blanche that her sister is pregnant. 

• He rifles through her papers and gets his hands on her love letters from Alan. This causes Blanche to spiral and lose her head a bit before she regains her composure.

• The scene ends with Blanche and Stella going out together, Stella leading a lost Blanche, to the background noise of a street vendor.

Scene 3

The poker night (the original title of the play).

• A scene of mascul­inity. We are introduced to (most import­antly) Mitch, and Steve and Pablo.

• Stella and Blanche return from their girls' night. The men show no interest in Blanche's presence.

• Stella asserts that it's time to stop playing for the night, Stanley refuses her request.

• Mitch emerges into the bedroom from the bathroom and is sheepish and awkward upon meeting Blanche, indicating he is attracted to her.

• Blanche remarks that there is something "­sup­erior to the others­" in Mitch, Stella agrees that Mitch is polite but claims that Stanley is the only one of them who will "get anywhe­re".

• Blanche turns on the radio and begins to dance. She attempts to engage Mitch and prevent his leave to the bathroom. Stanley rushes up to the radio and hurls it out the window.

• Stella yells at Stanley, and he advances violently toward her. He follows her as she runs offstage, and the stage directions call for sounds of him beating her. The other men pull him off. Stella cries out that she wants to get away, and Blanche scrambles to gather clothes and take Stella upstairs to Eunice’s apartment.

• Mitch condemns Stanley’s behaviour to Blanche. Then the men attempt to revive the now limp and confused Stanley, but when they try to force him into the shower to sober him up, he fights them off. They grab their poker winnings and leave.

• Stanley stumbles out of the bedroom, calling for Stella. Eunice won't let him speak to Stella. However, Stella slips out of the apartment and down to where Stanley is. They stare at each other and then rush together with "­animal moans". He falls to his knees, tenderly caresses her face and belly, then lifts her up and carried her into their flat.

• Blanche emerges from Eunice's flat. Mitch returns and tells her not to worry because Stella and Stanley are crazy about each other. He offers her a cigarette. She thanks him for his kindness.

Scene 4

• Stella and Blanche talk together about Stella’s relationship with Stanley, with Blanche disapproving.

• Stella admits she stays with him because his aggression and violence excites her.

• Blanche tries to think of a way to get money for the two of them to escape him and tries to call Shep Huntleigh, a past suitor, for money. She starts pre-preparing her message to him but ebbs up not calling.

• Blanche admits she is broke to Stella. Stella offers get half of her ten dollars given to her by Stanley but Blanche refuses

• A loud train passes their house at the same time Stanley walks in, covering his entrance.

• Blanche monologues to Stella about how primitive and sub-human Stanley is, which he hears wholly.

• Stanley announces his entrance, immediately going to embrace Stella and grins over her shoulder at Blanche.

Scene 5

• While Stella and Blanche are having a conversation, Eunice and Steve have an argument which quickly turns physically abusive. Stella dismisses Eunice’s threats to call the police with a joke about alcohol, showing how normalised domestic abuse is to her.

• Blanche makes mindless conversation with Stella and Stanley about astrology, before Stan suddenly asks if she knows anyone called Shaw. Blanche is instantly shaken and tries to dodge the question but eventually says she doesn’t.

• Blanche gets herself into a panic and asks Stella if she’s heard any bad gossip about her, before monologuing about the guilt and shame over what happened in the time she lost Belle Reve.

• Stella offers Blanche a coke which she asks for with a shot. When some of the coke spills onto her dress, Blanche immediately panics and screams.

• A newspaper boy appears at the house. Blanche flirts with him asking for his cigarette lighter and tries offering him alcohol. The blue piano starts playing. Blanche kisses the young boy without his consent before quickly ushering him out of the house.

• The scene ends with Mitch showing up at the house and Blanche speaking to him lightheartedly.

Scene 6

• Mitch and Blanche return from their date both exhausted which upsets Mitch.

• Blanche invites Mitch inside while Stanley and Stella are gone as they exchange lighthearted conversation, mentioning Mitch’s physique which prompts him picking her up.

• They talk about Mitch’s terminally ill mother which shows how much more caring and gentle Mitch is than Stan.

• Blanche then speaks about Allan Grey, her husband who died by suicide. She reveals that they married young and she loved him dearly but felt like she was lacking in some way. She then describes when she walked in on him having sex with an older man. They pretended it didn't happen, carrying on with the night and going dancing. However, when they were dancing, Blanche expressed her disgust in Allan which led him to shoot himself in the head shortly after.

• She begins to hear the Polka music again and sobs as Mitch holds her, telling her that they both need someone, suggesting that they could be there for each other.

• Mitch's comfort and touch aid in having the Polka fade away. Blanche also recognizes this with the audience who now realize that Mitch is her hope for redemption.

Scene 7

• Stanley mocks Blanche’s constant bathing which Stella tries to defend by referencing her and Blanche’s different uprisings compared to Stan’s.

• Stella and Stanley discuss Blanche’s lies while she bathes.

• Stanley recounts the information he got from Shaw, who he thinks to be completely accurate and truthful, about how Blanche was forced to leave Laurel because she lost her job, respect, reputation, and life after Allan’s death.

• Stella is upset by this and tells Stanley not to believe the rumours. However, he insists that they are true because he has multiple sources. Stella's disbelief about rumours foreshadows her disbelief about the rape later.

• Stella tells him about Blanche as an innocent girl who was broken by her marriage to a "degenerate", insinuating that she deserves some sympathy. 

• Stanely just drops the more sordid news saying that they shouldn't expect Mitch to redeem her because Mitch is his "best friend". Stanley has told him everything he knows.

• Stanley drops the last bomb, by stating that he has Blanche's "birthday present", which is a ticket to Laurel. 

• The scene ends with Stanley slamming the door to the bathroom, while Blanche claims to be cool and rested. 

• She notices Stella is upset, but Stella claims that she is fine.

Scene 8

• It is the evening of Blanche’s birthday. The scene begins with the three of them around a table with the fourth spot noticeably vacant.

• Blanche asks Stanley to make a joke to lighten the mood, which he refuses to do. When she takes it upon herself to tell a joke, it falls flat and Stanley ignores it.

• Stella asks Stanley to wash up which he responds to by smashing the dinnerware onto the floor, yelling, and leaving to smoke a cigarette. 

• Blanche goes to the phone and tells the operator to ring Mitch.

• Stanley returns. Blanche apologises for the excessive bathing but calls him Polack in the process, setting him off into a rage once more.

• The phone rings. Blanche expects it to be for her, but Stanley stops her and it ends up being addressed to him. 

• He then gives Blanche a “gift” which turns out to be a train ticket back to Laurel.

• Stanley ignores Stella ordering that he’s not going to go bowling that day, but suddenly Stella asks him to take her to the hospital. 

• The two leave as the scene ends with Blanche alone whispering to herself.

Scene 9

• Later that evening, Blanche is alone in the apartment. The doorbell startles her. It is Mitch, who is still dressed in his working clothes and who is unshaven. Blanche pretends surprise but says she is glad to see him because he has stopped the polka music that was spinning in her head.

• Blanche knows that something is wrong, but she says she will not "­cro­ss-­exa­min­e" the witness. Mitch keeps trying to say something, but Blanche continues babbling. When Blanche offers him some liquor, he tells her that Stanley told him that she had been lapping it up all summer.

• He then says it is dark and wonders why Blanche has never gone out with him in the daytime. Mitch wants to turn on the lights, but Blanche pleads with him not to. She doesn't want light and truth; she wants magic and illusion. But Mitch jerks the lantern off the light and forces Blanche under it. He notices that she is older than he had supposed, but he could have accepted that if she had been straight with him.

• He tells Blanche about the stories he has heard and how he checked them out and three people swore to them. When Mitch mentions the Flamingo, Blanche drops her pose and tells how after the death of her young husband, there was nothing to fill the void except intimacies with strangers.

• Mitch accuses her of lying to him. She says that she never lied in her heart. At this time, a street vendor passes by selling flowers for the dead. When Blanche hears the vendor, she thinks of all the deaths she has had to suffer, and that the opposite of death is desire.

• She even tells Mitch about her escapades with the Army camp which was near her house. Suddenly, Mitch puts his arms around her and demands what he has been missing all summer. She requests marriage. Mitch tells her she is not good enough. Blanche orders him to leave or she will start screaming. As he remains staring, she runs to the window and begins to scream "­Fir­e", wildly. Mitch stumbles out.

Scene 10

• Later that evening, Blanche is dressed in an old, faded gown and has a rhinestone tiara on her head. She has been drinking heavily. She is talking to herself when Stanley enters.

• He tells her that the baby won't come before morning, and the doctors sent him home. He wonders about the outfit that Blanche has on. She tells him a fabulous story about how she just received an invitation for a cruise in the Caribbean with a Mr. Shep Huntleigh. Stanley drinks some beer and gets out the silk pyjamas which he wore on his wedding night. Blanche thinks how wonderful it will be to have some privacy again and to be among something other than swine.

• Blanche tells Stanley how Mitch came to her, imploring her forgiv­eness, but she sent him away because "­del­iberate cruelty is not forgiv­abl­e." Then Stanley attacks her, telling her she is lying and that she has no invita­tion. Blanche flees to the telephone trying to reach Shep Huntleigh, but she can't seem to compose a message.

• She leaves the phone to get the address. Stanley replaces the phone on the hook. Blanche wants him to stand aside so she can pass, and Stanley thinks that it might not be too bad to interfere with her. As he advances toward her, Blanche breaks a bottle so as "to twist the broken end in your face." He springs on her as she sinks to the floor. He picks up her inert body and carries it into the bedroom.

Scene 11

• Several weeks later, Stella is seen packing some of Blanche's things. There is another poker party going on. This time, Stanley is winning. Eunice comes in to help with the packing. Stella wonders if she is doing the right thing by sending Blanche to the state instit­ution. Stella tells Eunice that she couldn't continue to live with Stanley if she believed Blanche's story. Eunice assures Stella that she is doing the only sensible thing.

• Blanche comes from the bathroom, and she possesses a "­hys­terical vivaci­ty."­ She wonders if she has received a call. Blanche speaks suddenly with a hysteria demanding to know what is going on. She feels trapped and wants to get out of the trap. Stella and Eunice help her get dressed. Blanche eats some unwashed grapes and thinks that she would like to die somewhere on the sea from eating unwashed grapes and be buried in a clean white sack.

• The doctor and a matron from the state instit­ution arrive to pick up Blanche. Eunice announces that "­someone is calling for Blanch­e." Blanche is ready to go but doesn't want to pass through the room where the men are playing poker. When she sees the doctor, she panics and tries to run. Stanley blocks her way, and along with the matron, advances toward her.

• Stanley assures her that she left nothing here but the paper lantern which he tears off the light bulb and hands to Blanche. As Blanche screams and tries to break away, Stella runs out on the porch where Eunice tries to comfort her. Meanwhile, the matron pins Blanche down. The doctor advances and speaks quietly and softly to Blanche. She responds to his quietness and says that she has "­always depended on the kindness of strang­ers." The doctor leads her out and Stanley comes to comfort Stella by fondling her breasts.