ASCND - scene 10

summary? 5 points

• mitch leaves

• blanche starts playing around drunk, sees a mirror and smashes it

• stanley enters, also drunk, and blanche tells her about shep huntleigh

• stanley gets angry at blanche as she mentions mitch and exposes her shep idea as make-believe

• stanley eventually rapes blanche in his wedding night pajamas

significance of blanche’s delusions while wearing the rhinestone tiara? 2 points

• shows a desire for romance and youthful beauty

• rhinestone is shiny but fake and cheap, just like the delusions

what does the quote starting ‘physical beauty is passing…’ tell us about blanche?

she tries to cope with her looks in other ways, such as through her mind, but she isn’t as knowledgeable as she believes

significance of the portrayal of the rape? 2 points

• like a classic tragedy, it is an unseen climax

• stanley’s language implies the rape was fated, and the natural endgame of their rivalry

meaning of quote starting ‘you come over here and sprinkle the place with powder…’

blanche tries to hide her insecurities and suffering away with superficial beauty

significance of the ‘lurid reflections’ as stanley becomes more aggressive?

reflects blanche’s nervousness

what does blanche calling for shep huntleigh show?

her delusions are so strong she believes he may come and save her

significance of the scene where the wall becomes ‘transparent’ and we see the altercations with the prostitute, beggar and thief? 2 points

• reflects harsh realism

• the three characters reflect blanche’s personality as someone pathetic and destitute

examples of animal imagery in this scene? 3 points

• the ‘roar of…[a] locomotive’

• stanley calling blanche a ‘tiger’

• ‘inhuman jungle voices’

what does stanley throwing blanche’s delusions in her face show?

it foreshadows and parallels his physical abuse

what does the rape represent? 2 points

• the old south being destroyed by the cruel present

• animal instinct winning over romance