ASND Key stuff
Scene 1
Opening
Pattern of the working class→ L & N tracks, blue piano, warehouses, bar room, the section is poor, two storey, rickety outside stairs
Pattern of decay→ raffish charm, weathered grey, faded white stairs, decay, rickety outside stairs, warehouses, quaintly ornamented gables, brown river-m links to elysian fields which is the greek afterlife- perhaps tragedy has already occured because we already have death
Pattern of diversity→ blue piano, relatively warm and easy intermingling of races
Pattern of nostalgia/beauty/tenderness→ first dark, tender blue, kind of lyricism- shows hiding fantasy
‘the blue piano expresses the spirit of the life which goes on in here’ symbol of the new south, jazz, feels chaotic unstructured but some argue its refined, w.c. is opposite of mozart but jazz is still an organic form of expression, charismatic, fall of antebellum south
Continuing scene 1
Motif of alcohol from the outset→ ‘Blue moon cocktail’
Stanley first appearance→ ‘Red stained package’- red is the raw brutality, symbol of crude raw desire Freudian sex symbol which shows deep desires, ‘blue denim work clothes/roughly dressed’→ working class, ‘[bellowing]’- shows his uncouth nature
Stanley’s monosyllabic words- ‘Catch!’ ‘Meat→ brute
Blanche’s first appearance→ costume- ‘incongrous to this setting’, ‘white suit, fluffy bodice’- purity, ‘pearl’- unmarried women wear pearls, ‘moth’- afraid of light
‘They told me to take a streetcar named desire, and then transfer to one called Cemeteries and.. get off at-Elysian fields’- desire leads to death
facade of nobility- ‘dubois’ meaning from the woods, strong but blanche isnt as strong
setting?- ‘the interior is lighted’- lighting is symbolic, this setting will expose her
Blanche’s monosyllabic- ‘yes’ to eunice, class difference
# Scene 1 Annotations (Condensed)
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Opening Stage Direction (Blanche Alone)
- Blanche sits "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" — This physical description shows her rigidity, anxiety, and defensive posture. She's tightly wound, guarding herself.
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After Drinking
- "I've got to keep hold of myself!" — Key line showing her awareness that she's losing control; she's trying to maintain composure.
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Blanche on Her Appearance
- "Daylight never exposed so total a ruin!" — She sees herself as destroyed, faded.
- "You haven't said a word about my appearance" — She craves reassurance, validation.
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Blanche on Stella
- "You're just as plump as a little partridge!" — Mixed compliment; slight dig about weight.
- "You sit there with your little hands folded like a cherub in choir!" — Suggests Stella is naive, childlike, innocent.
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Blanche on Herself
- "I still have that awful vanity about my looks even now that my looks are slipping!" — Self-aware but insecure; needs Stella to deny it.
- "I weigh what I weighed the summer you left Belle Reve. The summer Dad died and you left us..." — Connecting her stability to the past; implying Stella abandoned her.
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Blanche on the Apartment
- "There's no door between the two rooms, and Stanley—will it be decent?" — She's worried about propriety, boundaries.
- "Stanley is Polish, you know... Only not so—highbrow?" — Classist, snobbish remark; she sees him as lower class.
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Blanche on Being Alone
- "I can't be alone! Because—as you must have noticed—I'm not very well..." — Vulnerability exposed; fear of solitude;暗示 mental instability.
- Her voice drops and her look is frightened — Stage direction reinforces genuine fear.
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Blanche on Stanley's Photo
- "An officer?" — She's impressed by uniform/status initially.
- Frightened when she learns Stanley doesn't know she's coming — "You—haven't told him?" Shows she's insecure about her welcome.
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Blanche's Breakdown About Belle Reve
- "I, I, I took the blows in my face and my body! All of those deaths!" — She positioned herself as the one who endured everything alone.
- "The long parade to the graveyard! Father, mother! Margaret, that dreadful way! So big with it, it couldn't be put in a coffin! But had to be burned like rubbish!" — Graphic, traumatic imagery; she's haunted by death.
- "You just came home in time for the funerals, Stella. And funerals are pretty compared to deaths." — Accusing Stella of missing the real suffering.
- "Funerals are quiet, but deaths—not always. Sometimes their breathing is hoarse, and sometimes it rattles, and sometimes they even cry out to you, 'Don't let me go!'" — Vivid, sensory memory of watching people die.
- "You didn't dream, but I saw! Saw! Saw!" — Emphatic, almost hysterical; she needs Stella to acknowledge her trauma.
- "How in hell do you think all that sickness and dying was paid for? Death is expensive, Miss Stella!" — Defensive about losing Belle Reve; money all went to deaths.
- "Which of them left us a fortune? Which of them left a cent of insurance even? Only poor Jessie—one hundred to pay for her coffin. That was all, Stella!" — Listing proof; justifying why the plantation was lost.
- "And I with my pitiful salary at the school. Yes, accuse me! Sit there and stare at me, thinking I let the place go! I let the place go? Where were you, in bed with your—Polak!" — Explosive accusation; deep resentment toward Stella for leaving her, for marrying Stanley.
- Stella springs up: "Blanche! You be still! That's enough!" — Stella's breaking point; she starts yelling.
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Stanley's Entrance Description
- "Animal joy in his being is implicit in all his movements and attitudes." — He's physical, primal, driven by instinct.
- "Since earliest manhood the centre of his life has been pleasure with women, the giving and taking of it, not with weak indulgence, dependently, but with the power and pride of a richly feathered male bird among hens." — Sexual confidence, dominance; sees women as conquests.
- "Branching out from this complete and satisfying centre are all the auxiliary channels of his life, such as his heartiness with men, his appreciation of rough humour, his love of good drink and food and games, his car, his radio, everything that is his, that bears his emblem of the gaudy seed-bearer." — His identity revolves around masculinity, possession, pleasure.
- "He sizes women up at a glance, with sexual classifications, crude images flashing into his mind and determining the way he smiles at them." — He reduces women to sexual objects immediately.
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## Blanche and Stanley Meet
- Blanche (drawing involuntarily back from his stare): "You must be Stanley. I'm Blanche." — She physically recoils; his stare is intense, assessing.
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Stanley's Interrogation
- "Where you from, Blanche? In Laurel, huh? Not in my territory." — Territorial; establishes he's in charge here.
- "Liquor goes fast in hot weather." (Holds bottle to light to observe depletion) — He's checking how much she drank; suspicious, calculating.
- "Some people rarely touch it, but it touches them often." — Sly comment; he's already judging her.
- "Be comfortable is my motto." (Starts removing shirt) — No boundaries; physical comfort trumps social propriety.
- "You're a teacher, aren't you? What do you teach, Blanche? English. I never was a very good English student." — Casual but subtly dismissive; establishes their different worlds.
- "How long you here for, Blanche? You going to shack up here?" — Crass phrasing; "shack up" has sexual connotations—he's putting her in her place.
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The Polka Music and Blanche's Marriage
- Stanley: "You were married once, weren't you?" — Direct, no delicacy.
- The music of the polka rises up, faint in the distance. — Stage direction; polka associated with her dead husband (Allan Grey); trauma trigger.
- Blanche: "Yes. When I was quite young."
- Stanley: "What happened?"
- Blanche: "The boy—the boy died." — Halting, broken speech; can't say more.
- "I'm afraid I'm—going to be sick!" (She sinks back down, head falls on arms.) — Physical reaction to trauma; overwhelming grief/guilt surfacing.
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Margin Notes Written
- "If Blanche hadn't poured the wine on him... perhaps nothing would have happened?" — Speculation about Allan's death; suggests Blanche's actions may have caused or contributed to his suicide.
- "She's vulnerable (she didn't have the chance to grow up)" — Interpretation that trauma/stasis stunted her emotional development.
---
Cat Motif
- Cat screeches multiple times—disruptive, jarring, animalistic; mirrors Stanley's "animal" nature and foreshadows violence/chaos.
Scene 2
# Scene 2 Annotations (Condensed)
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Opening
- Time: Six o'clock the following evening. Blanche is bathing. Stella is completing her toilette. Blanche's flowered print dress is laid out on Stella's bed.
- Stanley enters: "What's all this monkey doings?" — Crass, dismissive language; sees their preparations as nonsense.
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## Stella Explains Plans
- Stanley: "How about my supper, huh? I'm not going to no Galatoires' for supper!" — Self-centered; cares about his own needs first.
- Stella: Put a cold plate on ice for him.
- Stella: Trying to keep Blanche out until poker party breaks up; asks Stanley for money.
- Stanley: "Where is she?"
- Stella: "She's soaking in a hot tub to quiet her nerves. She's terribly upset."
- Stanley: "Over what?"
- Stella: "She's been through such an ordeal."
- Stella: "Stan, we've lost Belle Reve!"
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## Belle Reve Revealed
- Stanley: "How?"
- Stella (vaguely): "Oh, it had to be—sacrificed or something." — Vague, defensive; doesn't have details.
- Stella's instructions to Stanley: Say something nice about her appearance. Don't mention the baby yet—waiting until she's calmer. Try to understand her, be nice to her.
- Blanche singing in bathroom: "From the land of the sky blue water..." — Incongruous, almost ironic given the tension.
- Stella: She wasn't expecting such a small place; Stella glossed things over in letters.
- Stanley keeps pressing: "Now let's skip back a little to where you said the country place was disposed of." — Relentless; wants facts, not feelings.
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## Stanley's Suspicion
- Stanley: Wants to see bill of sale, papers, deed.
- Stella: Hasn't seen any. It seems like it wasn't sold.
- Stanley: "Well, what in hell was it then, given away? To charity?" — Aggressive, accusatory.
- Stella: "Shhh! She'll hear you."
- Stanley: "I don't care if she hears me. Let's see the papers!"
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## Margin Note
- "Papers → need for proof, legally, socially, personally" — Papers represent legitimacy, truth, control. Stanley demands them as proof; Blanche's lack of papers makes her suspect.
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## Napoleonic Code
- Stanley: "Have you ever heard of the Napoleonic code?"
- Stella: "No, Stanley, I haven't..."
- Stanley explains: In Louisiana, what belongs to wife belongs to husband and vice versa. If Stella was swindled, he was swindled too. "And I don't like to be swindled."
- Stella: "There's plenty of time to ask her questions later but if you do now she'll go to pieces again. ... you don't know how ridiculous you are being when you suggest that my sister or I ... could have perpetrated a swindle."
- Stanley: "Then where's the money if the place was sold?"
- Stella: "Not sold—lost, lost!"
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## Stanley Ransacks Trunk
- Stanley stalks into bedroom, pulls open wardrobe trunk, jerks out armful of dresses.
- Stanley: "Open your eyes to this stuff! You think she got them out of a teacher's pay?" — Suspicious; doesn't believe she could afford these on a salary.
- Stanley: "Look at these feathers and furs that she come here to preen herself in! ... A solid-gold dress, I believe! ... Fox-pieces! Genuine fox fur-pieces, a half a mile long! Where are your fox-pieces?" — Contrasting Blanche's finery with Stella's lack; implies Blanche is frivolous, possibly dishonest.
- Stella: "I hope she's a long time."
- Stanley: Will have acquaintance who deals in such merchandise appraise it. "I'm willing to bet you there's thousands of dollars invested in this stuff here!"
- Stella: "Don't be such an idiot, Stanley!"
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## Costume Jewelry
- Stanley pulls out fistful of costume jewelry: "And what have we here? The treasure chest of a pirate! ... Pearls! Ropes of them! What is this sister of yours, a deep-sea diver who brings up sunken treasures? Or is she the champion safe-cracker of all time! Bracelets of solid gold, too! ... And diamonds! A crown for an empress!"
- Stella: "A rhinestone tiara she wore to a costume ball."
- Stanley: "What's rhinestone?"
- Stella: "Next door to glass."
- Stanley: Will have jeweler acquaintance appraise it. "Here's your plantation, or what was left of it, here!" — He equates her possessions with the lost estate; assumes she converted it to personal luxury.
- Stella: "You have no idea how stupid and horrid you're being! Now close that trunk before she comes out!"
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## Class Conflict
- Stanley kicks trunk partly closed, sits on kitchen table.
- Stanley: "The Kowalskis and the DuBois have different notions." — Acknowledges fundamental class divide.
- Stella (angrily): "Indeed they have, thank heavens! — I'm going outside." — Defensive, proud of the difference.
- Stella: "You come out with me while Blanche is getting dressed."
- Stanley: "Since when do you give me orders?"
- Stella: "Are you going to stay here and insult her?"
- Stanley: "You're damn tootin' I'm going to stay here."
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## Blanche Enters
- Blanche emerges from bathroom, catches Stanley rifling through trunk.
- Blanche: So this is what his manly little friend is doing? Sniffing around inside her trunk? — Mocking, sarcastic; deflecting with humor.
- Stanley: "What's all this stuff got in it?"
- Blanche: "My clothes." — Simple, direct.
- Stanley: "Where are you going to sleep tonight?"
- Blanche: "In Stella's bed, I thought."
- Stanley: "I don't see no bed in Stella's room."
- Blanche: "The folding bed is in the other room."
- Stanley: "I'm afraid you'll have to share it with someone who's not your sister."
- Blanche: "I can't imagine who that would be."
- Stanley: "Me."
- Blanche: "Oh." — Taken aback, uncomfortable.
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## Blanche's Performance
- Blanche sprays herself with atomizer, playfully sprays Stanley.
- Stanley seizes atomizer, slams it down. — Aggressive, rejects her playful gesture.
- Blanche laughs, throws back head. — Attempts to maintain composure through performance.
- Stanley: "If I didn't know that you was my wife's sister I'd get ideas about you!"
- Blanche: "Such as what?"
- Stanley: "Don't play so dumb. You know what! — Where's the papers?"
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## Papers
- Blanche: "Papers?"
- Stanley: "Papers! That stuff people write on!"
- Blanche: "Oh, papers, papers! Ha-ha! The first anniversary gift, all kinds of papers!" — Deflecting with humor again.
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## Love Letters
- Blanche retrieves tin box with papers.
- Stanley notices another sheaf: "What's them underneath?"
- Blanche: "These are love-letters, yellowing with antiquity, all from one boy." — Intimate, precious.
- Stanley snatches them.
- Blanche (fiercely): "Give those back to me! The touch of your hands insults them!"
- Stanley: "I'll have a look at them first!"
- Stanley rips off ribbon, starts to examine. Blanche snatches them back; they cascade to floor.
- Blanche: "Now that you've touched them I'll burn them!"
- Stanley (staring, baffled): "What in hell are they?"
- Blanche (on floor gathering them): "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!" — Raw, emotional outburst. Reveals deep guilt/trauma about Allan's death. Compares Stanley's cruelty to her own past cruelty.
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## Handwritten Margin Notes (Love Letters Scene)
- "fadeable breeze" — Possibly referring to Blanche's fragility, ephemeral quality.
- "at times - She knows and me" — She's self-aware at moments.
- "fell in and die" — Allusion to Allan's suicide?
- "she's perfectly which" — Unclear.
- "allance" — Possibly "Allan" misspelled.
- "where come time Will Amen" — Fragmented; religious allusion? Time/waiting?
---
## Papers Continued
- Blanche now seems faint with exhaustion. Puts on glasses, goes methodically through papers.
- Blanche: "Amber & Ambler. Hmmmmm... Crabtree... More Ambler & Ambler."
- Stanley: "What is Amber & Ambler?"
- Blanche: "A firm that made loans on the place."
- Stanley: "Then it was lost on a mortgage?"
- Blanche (touching forehead): "That must've been what happened." — Vague, uncertain.
- Stanley: "I don't want no ifs, ands, or buts! What's all the rest of them papers?"
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## Blanche's Explosion
- Blanche hands him entire box.
- Blanche: "There are thousands of papers, stretching back over hundreds of years, affecting Belle Reve as, piece by piece, our improvident grandfathers and father and uncles and brothers exchanged the land for their epic fornications—to put it plainly!" — Finally direct, angry. Blames male ancestors for squandering estate through womanizing.
- Blanche removes glasses with exhausted laugh.
- Blanche: "Till finally all that was left—and Stella can verify that!—was the house itself and about twenty acres of ground, including a graveyard, to which now all but Stella and I have retreated."
- Blanche pours contents on table: "Here all of them are, all papers! I hereby endow you with them! Take them, peruse them—commit them to memory, even! I think it's wonderfully fitting that Belle Reve should finally be this bunch of old papers in your big, capable hands!... I wonder if Stella's come back with my lemon-coke..." — Sarcastic, bitter, then suddenly deflates, exhausted.
- Blanche leans back, closes eyes.
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## Stanley's Sheepishness
- Stanley: "I have a lawyer acquaintance who will study these out."
- Blanche: "Present them to him with a box of aspirin tablets." — Dry wit, even now.
- Stanley (becoming somewhat sheepish): "You see, under the Napoleonic code—a man has to take an interest in his wife's affairs—especially now that she's going to have a baby."
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## Baby News
- Blanche opens her eyes. "Blue piano" sounds louder.
- Blanche: "Stella? Stella going to have a baby? [Dreamily.] I didn't know she was going to have a baby!" — Genuine surprise, softens her.
- Blanche gets up, crosses to door. Stella appears with drug-store carton.
- Stanley goes into bedroom with envelope and box. Inner rooms fade; outside wall visible.
- Blanche meets Stella at foot of steps.
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## Blanche to Stella
- Blanche: "Stella, Stella for Star! How lovely to have a baby!" — Embraces her; Stella returns embrace with convulsive sob.
- Blanche (softly): "Everything is all right; we thrashed it out. I feel a bit shaky, but I think I handled it nicely. I laughed and treated it all as a joke, called him a little boy and laughed—and flirted! Yes—I was flirting with your husband, Stella!" — She's proud of her performance, sees it as survival tactic.
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## Poker Guests Arrive
- Steve and Pablo appear carrying case of beer.
- Blanche: "The guests are gathering for the poker party."
- Men pass between them, stare curiously at Blanche, enter house.
- Stella: "I'm sorry he did that to you."
- Blanche: "He's just not the sort that goes for jasmine perfume! But maybe he's what we need to mix with our blood now that we've lost Belle Reve and have to go on without Belle Reve to protect us... How pretty the sky is! [I ought to go there on a rocket that never comes down.]" — Complex: accepts Stanley's crudeness as perhaps necessary for survival, then escapes into fantasy.
---
## Tamale Vendor
- Vendor: "Red hots! Red hots!"
- Blanche utters sharp, frightened cry, shrinks away; then laughs breathlessly.
- Blanche: "Which way do we—go now—Stella?" — Disoriented, lost; the cry suggests trigger, possible PTSD.
- Vendor: "Re-e-d ho-o-ot!"
- Blanche: "The blind are—leading the blind!" — Self-aware; acknowledges they're both lost.
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## Scene End
- They disappear around corner; Blanche's desperate laughter rings out once more.
- Bellowing laugh from inside flat.
- "Blue piano" and hot trumpet sound louder.
---
## Final Margin Note
- "Stanley wins / The Scene" — Stanley dominates, gets his way, asserts control. Scene ends with his territory established.
Scene 3
Poker night- battle, put on a facade, masculine
'opening stage directions, the ‘primary colours’- patriarchy male strength, dominating the stage, reproduction and creation