Tuesday, 8 October 2013

Scene 7 of 'A Streetcar Named Desire'


Scene 7

On the characters


Why is Stanley so interested in Blanche's past?

Stanley throughout the scene seems to be interested in Blanche’s past, in order to make he look bad to Stella, perhaps as a way to try and persuade Stella to ask Blanche to leave. It may also be a way to turn the two sisters against each other. Stanley is clearly desperate to get rid of Blanche for good, as also shown by his present to Blanche – a ticket back to Laurel, and he is trying to dig up her past so that she feels uncomfortable and to turn not just Stella against her, but others also including Mitch who up until this point Blanche has shown a romantic interest in.


Why is Blanche so evasive -- i.e. she doesn't want to discuss things...

Blanche is evasive, as after the death of her husband, she clearly went through an extremely bad time in her life, as a result of the guilt and grief of the death. Blanche believes that it was because she said that her husband disgusted her because of his homosexuality that he killed himself. It is clear that she regrets the choices she made after the death of her husband and her actions. For that reason she does not want them brought back up, she wants to move on from the past, and start over. Blanche wants a clean start and wants to forget about her choices in the past and therefore does  not want to discuss things.

On the writer's techniques


Why does Stanley use such blunt language? Quote and analyse.

Stanley uses such blunt language throughout scene 7 in order to show no emotion or sympathy towards Blanche, he does not care for her – he simply just wants her out of his house.  Phrases such as ‘I found out some things’ show how he doesn’t want to let out too much to begin with in order to capture the attention of Stella so that she listens properly to what he says about Blanche. Towards the end of the scene Stanley says ‘She’ll go on a bus and like it’ as he makes his intentions completely clear and so that Stella cannot argue back towards, he shows his authority and power over their relationship as he tells Stella the way he wants things to be – plainly and simply.


Why does Blanche use such vague language? Quote and analyse.

Blanche uses such vague language towards Stanley in order to make sure that the purpose of their conversations is completely clear, true intentions are shown and to avoid any misinterpretations of each others responses. It may also be a way to avoid taking a side in the conflict, for example ‘ what – contemptible – lies!’ which shows how she does not know who to believe, it is also information that she doesn’t want to hear and therefore uses vague language to show her reluctance to know more information about her sister.

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