A Streetcar Named Desire: Scene 7

Summary

—It is Blanche’s birthday and whilst Blanche is in the bath, Stanley tells Stella everything he has found out about Blanche’s time in Laurel.

—Stella refuses to believe anything Stanley says and tells him that Blanche’s husband died when she was very young.

—Stanley then reveals to Stella that he has passed all of this information onto Mitch.

Key Quotations

—“So I been told. And told and told and told!”

—The polysyndetic list along with the repeated dental plosive sound of ‘told’ demonstrates Stanley’s anger and frustration at being told once again, that he is different from both Blanche and Stella. The exclamative only reinforces this point, with the foregrounded conjuction (‘And’) showing that Stanley is unable to control his feelings.

—“Say, it’s only a paper moon, Sailing over a cardboard sea- But it wouldn’t be make-believe If you believed in me!”

—This song that Blanche sings talks about fantasy and ‘make-believe’, two things that Blanche continually talks about. The words ‘paper’ and ‘fragile’ imply that both the moon and the sea are delicate objects that can easily be broken, just like Blanche. The second line of the chorus sums up Blanche’s life- if people believed in Blanche and understood her, they would realise that to Blanche, her fantasy is her reality. 

“The Flamingo is used to all kinds of goings-on. But even the management of the Flamingo was impressed by Dame Blanche!”

The sarcasm that Stanley uses here, demonstrates his anger and dislike towards Blanche and her past actions. The name ‘Dame’ implies someone in authority and of importance; something that Blanche definitely was not whilst she was at the Flamingo. 

—“And for the last year or two she has been washed up like poison.”

—Stanley uses the simile ‘like poison’ to describe the rejection that Blanche has faced over the past few years. ‘Poison’ suggests that Blanche harms everyone she comes into contact with and forces people to try and avoid her; something that is probably true of Blanche but is a description that also conveys Stanley’s rage towards her. 

—“It’s possible that some of the things he said are partly true. There are things about my sister I don’t approve of- things that caused sorrow at home.”

—The hedging that Stella uses in this statement, such as ‘possible’ and ‘partly’, imply that Stella is telling the truth of how she really feels about Blanche, but that she struggles to admit her feelings to herself. At Belle Reve, Blanche was always the more dominant and controlling sister, so it is likely that Stella is reluctant about having, or admitting, any negative feelings towards her sister for fear of what Blanche would do.

—“A hot bath and a long, cold drink always gives me a brand new outlook on life!”

—Taking a hot bath and having a drink of alcohol provide Blanche with a means of escape of the reality that she is living. She claims they give her a ‘brand new outlook’ on her life, however they only disguise and distort her current situation by fuelling her fantasies and delusions.