Scene 11

• Scene Summary and Analysis

  Several weeks have passed since the last scene. Stella is upset, while Mitch seems to be heartbroken as the men play poker.The atmosphere is tense, and Eunice reinforces that she always felt men arecallousin nature.
• Scene Summary and Analysis

  Stella seemshesitantas she tells Eunice that she can’t believe Blanche’s story about the rape and continue to live with Stanley. Eunicegives her practical adviceand firmly tells her to disbelieve the story in order to continue with life because life has to go on no matter what happens.Stella here is also deceiving herself and creating an illusion, like Blanche, under which she will live.
• Scene Summary and Analysis

  Blanche is seen after a shower, while thePolkaplays in the background. she seems to be cheerful and lost in her thoughts.It is evident that after the rape, Blanche has completely given up on her reality as she seems sensitive and delirious throughout the scene.
• Scene Summary and Analysis

  Mitch is reallydistressedby Blanche’s mental instability, and Stanley loudly tries to snap Mitch back to the game which scares Blanche.Mitch seems like he is broken and regrets the role he has played in Blanche’s helplessness. He is seen dejected and in tears.
• Scene Summary and Analysis

  FrightenedBlanche inquires into what is happening but the women tell her that everything is fine anddistracther telling her that she is going on a vacation. This triggers Blanche tofantasiseabout going away to live and die by the sea.
• Scene Summary and Analysis

  The doctor and nurse arrive. Blanche thinks it is Shep. However, she retreats hastily insisting she has forgotten something when she sees them. The polka sound andanimalnoises are back as Blanche tries to avoid being captured by the nurse. EunicecomfortsStella as she cannot watch her sister go through the harsh treatment.
• Scene Summary and Analysis

  Mitch is furious with Stanley and tries to beat him, as he blames Blanche’s plight on Stanley’s interference in the issue. He is however strained and insulted by Stanley who dismisses him rudely.Mitch uncharacteristically gets physical, somethingStanley, “the Alpha”, is usually seen doing. However, this challenge comes to a quick end as Stanley reassumes his Alpha status by mocking Mitch for being a cry-baby.
• Scene Summary and Analysis

  As Mitch breaks down and sobs, the nurse manages to hold Blanche down. The doctor enters and asks the nurse to let go of Blanche. She is led out by the doctor as she says"Whoever you are I have always depended on the kindness of strangers". There is a bitter irony in these words, as the play has shown us.Despite Blanche relying on strangers, like Stanley and Mitch, for kindness,everyone has left her more broken and abused than before. A profound sadness echoes in her famous last words.
• Scene Summary and Analysis

  Stella is left sobbing and shouting for her sister.Blanche pays no mind to Stella as she hears Stella scream "What have I done to my sister?". Stella is aware of her betrayal and so is Blanche despite her instability.Eunice gives Stella her baby,a symbol of her future with Stanley,who is fondling her as he comforts her.Stanley is deceptive and a hypocrite. He is the source of all the pain in the last scene, yet he is seen trying to “comfort” in the only way he knows how to—sexually.
• Scene Summary and Analysis

  Steve deals a new hand, and the game resumes.The Old South has lost, and is almost immediately forgotten as life resumes.
• Key Quotes


  STELLA: I couldn’t believe her story and go on living with Stanley. EUNICE: Don’t ever believe it. Life got to go on…

  Stella is choosing to live under thisillusionthat Eunice supports, as it is the most practical decision. She has given birth to Stanley’s baby ,there is noeasier optionfor the single new-mother in this 1940s New America.
• Key Quotes


  And I’ll be buried at sea sewn up in a clean white sack and dropped overboard—at noon—in the blaze of summer—and into an ocean as blue as my first lover’s eyes!

  Blanche speaks about her death, the white tosymboliseher purity, and she remembers Allen even at the very end. Hispresenceis always felt by Blanche.
• Key Quotes


  [Blanche] rushes past him into the bedroom. Lurid reflections appear on the wall in odd, sinuous shapes. The ‘Varsouviana’ is filtered into weird distortion,accompanied by the cries and noises of the jungle. Blanche seizes the back of a chair as if to defend herself.

  Even at the end, Blanche ishauntedby the Polka and, of course, theprimitivetrauma she underwent at the hands of Stanley. They have allamalgamatedin her mind to create the current state ofinstabilityandchaos. This is reflected by the accompanying music.