Scene 10

• Scene Summary and Analysis

  It is the same night. Time has passed since Mitch has left and Blanche isinebriated, having been drinking since he left, dressed in a“crumpled and soiled”white, satin, evening gown. She talks to herself and pretends to be surrounded by admirers, and breaks her mirror amidst herfantasy. The gown could be read as a symbol of her purity and chastity being soiled or even a reflection of her mental state. The shattered mirror can also be a reflection of her broken spirit and sanity.
• Scene Summary and Analysis

  Stanley comes home stating the baby is due in the morning and has been sent him home to get rest. He inquires about her dress and Blanche states that a millionaire admirer of hers called when he was away, inviting her on a vacation.Blanche has clearly reverted back to her coping mechanism of building illusions to repair her broken self-esteem.
• Scene Summary and Analysis

  Stanley plays along, as he takes out his wedding pyjamas, made of silk, something he wears on special occasions, wanting to wear them when he is told his son has arrived.
• Scene Summary and Analysis

  They continue to discuss the millionaire admirer who has told Blanche she has"beauty of the mind and richness of the spirit and tenderness of the heart. I have all those things—aren’t taken away, but grow! Increase with the years!.Blanche is visibly upset and trying tostiflehergrief, as she talks about considering herself rich. She sees herself“casting her pearls in front of swine”.Blanche is also trying toconvinceherself that herageingis beneficial to her.
• Scene Summary and Analysis

  Blanche goes on tofabricateher illusion, stating that Mitch begged for her forgiveness after she rejected him for repeating the slander. She insists that the only unforgivable sin is“deliberate cruelty”—something she is not guilty of.Even in these moments, we see Blanche is linked to her cruelty towards Allan thatdrove him to kill himself. This is something she sees as unintentional cruelty. She juxtaposes her cruelty from that on Stanley and Mitch.
• Scene Summary and Analysis

  An angered Stanley then proceeds to advance on her,verbally shatteringall her illusions one by one, Blanche breaks down in tears and tries to call Shep for help sensing the threat. Stanley is triggered when she calls him “swine”, something we have seen previously. He detests her associations of him with animal imagery. His verbal destruction of Blanche also foreshadows his physical destruction of her.
• Scene Summary and Analysis

  She never succeeds, as Stanley emerges from the ensuite bathroom, physically and verballyintimidatingher as she pleads with him to stay back.
• Scene Summary and Analysis

  In desperation, she smashes a bottle and threatens him, which proceeds to instigate him to give her the“roughhouse”that she wants. The idea of the bottle smashing and pouring out its content is layered imagery in meaning-making. A woman’s last hope for defence is a phallic object while Stanley uses his sex, the phallus, as the last weapon of offense. The imagery is also sexual in nature,foreshadowing the rape and ejaculation that follows but is unseen.
• Scene Summary and Analysis

  He wrestles the bottle out of her hands stating"We've had this date with each other from the beginning".Stanley’s words suggest that he has always been attracted to her physically, despite his hatred, and her flirting with him also triggered this final act.
• Scene Summary and Analysis

  The rape can be seen as the final victory of the New South and AmericanDream over the Old South and its traditional ideals. Stanley, with his new son coming home, will continue his legacy versus Blanche, who is drowning in her misery.
• Scene Summary and Analysis

  Blanche loses the man that she hoped would save her and is forcefully taken by the man that she despises. The stage directions play a very important role in establishing the violence of the scene with “Lurid reflections appear on thewalls around Blanche”;“The shadows are of a grotesque and menacing form”;and“inhuman jungle noises rise up”.The rape is defined as primitive and animalistic through stage directions.
• Key Quotes


  [Blanche] has decked herself out in a somewhat soiled and crumpled white satin evening gown and a pair of scuffed silver slippers with brilliants set in their heels. [Now she is placing the rhinestone tiara on her head before the mirror of the dressing-table and murmuring excitedly as if to a group of spectral admirers].

  Blanche is seeking comfort from her harsh reality in fantasy and alcohol.
• Key Quotes


  [The bottle cap pops off and a geyser of foam shoots up. STANLEY laughs happily...]

  Apparent sexual imageryforeshadowingthe end.
• Key Quotes


  STANLEY: There isn't a goddam thing but imagination! BLANCHE: Oh!STANLEY: And lies and conceit and tricks! BLANCHE: Oh!STANLEY: And look at yourself! Take a look at yourself in that wornout Mardi Gras outfit, rented for fifty cents from some ragpicker! And with the crazy crown on!What queen do you think you are? BLANCHE: Oh--God...STANLEY: I've been on to you from the start! Not once did you pull any wool over this boy's eyes! You come in here and sprinkle the place with powder and spray perfume and cover the light bulb with a paper lantern, and lo and behold the place has turned into Egypt and you are the Queen of the Nile! Sitting on your throne and swilling down my liquor! I say--Ha!--Ha! Do you hear me? Ha-- ha--ha!

  The mental destruction of Blanche begins with thisverbal assaultwhichforeshadowsthephysicalone.
• Key Quotes


  The bathroom door is thrown open and Stanley comes out in the brilliant silk pyjamas. He grins at her as he knots the tasseled sash about his waist….he stares at her again, his mouth slowly curving into a grin, as he weaves between Blanche and the outer door...[The "blue piano" goes softly. She turns confusedly and makes a faint gesture. The inhuman jungle voices rise up. He takes a step toward her, biting his tongue which protrudes between his lips.]

  Using the stage directions, Williams makes very clear that Stanley is meant to bemenacingandpredatorlike before he yells “Tiger! Tiger!”, raping Blanche. The highlighted words show this.
• Key Quotes


  STANLEY [softly]: Come to think of it--maybe you wouldn't be bad to--interfere with....... [Blanche moves backward through the door into the bedroom.]

  Stanley makes hisintentionsvery clear byverbalisingthem before Blanche retreats to the bedroom and snatches the bottle for defence.