Scene 8

• Scene Summary and Analysis

  The scene starts at the dinner table. There is an empty place at the table showing Mitch’srejectionof Blanche on knowing the truth. Despite this, Blanche tries to look like she is happy while Stella seems embarrassed and Stanley is sullen.The lighting and time of day is dark as well, adding to the morose mood symbolising hopelessness.
• Scene Summary and Analysis

  Desperate to save the mood, Blanche asks Stanley to tell a joke, but as he refuses, she tells one that flops.The characters are also projecting negative emotionswhich adds to the tension and sadness. Mitch’s absence and silence is also very evident visually and aurally.
• Scene Summary and Analysis

  The situation worsens as Stella calls Stanley a “pig” and tells him to help her clear the table. Enlarged Stanley hurls his plate and other cutlery to the floor, reminding them that he is the“king”in the household.Stanley reinforces his maledominance here, enraged that he has to do chores and is being criticised.
• Scene Summary and Analysis

  While Stanely stomps off to smoke, he tells Stella that he wants everything to return to what it used to be before Blanche came into their lives. He misses their freedom and privacy.Stanley’s jealousy of Blanche's place in Stella’s life is very evident here. We see that he feels insecure with Blanche around as he regards her as a threat to his status as the patriarch.
• Scene Summary and Analysis

  The telephone rings and Stanley rudely tells Blanche it's unlikely to be for her, as he glares at her and speaks to his friend.The telephone ringing is a dramaticmoment as well, increasing the tension as it reminds the audience that Blanche is waiting for Mitch to call back.
• Scene Summary and Analysis

  After the call, he gives Blanche her birthday present - the ticket. Blanche has a coughing fit, despite trying to look happy, and leaves the room.Blanche ispresented with a ticket, which is an openly aggressive gesture of rejection from Stanley and a reminder of her exile from society.
• Scene Summary and Analysis

  Stella asks him about his cruelty but Stanley harshly tells her that he believes that Stella enjoyed him for being common but now doesn't because Blanche has changed everything.By the end of the scene, the audience can clearly see whatmotivates Stanley's hate : it is his insecurity. Blanche challenges his way of life and he hates her for it. Hates her enough to be deliberately cruel to her when she is already very vulnerable and at an emotional low.Stella gets distracted and tells him that she needs to go to the hospital.
• Key Quotes


  STANLEY: Who do you two think you are? A pair of queens? Remember what Huey Long said – ‘Every Man is a King!’ And I am a king around here, so don’t forget it!

  Stanley’s aggression and stance as themale dominant patriarchis very evident as he quotes politician Huey Long and reinforces his status as the“king”of their household. Withrhetoricalandsarcasticquestions, he mocks them as he shouts.
• Key Quotes


  STANLEY: I am not a Polack. People from Poland are Poles, not Polacks. But what I am is one hundred percent American, born and raised in the greatest country on earth and proud as hell of it, so don’t ever call me a Polack

  Stanley’sinsecurityon being called a “Polack” is evident. In the third scene of the play, Eunice also calls him a “Polack” when he is drunk and disorderly. “Polack” is aracialslur associated with crudeness. Stanley is angered when he is reminded that he is of recentimmigrantdescent. He reinforces that he was born and raised in America, dismissing his Polish origin.
• Key Quotes


  STELLA: …You didn’t know Blanche as a girl. Nobody, nobody was tender and trusting as she was. But people like you abused her, and forced her to change.

  Stella gives us aninsightinto theinnocent and naïveBlanche that we never see, the girl who fell in love with Allan Grey and believed everything she was raised to believe in. Stella’s words help us understand Blanche as avictimof the patriarchal society and its norms.
• Key Quotes


  STANLEY: Ticket! Back to Laurel! On the Greyhound! Tuesday! [The ‘Varsouviana’ music steals in softly and continues playing].

  Stanley’s cruelty speaks volumes of his intentions, while he wants Blanche out of their lives, he knows Laurel is not an option. This gesture is solely to hurt Blanche and cause her pain. This is hisrevengefor her hypocrisy.