Scene 3

• Scene Summary and Analysis

  The scene opens with a description of Stanley’s poker night. The focus is on thebrightprimary colours of the scene, using a Van Gogh painting in the background as reference. Green lighting, and the bright colours worn by the men themselves, echo their“physical manhood”.These bold colours are a foil for Blanche’s association with white, the colour of feminine purity.
• Scene Summary and Analysis

  The men are drinking and eating watermelon, engaged in their poker game. There’s a reference to going to “the Chinaman’s” for some food, which is a reminder of thecultural diversityof the city. Mitch says he needs to go home soon, to care for his sick mother, and the other men mock him for it. This is the first implication of Mitch’s sensitivity in contrast with the other men. He is a carer, and the others, focused on their own individualistic paths, don’t understand this premise. As he deals, Mitch tells aracially insensitivejoke. This is a reminder that, despite the diversity in New Orleans, there’s still a heavy amount of brute racial insensitivity.
• Scene Summary and Analysis

  The two sisters get home. Blanche is concerned about her appearance in front of the men, claiming she needs to freshen up before they go in as she feels all“hot and frazzled”.Many of Blanche’s concerns around her appearance tend to revolve arounduncleanliness.This can be linked to her desire to give off an air ofpurity.
• Scene Summary and Analysis

  They go in. Blanche tells the men not to get up, expectingchivalry,and Stanley assures her nobody is going to get up, throwing this expectation back in her face. When Stella tells the men it’s getting late, asking them to break it up soon, to which Stanley reacts by whacking her thigh.
• Scene Summary and Analysis

  Blanche says she’s going to bathe, clearly feeling overwhelmed by the situation. When she goes into the bathroom, she runs into Mitch. The two are introduced, and Mitch is clumsily sweet, speaking to her with “awkward courtesy”. This is animitationof the very chivalry she’s after. Blanche instantly shows interest, saying he seems“superior to the others”. She picks up on a gentlemanliness and sensitivity in him.
• Scene Summary and Analysis

  She speaks to Stella about him, finding out he’s Stanley’s colleague. When she asks if that’s“something much”,Stella responds by telling her that Stanley is the only one“likely to get anywhere”. Blanche respondsconfrontationally, telling her she doesn’t see it in Stanley. Here we see how much Stella truly believes in Stanley, as she sees something in him, being drawn in by his forcefuldrive.
• Scene Summary and Analysis

  The two sisters start mocking the men and their wives, laughing together about the time when the ceiling cracked. Stanley shouts at them to keep it down.Again, we are reminded of the lack of privacy in this enclosed space, and of the penetrative power of the voice through walls.Blanche tells Stella not to start a row, but Stella is angry that Stanley is drunk.
• Scene Summary and Analysis

  Blanche turns on the radio. Stanley demands that she turn off the radio, and, despite the other men telling him to let her leave it on, he jumps up and angrily turns it off.His drinking has clearly set off his violent nature.Stanley then accuses Mitch of being distracted from the poker game, looking at Blanche through the drapes, andcommandshim to sit down.This is the first instance we see of Stanley’s discomfort with the idea of Mitch and Blanche being involved. It’s hard to distinguish at this point whether it stems from a jealous need to be the alpha male or general disdain towards Blanche.
• Scene Summary and Analysis

  Mitch runs into Blanche and he shows her the inscription on his case, a line from one of her favourite sonnets.This interest in poetry is an indicator of Mitch’s sensitivity, reminding Blanche of her deceased husband.At this point, Blanchesees her own story in Mitch, and starts to latch on to a sense of hope in him.She then turns on the radio.
• Scene Summary and Analysis

  There’s a shift intoneas Stanley“stalks”angrily into the room.Williams often refers to Stanley’s actions directly as animalistic through these kinds of terms. Hethrowsthe radio out of the window. Stella bursts in, calling himan animal, demanding that everyone goes home. Blanche isfrightened, telling Stella to be careful. The other men try to calm Stanley down, but hechargesafter Stella and eventuallystrikesher.
• Scene Summary and Analysis

  Blanche is terrified, running after Stella. The scene ischaotic, with the sound of indiscernible crashes and bangs. Blanche cries out that Stella is pregnant. We’re reminded of the truedangerof the situation. The men take Stanley away. When they“lovingly”try to calm him down, they have a surprising moment oftendernesswith Stanley leaning his head on one of their shoulders.It’s interesting to note that the only time we see this kind of softness surrounding these men is after such a violent masculine outburst.In a panic, Blanche takes Stella upstairs to Eunice’s to protect her. She takes Stella’s clothes with them, clearly assuming that Stella will never go back. She tells Stella not to be afraid.
• Scene Summary and Analysis

  Once Stanley calms down, he immediately switches back into his state of affection anddependenceon Stella, exclaiming that his baby doll’s left him. He tries desperately to call Stella, eventually going out into the street and startsbellowingher name. Eunice tells him she won’t come back to him. She yells at him for beating his wife, calling him a polack. His status as an immigrant is associated with his brutality.
• Scene Summary and Analysis

  Stella, overcome by her love for Stanley, eventually comes down the stairs. The two embrace with“low, animal moans”.Here we see how their love is depicted asprimal, inevitable, instinctive, similarly to his violent actions. Her eyes go “blind with tenderness” as she is unable to see past her devotion for him.
• Scene Summary and Analysis

  Blanche comes downstairs, scared and looking for her sister. She can’t understand why she would have gone back in with him. She runs into Mitch, whoreassuresher that there’s nothing to be scared about because they’re in love, so she shouldn’t take what happened seriously. This dismissal of Stanley’s violence comes from everywhere around him because everyone ultimatelyforgiveshis aggressive actions, exceptBlanche.This can be seen to reflect the general American attitude towards this kind of masculinity. The heroisation of the family man who has returned from the war despite the aggressive demeanor that the war and economy ingrains in him.
• Scene Summary and Analysis

  Mitch and Blanche have a cigarette together. She isoverwhelmedand thanks him for being so kind.
• Key Quotes


  “You look fresh as a daisy” -Stella“One that’s been picked a few days” - Blanche

  This short interaction is a good example to establish Blanche’sanxietyaroundageing. This is important as it links her need to appear perfect and beautiful with her fear of her past and time slipping away from her.
• Key Quotes


  “Stanley gives a loud whack of his hand on her thigh.” - stage direction

  This stage direction is the first example we get of Stanley’snon-consensualphysical aggression, setting grounds for his further aggression later in the scene. It shows us that he is drunk, whichcatalysesthis sort of behaviour from him.Everyone around him allows actions such as these to go unnoticed enabling theabuse of thewomen around him later in the play.
• Key Quotes


  “I can’t stand a naked light bulb, any more than I can a rude remark or vulgar action” - Blanche

  This line draws a blatant parallel between the motif of Blanche’sdiscomfortin stark light and her sensitivity to Stanley’s bluntbrutishness. It shows us Blanche’s fragility, and the fact that the way she fears being visually exposed to the world is directly linked to her fear of being emotionallyexposed.
• Key Quotes


  “They come together with low, animal moans” - stage direction

  This is an instance where Stanley’s association with theanimalisticstretches into our perception of his relationship with Stella, forcing us to see their relationship as intuitive, inevitable and obsessive. Especially following from thedomestic abusewe see earlier in the scene. It also depicts theprimitivenature of sex and desire.
• Key Quotes


  “There’s so much- so much confusion in the world….Thank you for being so kind! I need kindness now.” - Blanche

  This line is the first time we see Blanche latching on to Mitch as avessel of hope, reaching out for a sense of comfort when she is frightened and feels incredibly vulnerable. Thisrelianceon others’ kindness is important to Blanche’s character as it shows how she latches on to small things that allow her toescapefrom her reality. Mitch here is established asdifferentfrom Stanley and the other men. She really trusts him at this point in the play, and trust is something she needs in order to stay sane.