SCENE 4: An Attack on Stanley’s Character
A. Summary
morning after the pokernight
Blanche, who had spent a sleepless night, comes into Stella’s bedroom
Blanche is shocked and in panic about Stanley’s violence to her sister and about the fact that her sister still stays with him
Blanche is really worried about about her sister and the baby and she blames Stella that she has lost their education’s values.
Blanche can not understand why her sister forgives Stanley and tries to convince her to get out of the marriage
she tries to find solutions. Blanche wants to contact a rich friend and wants to ask him for help. She would have liked to marry him, but he allready has a wife.
Blanche is to inconstant to complete her idea to contact him for help.
Stella does not react positive on Blanche’s attempts to help her
Stella tries to explain that she does not want to get out of the situation, because she loves Stanley. She thinks that she has to tolerate Stanley’s habits in order to be his wife and vice verse
Blanche does not even listen to that and speaks plainly about Stanley and calls him a „survivor of the stoneage“
Stanley secretly overhears the insulting part of the conversation
B. Blanche’s Attack on Stanley
Blanche mentions the following of Stanley’s character traits:
„You are married to a madman“ (p. 59, l. 15)
Serious mental illness
„What such a man has to offer is animal force and he gave a wonderful exhibition of that!“ (p.63, l. 19ff)
Always wants to express his „masculine“ manners
„He’s common!“ (p.65, l.17)
Uneducated, not someone special
„There’s something downright -bestial- about him“ (p.65, l.22f)
Cruel and disgusting
„He acts like an animal, has an animal’s habits! Eats like one, talks like one…“ (p.65, l.26f)
Cruel and disgusting
„subhuman“ (p.65, l. 27f)
„ape-like“ (p.65, l.29)
Not working or behaving like a „normal“ human
„survivor of the stoneage“ (p.66, l.3)
Undeveloped, traditional gender-roles
„Maybe he’ll strike you or maybe grunt and kiss you“ (p.66, l.4f)
Unpredictable (→ unberechenbar)
„Don’t – don’t hang back with the brutes“ (p.66, l.17)
A person who behaves in a cruel or unpleasant way or who is very dirty
Stella’s sentences to make the pokernight seem not so important:
„…but it wasn’t anything as serious as you seem to take it. In the first place, when men are drinking and playing poker anything can happen. […] he didn’t know what he was doing … He was as good as a lamb when I came back and he’s really very, very ashamed of himself.“ (p.58, l. 17fff)
„…people do sometimes. Stanley’s always smashed things.“ (p.58, l.25)
„Oh well, it’s his pleasure, like mine is movies and bridge. People have got to tolerate each other’s habits, I guess.“ (p.60, l. 3ff)
„Blanche, you saw him at his worst last night.“ (p.63, l.18)
„But there are things that happen between a woman and a man in the dark – that sort of make everything else seem – unimportant.“ (p.64, l.17ff)
Why Stella decides to stay in the relationship
„I have told you I love him“ (p.65, l.5)
„But there are things that happen between a woman and a man in the dark – that sort of make everything else seem – unimportant.“ (p.64, l.17ff)
C. Stanley’s Victory
When Stanley comes home, Stella reacts ‘normal’, as if nothing had happened.
Blanche might feel left alone and not taken serious, because Stella does not react anymore.
Stanley feels as the winner of the ‘game’, because he secretly overheard the conversation, but nothing changed for him. Now he is able to do something against Blanche and her insults.