WILLIAMSS A STREETCAER NAMED DESIRE

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A TEACHER’S GUIDE TO THE SIGNET EDITION OF

TENNESSEE WILLIAMS’S

A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE
By ROBERT C. SMALL, JR., Ed.D., Radford University

S E R I E S

E D I T O R S :

W. GEIGER ELLIS, ED.D., UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA, EMERITUS and ARTHEA J. S. REED, PH.D., UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA, RETIRED

ISBN: 0-451-52992-8
Copyright © 2004 by Penguin Group (USA)
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Eunice and Blanche talk about the neighborhood and where
Blanche has come from, and Eunice lets her into the Kowalski’s two-room apartment.
Stella arrives and expresses happiness in seeing her sister. Blanche asks for a drink, and
Stella prepares it. They chat, and Blanche tells Stella how terrible the neighborhood is.
Stella responds positively about her home. Blanche explains why she left her teaching job, an explanation that proves to be false. She expresses a concern that Stanley may not like her. Stella reassures her but also tells her not to compare him to men they knew when they lived at Belle Reve. Blanche tells her that Belle Reve has been lost and blames
Stella for the loss because she left home. They have an argument about who is to blame.
Stella begins to cry and goes into the bathroom.
Stanley, Steve, and Mitch return, and Blanche hides from Stanley. He enters the house, sees Blanche, and they talk. Stanley asks her if she is “going to shack up here. Blanche says she will if he approves. He tells her he does but asks if she was ever married. Blanche says yes and tells him “the boy died” (31).
SCENE
He steps outside and calls Stella as if he has just arrived. They embrace, and Stanley grins at Blanche.
SCENE FIVE
Later, as Blanche is writing a letter and reading it to Stella, the Hubbells have a loud and violent fight. Eunice rushes out saying she is going to the police. Stanley and Blanche exchange insults, and he brings up the hotel where she was a prostitute. He exits.
Blanche asks Stella if she has heard any rumors. When she says no, Blanche begins to hint about what happened in the hotel. When Stella brings Blanche a drink, Blanche becomes emotional about the support that Stella gives her and promises to leave soon.
She tells Stella that Mitch is coming that evening and admits to wanting him but needing “to deceive him enough to make him—want me” (81). Stanley returns, and
Stella leaves with him, cautioning Blanche not to have anything more to drink. A young man arrives collecting for the newspaper, and Blanche flirts with him and kisses him as he tries to leave. Mitch then arrives with roses.
SCENE SIX
At two o’clock the next morning, Blanche and Mitch return from “the amusement park on Lake Pontchartrain” (85). Blanche is exhausted, and Mitch recognizes that she