Situation: To begin the interpretation of the scene 4th of A Streetcar named Desire we need to know that Stanley and Stella had a fight and Stanley hitted his wife in scene 3. So Blanche and Stella went to Eunice but at the end Stella went back at home and slept with Stanley. Summary of the scene 4: The morning after the fight with Stanley Stella wakes up relaxed. She finds it normal to come back after the violence, whereas Blanch is hysterical and scared of Stanley. This reflects the clash in culture between the two sisters. Stella tries to explain to Blanche the way her relationship with Stanley works and Blanche hopes to persuade Stella to leave Stanley. Stanley overhears part of this, but when he appears, Stella’s fierce embrace shows that she will be more loyal to him, his world, values and way of life than she will be to her sister and, equally the values and way of life that Blanche represents. Analysis: 1) Mariage 1. p. 35 Blanche: Will he be back? Stella: He’s gone to get to get the care greased. Why? Blanche: Why! I’ve been half crazy, Stella! When I found out you’d be insane enough to come back in here after what happened - I started to rush in after you! Blanche is furious knowing that Stella returned to Stanley even though was drunk the night before. 2. p. 36-37 Stella: (Slowly and emphatically) I’m not in anything I want to get out of. Blanche: (incredulously) What - Stella? Stella: I said I am not in anything that I have a desire to get out of. Look at the mess in this room! And those empty bottles! They went through two cases last night! He promised this morning that he was going to quit having these poker parties, but you know how long such a promise is going to keep. Oh, well, it’s his pleasure, like mine in the movies and bridge. People have got to tolerate each other’s habits, I guess. Stella stresses that she has no intention to run away from Stanley, despite of what character her husband has. 3. p. 41 Stella has embraced him with both arms, fiercely,and full in the view of Blanche. He laughs and clasps her head to him. Over her head he grins through the curtains at Blanche. As the lights fadeaway, with a lingering brightness on their embrace, the music of the blue piano and trumpet and drums are heard. After one whole scene 4 of Blanche persuading her sister to leave Stanley, Stella ends up embracing her husband in front of her Mariage - Analysis The central marriage in A Streetcar Named Desire operates on a tumultuous combination of hero-worship, aggression, sexual attraction,and a difficult class difference between husband and wife. Despite the challenges, there is no doubt for a moment the intensity of love these two feel for each other. 2) Dependence on men 1. p. 36 Blanche: In my opinion? You’re married to a madman! Stella: No! Stella defends her husband from Blanche’s accusations, even though she knows the truth in it. 2. p. 37 Stella: I guess that money is always nice to get hold of. Blanche: Listen to me. I have an idea of some kind. (Shakily she twists a cigarette into her holder.) Do you remember Shep Huntleigh. I went out with him at college and wore his pin for a while. Well Blanche tries to persuade her sister to leave her husband and follow her to Shep Huntleigh because he is rich. Dependence on men - Analysis Both Blanche and Stella see male companions as their only means to achieve happiness, and they depend on men for both their sustenance and their self-image. Blanche recognizes that Stella could be happier without her physically abusive husband, Stanley. Yet, the alternative Blanche proposes, contacting Shep Huntleigh for financial support still involves complete dependence on men. (So it is a bit ironic) 3) Drugs and Alcohol 1. p. 35-36 Stella: Yes, you are, Blanche. I know how it must seemed to you and I’m awfully sorry it had to happen, but it was’nt anything as serious as you seem to take it. In the first place, when men are drinking and playing poker anything can happen. It’s always a powder-keg. He did’nt know what he was doing … He was as good as a lamb when I cam back and he’s really very, very ashamed of himself. Drugs and Alcohol - Analysis For the male gender, alcohol is very much tied to physical aggression and plays a part in the plays worst violence. 4) Sexuality 1. p. 39 Stella: But there are things that happen between a man and a woman in the dark that sort of make everything else seem - unimportant. (Pause.) Sexuality - Analysis Sex is essentially a destructive force in A Streetcar Named Desire, though this destruction takes a variety of forms, including literal death, physical violence, mental degradation, the sullying of a good reputation,and even financial ruin. Its very much tied to physical aggression, both in the sexual relations between husband and wife. 5) Men and Masculinity 1. p. 40-41 Stella: (coldly) Go on and say it all, Blanche. Blanche: He acts like an animal, has an animal’s habits! ... Don’t - don’t hang back with the brutes! Blanche gives a long speech on Stanley’s abusive character. She uses the animalistic imagery to illustrate how unrefined she believes Stanley is and to convince Stella to leave him. Men and Masculinity - Analysis The sheer animal force of antagonist Stanley Kowalski is partly responsible for the fame of A Streetcar Named Desire. In this play, masculinity means aggression, control, physical dominance, and even violence. Accompanying these traits are a general lack of refinement, manners, and sensitivity. Characters: Stanley Blanche depicts Stanley as a brute from the Stone Age on a ‘dark march’ to some kind of cultural, intellectual and moral oblivion. This view of Stanley is reinforced by the underhand way in which he listens in on their conversation and the sinister grin with which he ends the scene. However, the fact that he heard Blanche referring to him as a brute and attempting to convince Stella to leave him perhaps justifies his future actions against her but this reading seems the least convincing of the two as we are aware that Stanley has just beaten his pregnant wife and there is something cold and calculating about him as he stands on the porch overhearing them. However, it does depend on how we view Blanche and how highly we value the set of ideals associated with Stanley, which are the realistic truth and vibrancy, over the value we place on the ideals that we associate with Stella: the gentility and pretending that the world is a better place than it is. Blanche Blanche reveals a little bit about her own relationship with men, we discover how reliant she is on men and we learn of her materialistic and monetary concerns. We learn that she went on holiday hoping to “meet someone with a million dollars.” [p.159] and that only money matters to her as she would have married Shep if he weren’t already married. This suggests her materialist and manipulative nature as she schemes to get them out of this situation. Finally, the impression of Blanche as someone on the edge of a nervous breakdown is reinforced by the desperation with which she scribbles out her note to Shep. She is an english teacher but she can not write anything. Stella As she tells Blanche she is happy with her husband, even when she “has listened gravely to Blanche”; she is calm and not manipulated by her sister. In this scene, we see her developed as stronger character than previously. However, there is clearly a sense in which this strength is misguided as it has taken Stella back into an abusive relationship. Perhaps this is a judgment on Stanley and the world and value system which he represents which is unacceptable but which is not being fought against, perhaps this reveals how women are dependent on men at this time, perhaps it is being used to reveal the destructive nature of desire or finally, perhaps, it is another example of how we would rather take the pleasant illusion, where Stanley is a lamb who really does love Stella, over the ugly truth that he is a violent brute. In the latter case we can see that Stella shares with Blanche her preference for delusion. Relation to whole play: This scene in relation to the whole play is significant.The fact that Stanley has heard Blanche call him a savage and a brute in his own house, his territory, foreshadows the strong sense of violence he will have towards her later in the play. The most significant speech in this scene is Blanche’s description of Stanley and the value system he represents as something from the Stone Age in opposition to the truths of art, the literature and the culture. This reflects the conflict between the two classes. First we have Stanley’s vibrant, lively, passionate world of the working class immigrants who will become the new driving force behind modern America, the downside of which is their violence. Then we have Blanche who represents the fading aristocratic values of gentility, intellectual enlightenment and ‘decent’ behaviour but the world she comes from is corrupt and manipulative.
