2.10.1

Scene Ten: Summary & Tragedy Ideas

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Scene Ten: Summary

Stanley has returned home to the apartment because Stella is not yet ready to give birth. The audience recognises the sexual danger of Stanley and Blanche being alone together.

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Stanley jokes

  • Stanley jokes about Blanche attending the "fireman’s ball" – obviously a reference to her cries at the end of Scene Nine.
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Blanche's fantasy

  • Blanche has descended into a fantasy that an old suitor of hers is coming to provide financial support and take her away from New Orleans.
  • This is Shep Huntleigh from Dallas, and she recollects wearing an "ATO pin" for him. It seems he is offering her a Caribbean cruise.
  • Stanley goes along with the act she spins out for him, culminating in him opening a bottle of beer. He talks about his accomplishments when compared to the millionaire she refers to.
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Blanche discusses herself

  • Blanche continues to refer to the fact that she is cultivated and intelligent, and that she has been "casting her pearls before swine" before.
  • Blanche explains that she has given Mitch his "walking papers" – an ironic reference to the papers from earlier on in the play.
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"Queen of the Nile"

  • Stanley then angrily scorns Blanche and says her lies and behaviour expose her for what she really is.
  • He calls her a "Queen of the Nile". This seems to imply that she is Cleopatra-like and a temptress.
  • Aware of the danger, Blanche tries to make a call to Shep Huntleigh for assistance. But this is to no avail.
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Stanley's attraction to Blanche

  • Stanley is repulsed by Blanche, but he is also sexually attracted to her. This ambivalence comes out in the rest of the scene.
  • Stanley advances toward her and they make their way into the bedroom; in response, she threatens to glass him, but she is overpowered.
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Rape scene

  • Stanley rapes Blanche, imminently resulting in her psychotic crisis. The music outside reaches a crescendo.
  • The rape scene itself is almost unreal and dream-like in the way that Williams presents it.
  • The play reaches a sexual and structural climax at this point.

Scene Ten: Tragedy Genre

Here are some key ideas that relate to the idea of tragedy:

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Stanley and Blanche alone

  • That fact that Stanley and Blanche are alone together in this scene confirms the tragic trajectory and the audience anticipates that something bad will happen.
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Difficulties about the rape

  • What is tragic is that the sexual act is not completed jointly and that it involves the violence and physicality of a male figure. It is also tragic that this is happening at the same time as Stella having her baby. Stanley is also having sex with his sister-in-law. This is bound to make the future family dysfunctional to some extent.
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The rape and Blanche's fall

  • Blanche has been woefully treated by a patriarchal society, and here too, the same thing is happening yet again.

Jump to other topics

1Context & Overview

2Scene Summaries

3Character Profiles

4Key Ideas

5Writing Techniques

6Critical Debates

7Ideas About Tragedy

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