2. What causes Mitch and Blanche to take a "certain interest" in one another? That is, what is the source of their immediate attraction? What seems to draw them together? What signs are already present to suggest that their relationship is doomed/problematic? The moment their eyes first meet, there seems to be an immediate attraction between Blanche and Mitch, causing them to take a “certain interest” in one another. After their first close encounter while the poker game is taking place, Blanche notices that Mitch is not like Stanley and the others. Telling Stella, “That one seems—superior to the others…I thought he had a sort of sensitive look” (Williams 52), Blanche takes interest in Mitch’s perceived sensitivity, and is immediately attracted …show more content…
Stanley’s demanding that Mitch return to the poker game when he is first speaking to Blanche could suggest that Stanley doesn’t want the two to interact, and would perhaps go to any lengths to sabotage them. Additionally, Stanley also begins to pry into Blanche’s past, specifically when he brings up a man named Shaw who claims he met Blanche “…at a hotel called the Flamingo” (Williams 89). Though this speculation is denied by Blanche, a further investigation into her past could result in the discovery of incriminating information, thus resulting in sabotage from Stanley.
3. How might we get to the bald truth/reality of Stanley and Stella 's relationship during the poker game? How are we supposed to understand Stella 's motivation for being/staying with Stanley, despite his physical abusiveness? (that is, on what is their relationship based/founded/sustained)? How does the discovery of these things affect the relationship between Blanche and Stella, and why is this important? During the confrontation during the poker game, which immediately ends it, readers are exposed to the reality of Stella and Stanley’s
She is anithetical to him in the story be cause Mitch tries to make a serious relationship with her but he couldn't be cause they are both not right which makes them have problems and fights throughout the story. For example when Mitch tells Blanche "
He wants her to be truthful and "lay her cards on the table" but simultaneously would "get ideas" about Blanche if she wasn't Stella's sister (Williams, Street 40-41). Their relationship overflows with sexual tension as they battle for Stella. Stanley, the new south, defeated Blanche, the old south. After destroying her chance for security, his sexual assault erases her last traces of sanity. Similarly opposites are found in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof."
Mitch who is just a man, ends up playing a very important role and showing the readers/audience how Blanche acts. This is crucial for developing Blanche’s characters, and especially showing her relationship and interaction with men. It shows her flirtatiousness, her reliance and fascination with men, at the same time she is always weary (for a good reason) and builds an awkward tension in . I felt like I could not include this in the children's book. I think that had I included it, it would have taken away from the story with Blanche and Stella and the more important relationship between the two and Stanley, who really tied the whole story together.. So I tried to focus more on the relationship between Stella, Blanche and Stanley. Two scenes that I felt were also hard to included was a scene where Blanche asks Stanley to button her shirt. This was important as foreshadowing the rape or something happening. However since in this version Blanche was not “raped”, I decided to weave the idea of moths wings into it again, and Blanche asked Stanley to “dust off her wings”. Though kids might not pick up on the subtle hint, it was still important to include. Also scenes where we see Stanley abusing Stella, such as “slapping her on her bottom” I did not included, I tried to use “harsh” language instead, such as when Stanley says “I am the king of the
The harsh treatment dealt by Mitch to Blanche near the end of the play is
Her rendezvous just added to her problems and dirtied her reputation.... ... middle of paper ... ... Stanley was angry when Blanche told Stella that she did not like him, but he never gave her a chance. Stanley despised her from the beginning.
The essential conflict of the story is between Blanche, and her brother in-law Stanley. Stanley investigates Blanche’s life to find the truth of her promiscuity, ruining her relationships with Stella, and her possible future husband Mitch, which successfully obtain his goal of getting Blanche out of his house. Blanche attempts to convince Stella that she should leave Stanley because she witnessed a fight between the two. Despite these instances, there is an essence of sexual tension between the two, leading to a suspected rape scene in which one of their arguments ends with Stanley leading Blanche to the bed. Branching from that, Stella has an inner conflict because she does not know whether to side with her husband or her sister in each situation. Blanche and Mitch ha...
No one knows what or who to believe, because one minute a character is revealing the truth about someone else and the next minute he is telling a lie. Stella struggles the most with uncertainty because in the end, she makes an ultimatum for herself of either believing her sister or her husband. In the book Stella says, “I couldn’t believe her story and go on living with Stanley,” (Williams, 133). She tells Eunice this after Blanche tries to tell her about what Stanley did to her. The uncertainty Stella and the other characters have to live with often alters their decision making process because they need to rely on their gut rather than the rumor being
Stanley (Stella's husband) represents a theme of realism in the play; he is shown as a primitive, masculine character that is irresistible to Stella and on some levels even to his "opponent" Stella's sister Blanche.
In scene three Stanley is having his poker party (pg. 57). At this point he is very drunk. Blanche distracting Stanley by listening to the radio instigates him to grab it off the table and toss it out the window. Stella in a state of panic tells everyone to go home which angers Stanley so he chases after her and hits her. This type of behavior is not normal of any human being involved in any relationship. Stanley repeatedly gets what he wants by use of any means possible. In addition the person whoever threatens the existence of his poker game receives a beating, in this case his wife. This scene demonstrates Stanley’s viscous animal like traits with such violence. If what happened here was repeated in today’s society he would find himself in a jail cell with a pending divorce.
One of the first major themes of this book is the constant battle between fantasy and reality. Blanche explains to Mitch that she fibs because she refuses to accept the hand fate has dealt her. Lying to herself and to others allows her to make life appear as it should be rather than as it is. Stanley, a practical man firmly grounded in the physical world, disdains Blanche’s fabrications and does everything he can to unravel them. The relationship between Blanche and Stanley is a struggle between appearances and reality. It propels the play’s plot and creates an overarching tension. Ultimately, Blanche’s attempts to rejuvenate her life and to save Stella from a life with Stanley fail. One of the main ways the author dramatizes fantasy’s inability to overcome reality is through an explorati...
Repetition of the poker game from the beginning of the play is used as a device to suggest a similar tense atmosphere and the intensifying build up to a very dismal event for Blanche. In both games Stanley is winning which suggests his dominance and control, which symbolises the rape scene and how helpless Blanche was. The symbolism of Stanley’s aggressive poker playing reflects his real life aggression and violent habits towards women. The poker game also symbolizes the luck and gamble of Blanche’s life, as well the dishonesty and deception of the others around her. ‘You know what luck is? Luck is believing you're lucky!...I was lucky.’ suggests Stanley has got away with his vulgar behaviour and Blanche’s life is deteriorating rapidly. The poker game also represents the change in Blanche's behaviour. In contrast to the first poker game, in which Blanche is eager to convey the best of her physical appearance and make the men notice her, ‘how do i look...i feel so hot and frazzled. Wait till i powder before i open the door. Do i look done in?’ shows her eagerness to impress the ‘gentleman’ and her insecurity and obsession about her appearance which
Stella represents an important part in this drama by providing a contrast to how life can change people when they go down different paths. In Contrast to her sister, Stella is bound to love. Although she fell in love with a primitive, common man, she most definitely loves him. Stella desires only to make Stanley happy and live a beautiful life together. She wants to find peace between her sister and her husband yet instead she finds conflict afflicting her on both sides. Blanche uses her dilutions and tries to sway Stella away from Stanley yet Stella takes all these slanders and belittles them. Stella does this because she loves Stanley and since she is pregnant with his baby.
Blanche is driven by her sexual desire but also wishes for stability and a fresh start instead. Blanche states “It was the other little familiarity that I felt obliged to discourage, I didn’t resent it!.. I was somewhat flattered that you desired me” (Williams 87). For the first time she doesn’t succumb to her body’s physical needs for her wish to be able to settle down with Mitch. If Blanche answered her body’s need for sex she would have killed her act of being a Southern belle looking for a suitor. This again brings out the close line between death and
In the play, Stella says, “I couldn’t believe her story and go on living with Stanley.” After Blanche tells Stella about the rape she chooses to continue living with Stanley. Stella making this decision strongly supports the theme. In both the film and the play, Stanley represents cruelty while Blanche represents tenderness. By staying with Stanley she is ultimately choosing cruelty over believing Blanche. The film contradicts this theme by its alternative ending. While Stanley is calling after Stella she says, “ I’m not going back in there again. Not this time. Never going back. Never.” Stella’s last lines indicates that she is leaving Stanley permanently. This crucial detail dwindles the significance of the theme in the play. Despite Stella staying with Stanley the first time he hit her in the film, cruelty does not ultimately prove dominant in the end. The play displays the theme cruelty defeats tenderness more effectively because of Stella remaining with the character who represents cruelty. The end of the film contradicts the theme “cruelty defeats tenderness” by Stella choosing to leave
Mitch is a friend of Stanley's whom Blanche falls for during her visit to New Orleans. The relationship between Blanche and Mitch had been developing steadily. Both characters felt the need to settle down in life and both saw the image of marriage at the outcome of their relationship. It did seem as though the image would become reality, until Stan interfered. Stan filled Mitch's mind with unfavourable stories of Blanche's checkered past and the relationship quickly turned sour.