A Streetcar Named Desire- Scene 3
This scene is ‘the poker night’- what could this represent?
In poker, sometimes you play a bluff, (hence a "poker face" where you try to reveal as little
as possible), and similarly in the play, this is what Blanche does to hide aspects of herself,
and attempts to impress them.
It could represent masculine power as the aim of the game is to see who has the best hand.
Social game for men more than women.
Poker is a game of chance, in the sense that you can’t control what you’re dealt. Although
Blanche is excluded from it, it’s a metaphor in how she presents herself.
Stanley plays a game throughout the play- he knows strategy and risk-taking through his
gambling of his wife and child, although he wins against Blanche in the end.
Likewise in poker, there is a competitive element in play between Blanche and Stanley- both
are competing over Stella’s loyalty in the play.
The Poker Night was a working title of the play and shows the idea of ruthless competion.
This demonstrates how significant this scene is and how this is symbolic of the behaviours of
the characters within the play- for example sexuality, and the poker night highlights the
dynamics between men and women.
[Note: Williams had a range of working titles:]
‘Streetcar named desire’- Desire as a driving force (primitive between Stella and Stanley and
is what brings them together) is clearly a central concern of the play.
The idea of fatal attraction suggested by ‘The Moth’ – drawn to light and danger. Fatal
attraction also of Stanley and Stella’s.
The use of colour and light
The kitchen is lit up in “lurid nocturnal brilliance” under a ‘vivid green glass shade’- The
artificially lurid, vivid kitchen in the middle of the night is somewhat sinister and hell-like.
The contrasting colours perhaps reflect the contrasting natures of the men with their bold
personalities, and how they are in competition with each other both literally in the poker
night and metaphorically, almost in a fight to become the alpha male, like animals. They
each ‘wear coloured shirts, solid blues, a purple… and they are men at the peak of their
physical manhood, as course and direct and powerful as the primary colours.’
Example of Williams using expressionism to convey ideas in the play- also linking this scene
to a Van Gough painting.
When Blanche encounters Mitch it is under her own terms, that is, in the half-light of the
bedroom that hides reality. She undresses ‘in the light through the portieres’ and ‘under
the ‘yellow streak of light’.
The light motif is later developed when Blanche asks Mitch to cover the naked light bulb to
create shadows and illusions that hide the reality of her real age. Ironically, it will be he who
will later tear off the paper lantern in order to "get a better look" at Blanche.
How Stanley and Mitch are differentiated
This scene is ‘the poker night’- what could this represent?
In poker, sometimes you play a bluff, (hence a "poker face" where you try to reveal as little
as possible), and similarly in the play, this is what Blanche does to hide aspects of herself,
and attempts to impress them.
It could represent masculine power as the aim of the game is to see who has the best hand.
Social game for men more than women.
Poker is a game of chance, in the sense that you can’t control what you’re dealt. Although
Blanche is excluded from it, it’s a metaphor in how she presents herself.
Stanley plays a game throughout the play- he knows strategy and risk-taking through his
gambling of his wife and child, although he wins against Blanche in the end.
Likewise in poker, there is a competitive element in play between Blanche and Stanley- both
are competing over Stella’s loyalty in the play.
The Poker Night was a working title of the play and shows the idea of ruthless competion.
This demonstrates how significant this scene is and how this is symbolic of the behaviours of
the characters within the play- for example sexuality, and the poker night highlights the
dynamics between men and women.
[Note: Williams had a range of working titles:]
‘Streetcar named desire’- Desire as a driving force (primitive between Stella and Stanley and
is what brings them together) is clearly a central concern of the play.
The idea of fatal attraction suggested by ‘The Moth’ – drawn to light and danger. Fatal
attraction also of Stanley and Stella’s.
The use of colour and light
The kitchen is lit up in “lurid nocturnal brilliance” under a ‘vivid green glass shade’- The
artificially lurid, vivid kitchen in the middle of the night is somewhat sinister and hell-like.
The contrasting colours perhaps reflect the contrasting natures of the men with their bold
personalities, and how they are in competition with each other both literally in the poker
night and metaphorically, almost in a fight to become the alpha male, like animals. They
each ‘wear coloured shirts, solid blues, a purple… and they are men at the peak of their
physical manhood, as course and direct and powerful as the primary colours.’
Example of Williams using expressionism to convey ideas in the play- also linking this scene
to a Van Gough painting.
When Blanche encounters Mitch it is under her own terms, that is, in the half-light of the
bedroom that hides reality. She undresses ‘in the light through the portieres’ and ‘under
the ‘yellow streak of light’.
The light motif is later developed when Blanche asks Mitch to cover the naked light bulb to
create shadows and illusions that hide the reality of her real age. Ironically, it will be he who
will later tear off the paper lantern in order to "get a better look" at Blanche.
How Stanley and Mitch are differentiated
