Scene 1
Blanche arrives in New Orleans; meets Stella and Stanley
• 'raffish charm' 'weathered grey' 'faded white stairs' p.1
• 'atmosphere of decay' p.1
• 'cosmopolitan city [...] relatively warm and easy mingling of races' p.1
• ‘roughly dressed in blue denim work clothes’ (Stanley and Mitch) p.2
• ‘[mildly] Don’t holler at me like that’ (Stella) p.2
• ‘Meat! [He heaves the package at her. She cries out in protest but manages to catch
it; then laughs breathlessly] p.2
• 'her appearance is incongruous to this setting' 'white suit' 'ear-rings of pearl' 'white
gloves and hat' p.3
• 'something about her [...] that suggests a moth' p.3
• 'take a streetcar named Desire, and transfer to one called Cemeteries and [...] get
off at - Elysian Fields!' p.3
• ‘Belle Reve [...] a great big place with white columns’ p.5 (Eunice to Blanche)
• 'turn that over-light off! [...] I won't be looked at in this merciless glare!' p.6
• ‘I thought you would never come back to this horrible place!’ p.6
• 'I didn't mean to say that. I meant to be nice about it and say--Oh, what a convenient
location and such--' p.6
• 'you must have some liquour [...] Where could it be, I wonder?' p.6
• 'animal joy [...] implicit in all his movements and attitudes' p.13
• 'the centre of his life has been pleasure with women, the giving and taking of it' p.13
• 'power and pride of a richly feathered male bird amongst hens' p.13
• 'gaudy seed-bearer' p.13
• 'sizes women up at a glance with sexual classifications, crude images flashing into
his mind and determining the way he smiles at them' p.13
Scene 2
Stanley ransacks Blanche’s possessions, questions how she lost Belle Reve; Blanche
hands him the papers
• 'Have you ever heard of the Napoleonic code? [...] Let me enlighten you on a point
or two, baby' p.18
• 'when you're swindled under the Napoleonic code I'm swindled too. And I don't like
to be swindled.' p.18
• 'pulls open the wardrobe trunk [...] jerks out an armful of dresses [...] kicks the trunk
partly closed' pp.18, 19
• ‘I like an artist who paints in strong, bold colours, primary colours’ p.21
, • ‘He seizes the atomizer and slams it down on the dresser’ p.22
• ‘There are thousands of papers, stretching back over hundreds of years’ p.24
o Blanche reasserting her family’s status
• 'it's wonderfully fitting that Belle Reve should finally be this bunch of papers in your
big, capable hands!' p.24
Scene 3
Blanche and Mitch meet; Stanley hits Stella
• 'STANLEY, MITCH, and PABLO - wear coloured shirts, solid blues, a purple, a red-
and-white check, a light green' p.27 (contrasts Blanche's white clothing)
• 'STANLEY gives a loud whack of his hand on her thigh' p.29
• 'It makes me so mad when he does that in front of people' p.29
• 'I will bathe [...] My nerves are in knots' p.29
• '[with awkward courtesy] How do you do, Miss Dubois' 'coughing a little shyly' p.30
• '"And if God chose, / I shall love thee better - after death!"' p.33 (mirrors dead
characters haunting the narrative)
• 'I can't stand a naked light-bulb, any more than I can stand a rude remark or vulgar
action' p.34
• 'There is the sound of a blow. STELLA cries out' p.35
• 'They speak quietly and lovingly to him and he leans his face on one of their
shoulders' p.36
• 'Poker shouldn't be played in a house with women' p.36
• 'her eyes are glistening with tears' 'they come together with low, animal moans' her
eyes go blind with tenderness' p.38
Scene 4
Stella tranquilised post-Stanley, discussing desire; Blanche degrades Stanley
• 'Her face is serene' 'narcotized tranquillity' p.40
• 'You're making much too much fuss about this' 'it wasn't anything as serious as you
seem to take it' p.41
• 'He smashed all the light-bulbs with the heel of my slipper!' 'I was - sort of - thrilled
by it' pp.41, 42
• 'the only way to live with such a man is to - go to bed with him!' p.45
• 'there are things that happen between a man and woman in the dark - that sort of
make everything else seen - unimportant' p.46
• 'What you are talking about is brutal desire - just - Desire!' p.46
Blanche arrives in New Orleans; meets Stella and Stanley
• 'raffish charm' 'weathered grey' 'faded white stairs' p.1
• 'atmosphere of decay' p.1
• 'cosmopolitan city [...] relatively warm and easy mingling of races' p.1
• ‘roughly dressed in blue denim work clothes’ (Stanley and Mitch) p.2
• ‘[mildly] Don’t holler at me like that’ (Stella) p.2
• ‘Meat! [He heaves the package at her. She cries out in protest but manages to catch
it; then laughs breathlessly] p.2
• 'her appearance is incongruous to this setting' 'white suit' 'ear-rings of pearl' 'white
gloves and hat' p.3
• 'something about her [...] that suggests a moth' p.3
• 'take a streetcar named Desire, and transfer to one called Cemeteries and [...] get
off at - Elysian Fields!' p.3
• ‘Belle Reve [...] a great big place with white columns’ p.5 (Eunice to Blanche)
• 'turn that over-light off! [...] I won't be looked at in this merciless glare!' p.6
• ‘I thought you would never come back to this horrible place!’ p.6
• 'I didn't mean to say that. I meant to be nice about it and say--Oh, what a convenient
location and such--' p.6
• 'you must have some liquour [...] Where could it be, I wonder?' p.6
• 'animal joy [...] implicit in all his movements and attitudes' p.13
• 'the centre of his life has been pleasure with women, the giving and taking of it' p.13
• 'power and pride of a richly feathered male bird amongst hens' p.13
• 'gaudy seed-bearer' p.13
• 'sizes women up at a glance with sexual classifications, crude images flashing into
his mind and determining the way he smiles at them' p.13
Scene 2
Stanley ransacks Blanche’s possessions, questions how she lost Belle Reve; Blanche
hands him the papers
• 'Have you ever heard of the Napoleonic code? [...] Let me enlighten you on a point
or two, baby' p.18
• 'when you're swindled under the Napoleonic code I'm swindled too. And I don't like
to be swindled.' p.18
• 'pulls open the wardrobe trunk [...] jerks out an armful of dresses [...] kicks the trunk
partly closed' pp.18, 19
• ‘I like an artist who paints in strong, bold colours, primary colours’ p.21
, • ‘He seizes the atomizer and slams it down on the dresser’ p.22
• ‘There are thousands of papers, stretching back over hundreds of years’ p.24
o Blanche reasserting her family’s status
• 'it's wonderfully fitting that Belle Reve should finally be this bunch of papers in your
big, capable hands!' p.24
Scene 3
Blanche and Mitch meet; Stanley hits Stella
• 'STANLEY, MITCH, and PABLO - wear coloured shirts, solid blues, a purple, a red-
and-white check, a light green' p.27 (contrasts Blanche's white clothing)
• 'STANLEY gives a loud whack of his hand on her thigh' p.29
• 'It makes me so mad when he does that in front of people' p.29
• 'I will bathe [...] My nerves are in knots' p.29
• '[with awkward courtesy] How do you do, Miss Dubois' 'coughing a little shyly' p.30
• '"And if God chose, / I shall love thee better - after death!"' p.33 (mirrors dead
characters haunting the narrative)
• 'I can't stand a naked light-bulb, any more than I can stand a rude remark or vulgar
action' p.34
• 'There is the sound of a blow. STELLA cries out' p.35
• 'They speak quietly and lovingly to him and he leans his face on one of their
shoulders' p.36
• 'Poker shouldn't be played in a house with women' p.36
• 'her eyes are glistening with tears' 'they come together with low, animal moans' her
eyes go blind with tenderness' p.38
Scene 4
Stella tranquilised post-Stanley, discussing desire; Blanche degrades Stanley
• 'Her face is serene' 'narcotized tranquillity' p.40
• 'You're making much too much fuss about this' 'it wasn't anything as serious as you
seem to take it' p.41
• 'He smashed all the light-bulbs with the heel of my slipper!' 'I was - sort of - thrilled
by it' pp.41, 42
• 'the only way to live with such a man is to - go to bed with him!' p.45
• 'there are things that happen between a man and woman in the dark - that sort of
make everything else seen - unimportant' p.46
• 'What you are talking about is brutal desire - just - Desire!' p.46
