A Streetcar Named Desire Scene 3 Summary

Summary:
-​ Stanley and his boys are playing poker
-​ Mitch explains how his mother is sick and he needs to go home
-​ Stanley is very angry
-​ Mitch goes to the bathroom
-​ Stella and Blanche come back and Blanche is concerned about her looks
-​ They come in the house and stella complains how it is 2:30 yet they’re still playing the
game
-​ Stanley tries to tell her to go upstairs with Eunice
-​ He slaps her thigh in front of everyone and she explains to Blanche how she hates it
when he does that
-​ Blanche doesn’t care and just explains how she needs a bath to calm down her nerves
-​ When she goes to the toilet, Mitch comes out and is mesmerised by her beauty
-​ They briefly discuss Mitch’s lowly job and how Stanley is the only one who is likely to get
far
-​ Then they make fun of the men’s fat wives and Stanley tells them to shush
-​ Blanche puts on some music and Stanley tells her to take it off
-​ Mitch comes to Blanche and they share a cigarette
-​ She tells him her surname
-​ She gives him a light bulb cover so her bare face can’t be seen
-​ Stanley calls Mitch
-​ Blanche explains how she is a school teacher for english
-​ Stanley is drunk and angry and throws an instrument out of the window
-​ Stella shouts at him for being drunk
-​ He beats her up and everyone is alarmed
-​ The men control Stanley and place him on the bed
-​ They put him in the shower and he recollects himself
-​ He screams for Stella and wants her back
-​ Eunice ain’t letting him have her back
-​ She comes back down the stairs and his face is on her belly
-​ Mitch sees Blanche and they sit on the stairs together

Quotes:
-​ “There is a picture of Van Gogh’s of a billboard- parlour at night”
➔​ No subtlety whats so ever, direct and harsh
➔​ Multitude of colours
➔​ Bright, vibrant and harsh- reflects Stanley’s nature and New Orleans
➔​ Everything about this is harsh
-​ “The poker players-....... wear coloured shirts, solid blues, a purple, a
red-and-white check, a light green, and they are men at the peak of their physical
manhood, as course and direct and powerful as the primary colours”
➔​ Multitude of colours are used
➔​ The primary, bold colours are strong and attention grabbing

, ➔​ These colours connote vitality, dominance, and primal energy, reinforcing the raw
physicality and unrefined masculinity of the poker players- especially Stanley, who
embodies these traits most clearly
➔​ Primary colours are basic and foundational- this mirrors how Williams presents these
men as elemental, almost primitive in their instincts
➔​ Williams sets up a hyper-masculine atmosphere, which becomes crucial as it clashes
with Blanche’s refined, fragile femininity later in the scene
➔​ Williams is preparing the audience for a clash of forces- masculinity vs. femininity, brute
force vs. delicate sensibility, realism vs. illusion
-​ “You are as fresh as a daisy. One that has been picked for a few days”
➔​ The petals of daisies are white which connote innocence and purity
➔​ However, Blanche outlines the daisy has been picked suggesting her innocence is
fleeting and she is wearing apart
➔​ She has been at the Kowalski’s house “for a few days” which may be Williams implying
that Stanley has worn Blanche out and is picking at her past
➔​ Her beauty is fleeting and she is falling apart and being attacked by others- notably
Stanley
-​ “He lurches up and tosses some watermelon rinds on the floor”
➔​ Resembles an animal
-​ “Stanley gives a loud whack of his hand on her thigh”
➔​ He is physically and sexually abusive and has no shame as he acts in such a way
around his friends
➔​ He lacks respect
➔​ “loud” conveys the impact of the hit, he isn’t subtle
➔​ Abusive, dominant male
-​ “I got a sick mother. She don’t sleep till I come home at night.”
➔​ His personal life is quite sad but Stanley doesn’t care
-​ “Aw, for god’s sake, go home, then!”
-​ “Well, you can hear me and I said to hush up!”
-​ “This is my house and I’ll talk as much as I want to!
➔​ Stella is asserting some dominance and authority here
➔​ Stanley doesn’t appreciate this and believes Blanche has caused his wife to become
more vocal so he lashes out on her
➔​ Her tone is forceful and assertive
➔​ As a member of the new south, she feels confident to break previous social norms that
required women to be passive in the face of abuse and injustice
➔​ The possessive pronoun “my” challenges Stanley’s perceives authority- something he
doesn’t appreciate
➔​ Williams uses possessive language and a defiant tone to show Stella’s moment of
resistance against Stanley’s control
➔​ However, its power is undercut by the broader context of the play, where patriarchal
dominance prevails
➔​ Stella’s refusal to be silenced (“I’ll talk as much as I want to!”) pushes against traditional
expectations that women should be submissive and deferential to men