A Streetcar Named Desire- Scene One Summary

Summary:
-​ The Setting is the exterior of a corner building on a street called Elysian Fields, which
runs between the river and the train tracks in a poor section of New Orleans that has
“raffish (unconventional or flashy) charm.”
-​ Faded white stairs lead up to the entrances of the shabby building’s two flats
-​ Steve and Eunice live upstairs, and Stanley and Stella live downstairs
-​ The hum of voices in the street can be heard, as well as the bluesy notes of a cheap
piano playing in a bar around the corner
-​ Williams notes that the music from this piano is to set the mood throughout the play
-​ It is an early May evening, and the sky at dusk is almost turquoise
-​ Eunice, who is a black lady, is relaxing on the steps of the building when Stanley and his
buddy Mitch show up
-​ Stanley hollers for Stella, who comes out onto the first-floor landing and replies calmly to
his tough, streetwise banter
-​ He hurls a package of meat up to her and says that he and Mitch are going to meet
Steve at the bowling alley
-​ They depart, and Stella soon follows to watch them
-​ Eunice finds something hilariously suggestive in the meat-hurling episode, and her
cackles indicates sexual innuendo
-​ She views is as a very sexual act for Stanley to throw a huge piece of meat at her
-​ Soon after Stella leaves, her sister, Blanche, arrives, carrying a suitcase and looking with
disbelief at a slip of paper in her hand and then at the building
-​ She is in utter shock and disbelief that her sister lives in such a run down area
-​ Dressed in a fine white suit appropriate for an upper-crust social event, Blanche moves
tentatively, looking and apparently feeling out of place in Stella’s neighbourhood
-​ Eunice approaches her and directs her to where she will be staying
-​ Eunice assures Blanche that the building is Stella’s residence
-​ Eunice is trying to speak to her but Blanche wants her go away
-​ When Blanche declines to go to the bowling alley, the Black woman goes instead to tell
Stella of her sister’s arrival
-​ Eunice lets Blanche into the two-room flat, and Blanche investigates the interior of the
Kowalskis’ apartment
-​ Making small talk, Eunice mentions what she knows of Blanche from Stella- that Blanche
is from Mississippi, that she is a teacher, and that her family estate is called Belle Reve
-​ Tired of Eunice’s questions, Blanche asks to be left alone
-​ Eunice, somewhat offended, leaves to fetch Stella
-​ Alone, Blanche sits looking nervous and uncomfortable as she surveys the messy, dingy
surroundings
-​ Spying a bottle of whiskey in the closet, she suddenly breaks out of her dejected stupor
-​ She pours a healthy shot, downs it immediately
-​ Stella returns with excitement, and she and Blanche embrace
-​ Blanche talks feverishly and seems nearly hysterical. After initially expressing her thrill at
seeing her younger sister, Blanche lets slip a critical comment on the physical and social
setting in which Stella lives

, -​ She tries to check her criticism, but the reunion begins on a tense note
-​ Blanche redirects the conversation by asking if Stella has any liquor in the flat
-​ She claims she could use the drink to calm her nerves, but insists- without being asked-
that she isn’t a drunk
-​ After the drink is poured, Blanche asks how Stella has allowed herself to stoop to such
poor living conditions
-​ Stella makes a light effort to defend her present lifestyle, but she mostly lets Blanche do
the talking
-​ Stella’s quietness unnerves Blanche, who suggests that Stella isn’t happy to see her
-​ She then explains that she has come to New Orleans because her nerves have forced
her to take a leave of absence from her job as a schoolteacher during the middle of the
term
-​ She asks Stella to tell her how she looks, fusses over Stella’s plumpness and
dishevelled appearance, and is surprised to learn that Stella has no maid
-​ Blanche takes another drink, and then worries about the privacy and decency of her
staying in the apartment with no door to separate her from Stella and Stanley in the next
room
-​ She worries that Stanley won’t like her, and she makes several disparaging comments
about Stanley’s lower-class status, focusing on his Polish background
-​ Stella warns Blanche that Stanley is very different from the men with whom Blanche is
familiar back home
-​ She is quite clearly deeply in love with him
-​ In an outburst that builds to a crescendo of hysteria, Blanche reveals that she has lost
Belle Reve, the family’s ancestral home
-​ She recounts how she suffered through the agonisingly slow deaths of their parents and
relatives, and points the finger at Stella for running off to New Orleans and leaving all
familial woes behind
-​ Stella finally cuts her off and leaves the room, crying
-​ Stanley’s return interrupts Blanche’s apology
-​ Outside the apartment, Stanley discusses plans for poker the following day with Steve
and Mitch
-​ Mitch discourages their discussion of borrowing money and refuses to host poker at his
mother’s house as she is sick
-​ The men settle on playing poker at Stanley’s, and Steve and Mitch leave
-​ Meanwhile, Blanche has been nervously moving through the apartment in anticipation of
meeting Stanley
-​ He enters the apartment, sizes Blanche up, and makes small talk with her, treating her
casually while she nervously tries to engage with him. Stanley pulls the whiskey bottle
out of the closet and notices that it is running low
-​ He offers Blanche a drink, but she declines, saying that she rarely drinks
-​ Stanley proceeds to change his sweaty T-shirt in front of Blanche, offending her modesty
-​ All the while, Stella still hasn’t emerged from the bathroom
-​ When Stanley abruptly asks what happened to Blanche’s marriage, Blanche replies
haltingly that the “boy” died, then plops down and declares that she feels ill