Summary:
- It is a few hours after Mitch’s departure
- Blanche’s open trunk sits with clothes hanging out of it in the middle of the bedroom
- Blanche sits before the mirror, places a tiara on her head, and speaks out loud, flirting
with imaginary suitors
- She speaks of boozing and carousing after a late-night party
- A closer glance at herself in a hand mirror quickly upsets her, and she angrily smashes
the mirror
- Stanley enters the apartment, slamming the door behind him and giving a low whistle
when he sees Blanche decked out in an old white satin evening gown and jewelled party
shoes
- Like Blanche, Stanley is drunk, and he carries several unopened beer bottles. Blanche
asks about Stella, and Stanley tells her the baby won’t be born until the following day
- They will be the only two in the apartment that night
- With mock politeness, Stanley asks why Blanche is all dressed up
- She tells him that Shep Huntleigh, a former admirer, has sent her a telegram inviting her
to join him on his yacht in the Caribbean
- She explains that she has nothing suitable to wear on a cruise
- Stanley seems happy for Blanche
- As he takes off his shirt, Blanche requests that he close the curtains before finishing
undressing, but Stanley says that he’s done for the moment
- He opens a bottle of beer on the corner of the table, then pours the foam on his head
- He suggests that he and Blanche each have a beer to celebrate their good news, his
new baby and her millionaire
- Blanche declines Stanley’s offer, but his good spirits persist
- In anticipation of good news from the hospital, Stanley goes to the bedroom to find his
special silk pyjamas
- Blanche continues to talk about Shep Huntleigh, feverishly working herself up as she
describes what a gentleman he is and how he merely wants the companionship of an
intelligent, spirited, tender, cultured woman
- Blanche claims that though she is poor financially, she is rich in spirit and beautiful in
mind
- She asserts that she has been foolishly lavishing what she has to offer on those who do
not deserve it “casting [her] pearls before swine”
- At the word “swine,” Stanley’s amicable mood evaporates
- Blanche continues, recounting how Mitch arrived earlier that night to accuse her of the
slanderous lies that Stanley told him
- Blanche claims that after she sent Mitch away, he came back in vain, with roses and
apologies
- She says that she cannot forgive “deliberate cruelty,” and that the two of them are too
different in attitude and upbringing for their relationship to work
- Stanley disrupts Blanche’s story to ask if Mitch came by before or after her telegram
from Shep Huntleigh
, - Blanche is caught off guard and forgets what she has said about Shep’s telegram, and
Stanley jumps on her mistake
- He launches an attack, tearing down her make-believe world point by point
- It turns out that Stanley saw Mitch after his encounter with Blanche, so Stanley knows
that Mitch is still disgusted with her
- All Blanche can say in reply is “Oh!” Stanley finishes his accusation of Blanche with a
disdainful laugh and walks through the bedroom into the bathroom
- Frightening, sinister shadows and reflections begin to appear on the walls, mimicking
Blanche’s nervous movements
- Wild, jungle-sounding cries can be heard. Blanche goes to the phone and desperately
tries to make a call to Shep Huntleigh for help
- She does not know his number or his address, so the operator hangs up on her
- Blanche leaves the phone off the hook and walks into the kitchen
- The back wall of the Kowalskis’ apartment suddenly becomes transparent, revealing the
sidewalk, where a drunkard and a prostitute scuffle until a police whistle sounds and they
disappear
- Soon thereafter, the Black woman comes around the corner rifling through the
prostitute’s purse
- Even more panicked, Blanche returns to the phone and whispers to the operator to
connect her to Western Union
- She tries to send a telegraph saying that she needs help desperately and is “[c]aught in
a trap,” but she breaks off when Stanley emerges from the bathroom in his special
pyjamas
- He stares at her, grinning, while the phone begins to beep
- He crosses the room and replaces the phone on the hook
- Still grinning, he steps between Blanche and the door
- The sound of the piano becomes louder and then turns into the sound of a passing train,
disturbing Blanche
- When the noise ends, she asks Stanley to let her pass by, and he takes one step to the
side
- She asks him to move further away, but he stays put and laughs at Blanche for thinking
that he will try to prevent her from leaving
- The jungle voices swell as Stanley slowly advances toward Blanche, ignoring her cries
that he stay away
- She grabs a bottle and smashes its end on the table, threatening to smash the
remaining fragment on Stanley’s face
- He jumps at her, grabs her arm when she swings at him, and forces her to drop the
bottle
- “We’ve had this date from the beginning,” he says, and she sinks to her knees
- He picks her up and carries her to the bed
- The pulsing music indicates that Stanley rapes Blanche
- It is a few hours after Mitch’s departure
- Blanche’s open trunk sits with clothes hanging out of it in the middle of the bedroom
- Blanche sits before the mirror, places a tiara on her head, and speaks out loud, flirting
with imaginary suitors
- She speaks of boozing and carousing after a late-night party
- A closer glance at herself in a hand mirror quickly upsets her, and she angrily smashes
the mirror
- Stanley enters the apartment, slamming the door behind him and giving a low whistle
when he sees Blanche decked out in an old white satin evening gown and jewelled party
shoes
- Like Blanche, Stanley is drunk, and he carries several unopened beer bottles. Blanche
asks about Stella, and Stanley tells her the baby won’t be born until the following day
- They will be the only two in the apartment that night
- With mock politeness, Stanley asks why Blanche is all dressed up
- She tells him that Shep Huntleigh, a former admirer, has sent her a telegram inviting her
to join him on his yacht in the Caribbean
- She explains that she has nothing suitable to wear on a cruise
- Stanley seems happy for Blanche
- As he takes off his shirt, Blanche requests that he close the curtains before finishing
undressing, but Stanley says that he’s done for the moment
- He opens a bottle of beer on the corner of the table, then pours the foam on his head
- He suggests that he and Blanche each have a beer to celebrate their good news, his
new baby and her millionaire
- Blanche declines Stanley’s offer, but his good spirits persist
- In anticipation of good news from the hospital, Stanley goes to the bedroom to find his
special silk pyjamas
- Blanche continues to talk about Shep Huntleigh, feverishly working herself up as she
describes what a gentleman he is and how he merely wants the companionship of an
intelligent, spirited, tender, cultured woman
- Blanche claims that though she is poor financially, she is rich in spirit and beautiful in
mind
- She asserts that she has been foolishly lavishing what she has to offer on those who do
not deserve it “casting [her] pearls before swine”
- At the word “swine,” Stanley’s amicable mood evaporates
- Blanche continues, recounting how Mitch arrived earlier that night to accuse her of the
slanderous lies that Stanley told him
- Blanche claims that after she sent Mitch away, he came back in vain, with roses and
apologies
- She says that she cannot forgive “deliberate cruelty,” and that the two of them are too
different in attitude and upbringing for their relationship to work
- Stanley disrupts Blanche’s story to ask if Mitch came by before or after her telegram
from Shep Huntleigh
, - Blanche is caught off guard and forgets what she has said about Shep’s telegram, and
Stanley jumps on her mistake
- He launches an attack, tearing down her make-believe world point by point
- It turns out that Stanley saw Mitch after his encounter with Blanche, so Stanley knows
that Mitch is still disgusted with her
- All Blanche can say in reply is “Oh!” Stanley finishes his accusation of Blanche with a
disdainful laugh and walks through the bedroom into the bathroom
- Frightening, sinister shadows and reflections begin to appear on the walls, mimicking
Blanche’s nervous movements
- Wild, jungle-sounding cries can be heard. Blanche goes to the phone and desperately
tries to make a call to Shep Huntleigh for help
- She does not know his number or his address, so the operator hangs up on her
- Blanche leaves the phone off the hook and walks into the kitchen
- The back wall of the Kowalskis’ apartment suddenly becomes transparent, revealing the
sidewalk, where a drunkard and a prostitute scuffle until a police whistle sounds and they
disappear
- Soon thereafter, the Black woman comes around the corner rifling through the
prostitute’s purse
- Even more panicked, Blanche returns to the phone and whispers to the operator to
connect her to Western Union
- She tries to send a telegraph saying that she needs help desperately and is “[c]aught in
a trap,” but she breaks off when Stanley emerges from the bathroom in his special
pyjamas
- He stares at her, grinning, while the phone begins to beep
- He crosses the room and replaces the phone on the hook
- Still grinning, he steps between Blanche and the door
- The sound of the piano becomes louder and then turns into the sound of a passing train,
disturbing Blanche
- When the noise ends, she asks Stanley to let her pass by, and he takes one step to the
side
- She asks him to move further away, but he stays put and laughs at Blanche for thinking
that he will try to prevent her from leaving
- The jungle voices swell as Stanley slowly advances toward Blanche, ignoring her cries
that he stay away
- She grabs a bottle and smashes its end on the table, threatening to smash the
remaining fragment on Stanley’s face
- He jumps at her, grabs her arm when she swings at him, and forces her to drop the
bottle
- “We’ve had this date from the beginning,” he says, and she sinks to her knees
- He picks her up and carries her to the bed
- The pulsing music indicates that Stanley rapes Blanche
