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Act Two, Part 1

Summary

Act Two takes place an evening one week later. Eugene reports that Jack has suffered a heart attack and is bedridden. When Stanley returns home, he confides in Eugene that he lost an entire week’s salary in a poker game. He was trying to make extra money but got suckered by card sharks. Eugene suggests pretending he had a hole in his pocket, but Stanley has already used that excuse. Anxious because he messed up, Stanley picks a fight with Eugene, but the brothers quickly make up. 

Jack comes downstairs before Blanche’s date with Mr. Murphy, causing Kate to worry because he shouldn’t be out of bed. Nora, still mad at Blanche, leaves for her own date without saying goodbye. When Blanche finds out that Nora is gone, she realizes that Nora is getting back at her for the audition and worries that she’ll run away. Then Kate goes to the boys’ room to ask Stanley for money to give Blanche. Stanley confesses the loss of his salary, but Kate warns him not to tell Jack due to his heart. That night, she and Stanley will figure out what to do. Blanche senses that something is bothering Kate and assumes Nora said something unkind to her. Kate lashes out at Blanche, accusing her of not recognizing that other people also have problems. Blanche apologizes. Then Kate starts talking about Dave and how hard it must have been for Blanche when he died. Blanche explains that she kept on living for her children.

Laurie enters the room with a letter for Blanche from Mr. Murphy’s mother. Eugene reads it out loud to the audience. The letter explains that Mr. Murphy had a drunken car accident and must cancel his date with Blanche. Kate points out that she warned Blanche about him, and Blanche says they should be more charitable. Kate insists that all she ever did was help Blanche and her family and then starts talking about their childhood, calling herself the workhorse who sacrificed for Blanche, her prettier sister. Kate claims that Jack made himself ill supporting his nieces. Blanche is shocked to learn Kate’s true feelings. Over Kate’s objections, she devises a plan to move in with a friend and find a home of her own. Once she is settled in her new house, she will send for the girls. Jack intervenes, asking why Kate and Blanche are fighting over something that should have been settled decades ago. He urges them to be honest with one another and then make up. Blanche says she will always love Kate but that for her own self-respect, she needs to move out. 

Analysis 

Act Two of Brighton Beach Memoirs opens a week after the events in Act One, and the family has seen a significant impact resulting from what transpired. First and foremost, Jack has suffered a heart attack which threatens his role as the provider of the family and causes him substantial worry. Since Nora is still around the house, the audience can infer that she was not allowed to audition, thus she will be unable to contribute to the household’s finances. Stanley also brings economic problems because, although he was trying to earn more money, he gambled away an entire week’s salary. Jack’s and Stanley’s circumstances mean the family has no income coming into the house this week. In Act One, Jack specified that even the loss of the $25 he earned from his second job meant the family would not be able to pay their bills. With this information in mind, the audience can’t help but wonder how the family will get through this crisis.

Long-standing bitterness finally emerges in Act Two. Kate and Blanche present themselves as the best of friends, almost co-parenting the four children. Yet, living in such close quarters combined with the shared knowledge that one sister is wholly dependent on the other, has taken a toll on the relationship. Kate’s anxiety over Jack’s health, exacerbated by the impending economic crisis, is more than Kate can bear. When Blanche innocently suggests that Kate could be more charitable about Mr. Murphy’s drinking problem, Kate pounces on the word “charitable” and misconstrues it. While Blanche is using the word to mean being lenient or kind in judging others, Kate decides to take the word more literally: as relating to assisting people in need. At this moment, Kate reacts to her worries and feelings of guilt at putting her own family at risk to help her sister’s family. Though Blanche tries to calm her down, telling Kate, “I never said you weren’t charitable,” Kate has already gone down the path of dredging up old family resentments. As the older, less pretty sister, Kate sacrificed for Blanche. In her mind, Blanche owes her better than criticizing her over a drunk neighbor. Kate feels that Blanche has never expressed the proper appreciation for all she has given her.

The idea of Blanche’s dependence becomes crucial to the relationship between the sisters. Neither Blanche, Kate, nor Jack has ever referred to Blanche as dependent on them, even though she truly is. In this act, however, her dependence on them becomes a value judgment. Blanche sees herself as lesser than her sister and brother-in-law because she must rely on them for most of her needs. She also believes this quality within herself has negatively impacted her daughters. Blanche has inadvertently placed a huge burden on them by living for them, as she tells Kate she did after Dave’s death. Unknowingly, Blanche is handing down this legacy of dependence to Nora, who feels the pressure of having her mother look to her for fulfillment.

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