Summary
Stella is decorating her apartment on an afternoon in
mid--September. Stanley comes in, and Stella explains to him that
it is Blanche’s birthday. Blanche is in the bathroom, taking yet
another hot bath to calm her nerves. Stanley makes fun of Blanche’s
habit of taking baths, but Stella admonishes him. She points out
that she and Blanche grew up differently than he did, but he says
he won’t stand for that excuse any longer. He tells Stella
to sit down and listen—he has dirt on Blanche. Blanche’s unconcerned
voice issues from the bathroom as she sings the sugary popular ballad
“It’s Only a Paper Moon.”
Stanley has learned the shady details of Blanche’s past
from Shaw, a supply man he works with who regularly travels to Blanche and
Stella’s hometown of Laurel, Mississippi. Gleefully, Stanley recounts
how Blanche earned a notorious reputation after taking up residence
at the seedy Flamingo Hotel. The hotel asked her to leave, presumably
for immoral behavior unacceptable even by the standards of that
establishment. She came to be regarded as crazy person by the townspeople,
and her home was declared off-limits to soldiers at a nearby base.
She was not given a leave of absence by her school—she was kicked
out after a father reported his discovery that Blanche was having
a relationship with a seventeen-year-old boy. Stanley surmises
that Blanche, having lost her reputation, her place of residence,
and her job, had no choice but to wash up in New Orleans. He is
certain that she has no intention of returning to Laurel.
Stanley’s stories don’t fully convince Stella. She admits
that Blanche has her problems, but explains them as the result of Blanche’s
tragic young marriage to a homosexual man. Stanley asks Stella how
many candles she’s putting in Blanche’s cake, and Stella says she’ll
“stop at twenty-five.” She says that Mitch has been invited, but
Stanley abashedly says not to expect Mitch to show up. Stanley says
it was his duty to reveal the truth about Blanche to his army friend
and bowling teammate. He has told Mitch the bad news about Blanche,
and there’s no way Mitch will marry her now. Stella is horrified
because both she and Blanche had been convinced Mitch and Blanche
would marry.
Stanley tells Stella that he has bought Blanche
a birthday present: a one-way bus ticket back to Laurel. He yells
at Blanche to get out of the bathroom. When at last Blanche emerges,
she is in high spirits, until she sees Stanley’s face as he passes
by. He goes into the bathroom and slams the door. Blanche senses
from Stella’s dazed responses to her chatter that something is wrong.
She asks Stella what has happened, but Stella feebly lies and says
that nothing has happened.
Analysis
It is difficult to assess whether Stanley or Blanche herself
is more to blame for Blanche’s ruin, which is sealed by the end
of Scene Seven. To some extent, Blanche brought her fate upon herself
by leading a promiscuous and almost deranged life, in spite of the
genteel morality to which she pays lip service. But Blanche’s desire
and her hypocrisy do not absolve Stanley of his vindictive pursuit
of Blanche’s vulnerabilities. Stanley is shortsighted and unsympathetic,
as we can see in his inability to understand why the story of Allan
Grey, Blanche’s lost husband, moves Stella so deeply. To Stanley,
the fact that Blanche’s husband committed suicide renders her a
weak rather than sympathetic person.
Stanley’s behavior toward Blanche seems even crueler
once he reveals that Blanche is not just flighty and sensitive but
also mentally unsound. In addition to proving Blanche’s hypocrisy,
the stories Stanley tells Stella about Blanche introduce
the first outright -reference to Blanche’s mental state. Describing
what he’s heard from Shaw, Stanley declares that in Laurel Blanche
is seen as a crazy woman.
