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A Streetcar Named Desire Scene 7
Blanche is offstage in the bathroom soaking in a hot tub. Stella is setting the table for her birthday party. Stanley enters the kitchen, upset with the celebration, and tells Stella of the news he has found out about her sister. Stella does not want to hear anything bad, so she continually pushes him away and asks him to be kind to Blanche.
Blanche is singing from the bathroom and can be heard by the two in the kitchen. Stanley tells Stella that Blanche has been lying to both Mitch and them. He has a friend who travels through Laurel all the time and knows exactly the reputation that Blanche has earned. She lived at a second-rate hotel called the Flamingo where she visited with so many men that the management asked her to leave. She showed up in New Orleans just a few weeks later to stay with Stella. Mitch thinks that she has only been kissed by men, but Stanley knows he is mistaken. Stella claims that these facts are all lies while Stanley asserts that they are backed up by many sources.
Topic Tracking: Lies/Honesty 6
Topic Tracking: Opposing Backgrounds 11
Topic Tracking: Sexuality 12
"The trouble with Dame Blanche was that she couldn't put on her act any more in Laurel! They got wised up after two or three dates with her and then they quit, and she goes on to another, the same old line, same old act, same old hooey! But the town was too small for this to go on forever! And as time went by she became a town character. Regarded as not just different but downright loco-nuts." Scene 7, pg. 207
Stella cannot listen to Stanley say such horrible things about her sister. He continues to tell her about the second lie she has been telling people. She did not resign from her teaching position. She was fired because she got mixed up with a seventeen-year-old boy and she was forced to leave town.
Topic Tracking: Lies/Honesty 7
Blanche sticks her head out of the bathroom asking for another towel. Stella gets it for her and Stanley picks an argument. She goes back in the bathroom to finish as Stella reprimands Stanley for talking about those rumors. She tells Stanley about Blanche's young husband who died.
Stella puts candles on the cake, stopping at twenty-five as she always does (she doesn't want too many candles on the cake) and tells Stanley that Mitch is coming over for dinner. Stanley tells her that he told Mitch what he learned about Blanche and he won't be coming over. He also says that he bought her a bus ticket for Tuesday to leave. Stella is furious and asks Stanley what Blanche will do, to which he responds, "Her future is mapped out for her." Scene 7, pg. 210.
Blanche comes out of the bathroom and Stanley storms in. Only Stella and Blanche are left onstage. She realizes something is wrong and asks Stella if everything is ok. Stella says she is fine, but Blanche can tell something is wrong.
