Even the hot tamale man has deserted the street, and he
hangs on till the end. [Mitch laughs uneasily again} How
will you get home?
mitch:
111 walk over to Bourbon and catch an owl-car.
blanche [laughing grimly]:
Is that street-car named Desire still grinding along the
tracks at this hour?
mitch [heavily]:
I'm afraid you haven't gotten much fun out of this evening,
Blanche.
blanche:
I spoiled it for you.
mitch:
No, you didn't, but I felt all the 'time that I wasn't giving
you much--entertainment.
blanche:
I simply couldn't rise to the occasion. That was all. I don't
think I've ever tried so hard to be gay and made such a
dismal mess of it. I get ten points for trying!--I did try.
@5
SCENE SIX
mitch: N^
Why did you try if you didn't feel like it, Blanche? |;^
blanche: ll;^1
I was just obeying the law of nature. |?
mitch: ^V
Which law is that? 1^
blanche;
The one that says the lady must entertain the gentleman
?or no dice! See if you can locate my door-key in this
purse. When I'm so tired my fingers are all thumbs!
much [rooting in her purse]:
This it?
blanche:
No, honey, that's the key to my trunk which I must soon
be packing.
mitch:
You mean you are leaving here soon?
blanche:
I've outstayed my welcome.
mitch:
Thisit?
[The music fades away.}
blanche:
Eureka! Honey, you open the door while I take a last look
at the sky. [She leans on the porch rail. He opens the door
and stands awkwardly behind her.} Fm looking for the
Pleiades, the Seven Sisters, but these girls are not out
tonight. Oh, yes they are, there they are! God bless them!
All in a bunch going home from their little bridge party.
. . . Yget the door open? Good boy! I guess you?
want to go now...
[He shuffles and coughs a little.}
mitch;
Can I?uh?kiss you?goodnight?
blanche:
Why do you always ask me if you may?
mitch:
I don't know whether you want me to or not.
88
SCENE SIX
blanche;
Why should you be so doubtful?
MrrcH:
That night when we parked by the lake and I kissed you,
you--
blanche:
Honey, it wasn't the kiss I objected to. I liked the kiss
very much. It was the other little--familiarity--that I--
felt obliged to--discourage. ... I didn't resent it! Not a
bit in the world! In fact, I was somewhat flattered that
you--desired me! But, honey, you know as well as I do
that a single girl, a girl alone in the world, has got to keep
a firm hold on her emotions or shell be losti
MrrcH [solemnly]:
Lost?
blanche:
I guess you are used to girls that like to be lost The kind
that get lost immediately, on the first date!
MrrcH:
I like you to be exactly the way that you are, because in
all my--experience--I have never known anyone like you. [Blanche looks at him gravely; then she bursts into laughter
and then claps a hand to her mouth.}
mttch:
Are you laughing at me?
blanche:
No, honey. The lord and lady of the house have not yet
returned, so come in. We'll have a night-cap. Let's leave
the lights off. Shall we?
MrrcH:
You just--do what you want to.
[Blanche precedes him into the kitchen. The outer wall
of the building disappears aid the interiors of the two
rooms can be dimly seen.]
blanche [remaining in the first room]:
The other room's more comfortable--go on in. This crashing
around in the dark is my search for some liquor.
MrrcH:
You want a drink?
87
jp??il . ?ife.. ^ iatt ...
SCENE SIX
blanche:
I want you to have a drink! You have been so anxious and
solemn all evening, and so have I; we have both been
anxious and solemn and now for these few last remaining
moments of our lives together--I want to create-- joie de vtvrel I'm lighting a candle.
MrrcH:
That's good.
blanche:
We are going to be very Bohemian. We are going to
pretend that we are sitting in a little artists' cafe on the Left
Bank in Paris! [She lights a candle stub and puts it in a
bottle.] Je suis la Dame aux CameltiasI Vous etes--
Armand! Understand French?
mttch [heavily]: i
Naw.Naw.I--
blanche:
Voutez-vous coucher ovec moi ce soir? Vous ne comprenez
pas? Ah, auelle dommage!--I mean it's a damned
good thing. . . . I've found some liquor Just enough for
two shots without any dividends, honey...
mitch [heavily]:
Thafs--good.
[She enters the bedroom with the drinks and the candle^ blanche:
Sit downl Why dont you take off your coat and loosen
your collar?
mitch:
I better leave it on.
blanche:
No. I want you to be comfortable.
mttch:
I am ashamed of the way I perspire. My shirt is sticking to
me
blanche:
Perspiration is healthy. If people didn't perspire they would
die in five minutes. [She takes his coat from him] This is a
nice coat What kind of material is it?
SCENE SIX
mitch:
They call that stuff alpaca. blanche:
Oh. Alpaca. MrrcH:
It's very light weight alpaca.
blanche:
Oh. Light weight alpaca. MrrcH:
I don't like to wear a wash-coat even in summer because
I sweat through it. blanche:
Oh. mitch:
And it don't look neat on me. A man with a heavy build
has got to be careful of what he puts on him so he don't
look too clumsy.
blanche:
You are not too heavy.
mitch:
You don't think I am?
blanche:
You are not the delicate type. You have a massive bone- structure and a very imposing physique.
mitch:
Thank you. Last Christmas I was given a membership
to the New Orleans Athletic Club.
blanche:
Oh, good.
mitch:
It was the finest present I ever was given. I work out there
with the weights and I swim and keep myself fit. When
I started there, I was getting soft in the belly but now my
belly is hard. It is so hard now that a man can punch me
in the belly and it don't hurt me. Punch me! Go on! See?
[She pokes lightly at him.]
blanche:
Gracious. [Her hand touches her chest.]
89
SCENE SIX
mitch:
Guess how much I weigh, Blanche?
blanchb:
br /> Oh, I'd say in the vicinity of--one hundred and eighty?
mitch:
Guess again.
.^a- ?,
a?1
blanche: .. , ... k,....?,.. wy
Not that much? .
-', >;1- ."^^^ys^il.t.sg^t.: -
MITCH', No.
More.
blanche:
Well, you're a tall man and you can carry a good deal of
weight without looking awkward. mitch:
I weigh two hundred and seven pounds and I'm six feet
one and one-half inches tall in my bare feet--without
shoes on. And that is what I weigh stripped. blanche:
Oh, my goodness, me! It's awe-inspiring.
mitch [embarrassed]:
My weight is not a very interesting subject to talk about
[He hesitates for a moment] What's yours?
blanche:
My weight?
mitch:
Yes. blanche:
Guessi
mitch:
Let me lift you. blanche:
Samson! Go on, lift me. [He comes behind her and puts
his hands on her waist and raises her lightly off the ground]
Well?
mitch:
You are light as a feather.
blanche:
Ha-ha! [He lowers her but keeps his hands on her waist.
90
SOBiNB SIX
Blanche speaks with an affectation of demweness] You
may release me now.
mitch:
Huh?
blanche g(dly:
I said unhand me, sir. [Be fumblingly embraces her. Her voice sounds gently reproving] Now, Mitch. Just because
Stanley and Stella aren't at home is no reason why you
shouldn't behave like a gentleman.
mitch:
Just give me a slap whenever I step out of bounds.
blanche:
That won't be necessary. You're a natural gentleman, one
of the very few that are left in the world. I don't want you
to think that I am severe and old maid schoolteacherish
or anything like that. It's just--well--
mttch:
Huh?
blanche:
I guess it is just that I have--old-fashioned ideals! [She
rolls her eyes, knowing he cannot see her face. Mitch goes to the front door. There is a considerable silence
between them. Blanche sighs and Mitch coughs selfconsciously.]
mitch [finally]:
Where's Stanley and Stella tonight?
blanche:
They have gone out With Mr. and Mrs. Hubbell upstairs.
mitch:
Where did they go?
blanche:
I think they were planning to go to a midnight prevue at
Loew'a State.
mitch:
We should all go out together some night
blanche:
No. That wouldn't be a good plan. mitch:
Why not?
M.
SCENE SIX
blanche:
You are an old friend of Stanley's?
mitch:
We was together in the Two-forty-first, yf: ^y^SI
blanche:
I guess he talks to you frankly? ?tei.^^j&N^''"
MrrcH- ?? ^-.."X^Nl^l^'Sure" sa-.-xteis?-
blanche: 1
Has he talked to you about me? i ^ ^ 3^
mitch: ?
Oh?not very much.
blanche:
The way you say that, I suspect that he has.
mitch: I"
No, he hasn't said much.
blanche:
But what he has said. What would you say his attitude
toward me was?
mitch: ;
Why do you want to ask that?
blanche:
Well?
mitch:
'?.'A^ri', ^-.?.:.'-^t.tt..?ti'?. ?
Don't you get along with him?
blanche:
What do you think?
mitch:
I don't think he understands you.
blanche:
That is putting it mildly. If it weren't for Stella about to
have a baby, I wouldn't be able to endure things here.
mitch:
He isn't?nice to you?
blanche:
He is insufferably rude. Goes out of his way to offend me.
mitch:
In what way, Blanche?
92
SCENE SIX
blanche:
Why, in every conceivable way.
mitch:
I'm surprised to hear that.
blanche:
Are you?
mitch:
Well, I--don't see how anybody could be rude to you.
blanche:
It's really a pretty frightful situation. You see, there's no
privacy here. There's just these portieres between the two
rooms at night. He stalks through the rooms in his underwear
at night. And I have to ask him to close the bathroom
door. That sort of commonness isn't necessary. You
probably wonder why I don't move out. Well, I'll tell you
frankly. A teacher's salary is barely sufficient for her livingexpenses.
I didn't save a penny last year and so I had to
come here for the summer. That's why I have to put up
with my sister's husband. And he has to put up with me,
apparently so much against his wishes. . . . Surely he
must have told you how much he hates me!
mitch:
I don't think he hates you.
blanche:
He hates me. Or why would he insult me? The first time
I laid eyes on him I thought to myself, that man is my
executioner! That man will destroy me, unless--
mitch:
Blanche--
blanche:
Yes, honey?
mitch:
Can I ask you a question?
blanche:
Yes. What?
mitch:
How old are you? [She makes a nervous gesture.]
OS
SCENE SIX
blanche:
Why do you want to know?
mxtch:
I talked to my mother about you and she said, "How old
is Blanche?" And I wasn't able to tell her. [There is another
pause.]
blanche:
You talked to your mother about me?
mxtch:
Yes.
blanche:
Why?
mitch:
I told my mother how nice you were, and I liked you.
blanche:
Were you sincere about that?
mitch:
You know I was.
blanche:
Why did your mother want to know my age?
mitch:
Mother is sick.
blanche:
I'm sorry to hear it. Badly?
mitch:
She won't live long. Maybe just a few months.
blanche:
Oh.
mitch:
She worries because I'm not settled.
blanche:
Oh.
mitch:
She wants me to be settled down before she?[His voice
is hoarse and he clears his throat twice, shuffling nervously
wound with his hands in and out of his pockets.}
blanche: ^
You love her very much, dont you? s^4
____ ^.^.
?4
SCENE 8IX
mitch:
Yes.
blanche:
I think you have a great capacity for devotion. You will
be lonely when she passes on, won't you? [Mitch clears his
throat and nods.] 1 understand wh
at that is.
mitch:
To be lonely?
blanche:
I loved someone, too, and the person I loved I lost
mitch:
Dead? [She crosses to the window and sits on the sill, looking
out. She pours herself another drink.] A man?
blanche:
He was a boy, just a boy, when I was a very young girl.
When I was sixteen, I made the discovery--love. All at
once and much, much too completely. It was like you suddenly
turned a blinding light on something that had always
been half in shadow, that's how it struck the world for me.
But I was unlucky. Deluded. There was something different
about the boy, a nervousness, a softness and tenderness
which wasn't like a man's, although he wasn't the least
bit effeminate looking--still--that thing was there. ...
He came to me for help. I didn't know that. I didn't find
out anything till after our marriage when we'd run away and
come back and all I knew was I'd failed him in some mysterious
way and wasn't able to give the help he needed but
couldn't speak of! He was in the quicksands and clutching
at me--but I wasn't holding him out, I was slipping in with
him! I didn't know that. I didn't know anything except I
loved him unendurably but without being able to help him
or help myself. Then I found out. In the worst of all possible
ways. By coming suddenly into a room that I thought
was empty--which wasn't empty, but had two people in it
... the boy I had married and an older man who had been
his friend for years....
[A locomotive Is heard approaching outside. She claps her
hands to her ears and crouches over. The headlight of the
locomotive glares into the room as it thunders past. As the
noise recedes she straightens slowly and continues speaking.]
95
SCENE SIX
Afterwards we pretended that nothing had been discovered.
Yes, the three of us drove out to Moon Lake Casino, very
drunk and laughing all the way.
[Polka music sounds. In a minor key faint with distance.]
We danced the Varsouviana! Suddenly in the middle of the
dance the boy I had married broke away from me and ran
out of the casino. A few moments later--a shot!
[The polka stop abruptly.}
[Blanche rises stiffly. Then, the polka resumes in a major
key.]
I ran out--all did!--all ran and gathered about the terrible
thing at the edge of the lake! I couldn't get near for the
crowding. Then somebody caught my arm. "Don't go any
closer! Come back! You don't want to see!" See? See what!
Then I heard voices say--Allan! Allan! The Grey boy!
He'd stuck the revolver into his mouth, and fired--so that
the back of his head had been--blown away!
[She sways and covers her face.]
It was because--on the dance-floor--unable to stop myself--I'd
suddenly said--"I saw! I know! You disgust me
..." And then the searchlight which had been turned
on the world was turned off again and never for one moment
since has there been any light that's stronger than
this--kitchen--candle...
[Mitch gets up awkwardly and moves toward her a little.
The polka music increases. Mitch stands beside her.]
mitch [drawimg her slowly into his arms]:
You need somebody. And I need somebody, too. Could it
be--you and me, Blanche?
[She stares at him vacantly for a moment. Then with a soft
cry huddles in his embrace. She makes a sobbing effort to
speak but the words won't come. He kisses her forehead and
her eyes and finally her lips. The polka tune fades out. Her
breath is drawn and released in long, grateful sobs.]
blanche:
Sometimes--there's God--so quickly!
96
SCENE SEVEN
It is late afternoon in mid-September.
The portieres are open and a table is set for a birthday
supper, with cake and flowers.
Stella is completing the decorations as Stanley comes in.
stanley:
What's all this stuff for?
stella:
Honey, it's Blanche's birthday.
stanley:
She here?
stella:
In the bathroom.
stanley [mimicking]:
"Washing out some things"?
stella:
I reckon so.
stanley:
How long she been in there?
stella:
All afternoon.
stanley [mimicking]:
"Soaking in a hot tub"?
stella:
Yes.
stanley:
Temperature 100 on the nose, and she soaks herself in a
hot tub.
stella:
She says it cools her off for the evening.
stanley:
And you run out an' get her cokes, I suppose? And serve
'em to Her Majesty in the tub? [Stella shrugs] Set down here
a minute.
stella:
Stanley, I've got things to do.
| w
SOEiNB SEVEN
stanley:
Set down! I've got th' dope on your big sister, Stella.
stella:
Stanley, stop picking on Blanche. I stanley:
That girl calls we commoni
I stella:
Lately you been doing all you can flunk of to rub her the
wrong way, Stanley, and Blanche is sensitive and you've . got to realize that Blanche and I grew up under very differ1
ent circumstances than you did,
stanley:
So I been told. And told and told and told! You know she's
been feeding us a pack of lies here?
; stella:
No, I don't, and--
| stanley:
i Well, she has, however. But now the cafs out of the bag! I I found out some things!
J I stella:
| What--things?
J ' stanley:
| Things I already suspected. But now I got proof from the
S most reliable sources--which I have checked onl
i [Blanche is singin-g in the bathroom a saccharine popular ; ballad which is used contrapuntally with Stanley's speech.}
, stella [to Stanley]:
Lower your voicel
stanley:
Some canary-bird, huhl
stella:
Now please tell me quietly what you think you've found
out about my sister.
stanley:
Lie Number One; All this squeamishness she puts on!
You should just know the line she's been feeding to Mitch- He thought she faad never been more than kissed by a