Scene 3 Summary The Poker Night lurid nocturnal brilliance the raw colours of childhoods spectrum men at the peak of their physical manhood coarse and direct as primary colours ID: 773739
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Scene 3
Summary
The Poker Night ‘lurid nocturnal brilliance’ ‘the raw colours of childhood’s spectrum’ ‘men at the peak of their physical manhood’ ‘coarse and direct as primary colours’ ‘vivid slices of watermelon on the table, whisky bottles and glasses’ ‘poker should not be played in a house with women’ Why a poker game?
The Poker Night Thomas Hart Benton – ‘The Poker Night’ Does this fit with your idea of the evening?
Stanley He was looking through them drapes. [He jumps up and jerks roughly at curtains to close them.] [ Stanley stalks fiercely through the portieres into the bedroom. He crosses to the small white radio and snatches it off the table. With a shouted oath, he tosses the instrument out the window] ‘Nobody's going to get up, so don't be worried.’ [Stanley charges after Stella] ‘STELLLAHHHHH!’
Blanche [Blanche moves back into the streak of light. She raises her arms and stretches, as she moves indolently back to the chair.] [Stanley stops short at the sight of Blanche in the chair. She returns his look without flinching.] ‘How do I look?’ [She has slipped on the dark red satin wrapper.] ‘I can't stand a naked light bulb, any more than I can a rude remark or a vulgar action.’
MASCULINITY FEMININITY What you think Williams suggests about masculinity and femininity? How does it affect characters’ identities – both in terms of how they see themselves and how they are seen by others? Find quotations that suggest either masculinity or femininity.
Audience Response After the shocking end to Scene Three, how does the audience feel about: Stanley? Blanche? Stella? Other characters?
Audience Response Flip your opinions. Can you: Sympathise with Stanley? Blame Blanche? Criticise Stella? ?
‘Certainly, his women characters are among some of the finest ever portrayed. They are also among the most complex and anti-stereotypical. Blanche is both a villain and a victim, the cause of her husband’s suicide and the suffering widow as a result of it. She seeks her forgiveness and her penance in sexual pursuits that reverse her earlier aversion to sexuality outside of a prescribed code of conduct. She pretends that she wants to save Stella from her cave-age mate, but she appears interested in taking over either Stella’s husband or her life. She unconsciously invites the violence that destroys her, appearing as a masochist who seeks out her matching sadist to precipitate the final violence. ‘ Nancy Tischler, Student Companion to Tenessee Williams What evidence can you find from scene 3 to suggest that Blanche is a complex and contradictory character?Develop your response by exploring WHY Williams might have created such a character…why does she behave this way? Use the critical quotations to get you started.
"And if God choose, I shall but love thee better--after--death!" Why, that's from my favorite sonnet by Mrs. Browning!