blanche [shrilly]:
My sister is going to have a baby! mitch:
This is terrible.
blanche:
Lunacy, absolute lunacyi
mitch:
Get him in here, men.
[Stanley is forced, pinioned by the two men, into the bed67
SCENE THREE
room. He nearly throws them off. Then all at once he subsides
and is limp in their grasp.
[They speak quietly and lovingly to him and he leans Jus
face on one of their shoulders.}
stella [in a high, unnatural voice, out of fight}:
I want to go away, I want to go away!
mitch:
Poker shouldn't be played in a house with women.
[Blanche rushes into the bedroom.}
blanche: I
I want my sister's clothes! We'll go to that woman's upstairs 1 j
mitch:
Where is the clothes?
blanche [opening the closet}:
I've got them! [She rushes through to Stella} Stella, Stella, precious! Dear, dear little sister, don't be afraid! [With her arms around Stella, Blanche guides her to the outside
door and upstairs.}
stanley [dully}:
What's the matter; what's happened?
mitch:
You just blew your top, Stan.
pablo:
He's okay, now.
steve:
Sure, my boy's okay!
mitch:
Put him on the bed and get a wet towel.
pablo:
I think coffee would do him a world of good, howstanley
[thickly}:
I want water.
mitch:
Put him under the showeri 1
[The men talk quietly as they lead him to the bathroom.} stanley:
Let the rut go of me, you sons of bitches! |
SCENE THREE
[Sounds of blows are heard. The water goes on full tilt.]
steve:
Let's get quick out of here!
[They rush to the poker table and sweep up their winnings
on their way out.}
mitch [sadly but firmly]:
Poker should not be played in a house with women. [The door closes on them and the place is still. The Negro
entertainers in the bar around the corner play "Paper Doll"
slow and blue. After a moment Stanley comes out of the
bathroom dripping water and still in his clinging wet polka
dot drawers.]
stanley:
Stella! [There Is a pause] My baby doll's left met [He breaks into sobs. Then he goes to the phone and dials,
still shuddering with sobs.]
Eunice? I want my baby. [He waits a moment; then he
hangs up and dials again] Eunice! I'll keep on ringin' until
I talk with my baby!
[An indistinguishable shrill voice is heard. He hurls phone
to floor. Dissonant brass and piano sounds as the rooms dim
out to darkness and the outer walls appear in the night light.
The "blue piano" plays for a brief interval.
[Finally, Stanley stumbles half dressed out to the porch and
down the wooden steps to the pavement before the building.
There he throws back his head like a baying hound and
bellows his wife's name: "Stella! Stella, sweetheart! StellaT']
stanley:
SteQlahhhhh!
eunice [calling down from the door of her upper apartment]:
Quit that howling out there an' go back to bed!
stanley:
I want my baby down here. Stella, Stella!
eunice:
She ain't comin' down so you quit! Or you'll git th' law
on you!
stanley:
Stella!
59
SCENE THREE
eunice:
You can't beat on a woman an' then call 'er back! She won't
come! And her goin' t' have a baby! . . . You stinker! You
whelp of a Polack, you! I hope they do haul you in and
turn the fire hose on you, same as the last time!
stanley [humbly]:
Eunice, I want my girl to come down with me!
eunice:
Hah! [She slams her door.]
stanley [with heaven-splitting violence]:
STELLLAHHHHHl
[The low-tone clarinet moans. The door upstairs opens
again. Stella slips down the rickety stairs in her robe. Her
eyes are glistening with tears and her hair loose about her
throat and shoulders. They stare at each other. Then they
come together with low, animal moans. He falls to his knees
on the steps and presses his face to her belly, curving a little
with maternity. Her eyes go blind with tenderness as she
catches his head and raises him level with her. He snatches
the screen door open and lifts her off her feet and bears her
into the dark flat.
[Blanche comes out on the upper landing in her robe and
slips fearfully down the steps.]
blanche:
Where is my little sister? Stella? Stella? [She stops before the dark entrance of her sister's flat. Then
catches her breath as if struck. She rushes down to the walk
before the house. She looks right and left as if for a sanctuary.
[The music fades away. Mitch appears from around the
corner.]
MrrcH:
Miss DuBois?
blanche:
Oh!
mitch:
All quiet on the Potomac now?
blanche:
She ran downstairs and went back in there with him.
SCENE THREE
MrrcH:
Sure she did.
blanche:
I'm terrified!
mitch:
Ho-ho! There's nothing to be scared of. They're crazy about
blanche:
I'm not used to such�
mitch:
Naw, it's a shame this had to happen when you just got
here. But don't take it serious.
I blanche:
Violence! Is so�
mitch:
Set down on the steps and have a cigarette with me.
blanche:
I'm not properly dressed.
mitch:
That dont make no difference in the Quarter.
blanche:
Such a pretty silver case.
mitch:
I showed you the inscription, didn't I?
blanche:
Yes. [During the pause, she looks up at the sky] There's
so much�so much confusion in the world ... [He coughs
diffidently] Thank you for being so kind! I need kindness
now.
61
SCENE FOUR
It is early the following morning. There is a confusion of
street cries like a choral chant.
Stella is lying down in the bedroom. Her face is serene in
the early morning sunlight. One hand rests on her belly,
rounding slightly with new maternity. From the other
dangles a book of colored comics. Her eyes and lips have
that almost narcotized tranquility that is the faces of
Eastern idols.
The table is sloppy with remains of breakfast and the debris
of the preceding night, and Stanley's gaudy pyjamas lie
across the threshold of the bathroom. The outside door is
slightly ajar on a sky of summer brilliance.
Blanche appears at this door. She has spent a sleepless night
and her appearance entirely contrasts with Stella's. She
presses her knuckles nervously to her lips as she looks
t
hrough the door, before entering.
blanche:
Stella?
stella [stirring lazily}'.
Hmmh?
[Blanche utters a moaning cry and runs into the bedroom,
throwing herself down beside Stella in a rush of hysterical
tenderness.}
blanche:
Baby, my baby sister!
stella [drawing away from her]:
Blanche, what is the matter with you?
[Blanche straightens up slowly wad stands beside the bed
looking down at her sister with knuckles pressed to her
lips.]
blanche:
He's left?
stella:
Stan? Yes.
SCENE FOTTB
blanche:
Will he be back?
stella:
He's gone to get the car greased. Why?
blanche:
Why! I've been half crazy, Stella! When I found out you'd
been insane enough to come back in here after what happened�I started to rush in after you!
stella:
I'm glad you didn't.
blanche:
What were you thinking of? [Stella makes an indefinite
gesture} Answer me! What? What?
stella:
Please, Blanche! Sit down and stop yelling.
blanche:
All right, Stella. I will repeat the question quietly now. How
could you come back in this place last night? Why, you
must have slept with him!
[Stella gets up in a calm and leisurely way.}
stella:
Blanche, I'd forgotten how excitable you are. You're making
much too much fuss about this.
blanche:
Ami?
stella:
Yes, you are, Blanche. I know how it must have seemed to
you and I'm awful sorry it had to happen, but it wasn't
anything as serious as you seem to take it. In the first place,
when men are drinking and playing poker anything can
happen. It's always a powder-keg. He didn't know what he
was doing. ... He was as good as a lamb when I came
back and he's really very, very ashamed of himself.
SlANCHE:
And that�mat makes it all right?
^ella:
No, it isn't all right for anybody to make such a terrible
K: 63
SCENE FOUR
blanche:
Yes, you are, your fix is worse than mine is! Only you're
not being sensible about it. I'm going to do something. Get
hold of myself and make myself a new life!
stella:
Yes?
blanche:
But you've given in. And that isn't right, you're not old!
You can get out
stella [slowly and emphatically}:
I'm not in anything I want to get out of.
blanche [incredulously]:
What�Stella?
stella:
I said I am not in anything that I have a desire to get out of.
Look at the mess in this room! And those empty bottles!
They went through two cases last night! He promised this
morning that he was going to quit having these poker
parties, but you know how long such a promise is going to
keep. Oh, well, it's his pleasure, like mine is movies and
bridge. People have got to tolerate each other's habits, I
guess.
blanche:
I don't understand you. [Stella turns toward her] I don't
understand your indifference. Is this a Chinese philosophy
you've�cultivated?
stella:
blanche:
This�shuffling about and mumbling�"One tube smashed
�beer bottles�mess in the kitchen."�as if nothing out of
the ordinary has happened! [Stella laughs uncertainly and
picking up the broom, twirls it in her hands.]
blanche:
Are you deliberately shaking that thing in my face?
stella:
No.
65
80BNB ffOUB
blanche:
Stop it. Let go of that broom. I wont have you cleaning up
forhimi
stella:
Then who's going to do it? Are you?
blanche:
I? II
Orrvpi � �
No, I didn't think so.
blanche:
Oh, let me think, if only my mind would functioni We*ve
got to get hold of some money, that's the way outi
stella:
I guess that money is always nice to get hold of.
blanche;
Listen to me. I have an idea of some kind. [Shakily she
twists a cigarette into her holder] Do you remember Shep
Hunfleigh? [Stella shakes her head Of course you remember
Shep Huntleigh. I went out with him at college and
wore his pin for a while. Well--
stella.:
Well?
blanche:
I ran into him last winter. You know I went to Miami during
the Christmas holidays?
stella:
No.
blanche:
Well, I did. I took the trip as an investment, thinking Td meet someone with a million dollars.
stella:
Did you?
blanche:
Yes. I ran into Shep Hunfleigh--I ran into him on Biscayne
Boulevard, on Christmas Eve, about dusk ... getting into
his car--Cadillac convertible; must have been a block long!
60
8UBNE FOITB
stella:
I should think it would have been�inconvenient in trafflcl
blanche:
You've heard of oil-wells?
stella:
Yes�remotely.
blanche:
He has them, all over Texas. Texas is literally spouting gold
in his pockets.
stella:
My, my.
blanche:
Vknow how indifferent I am to money. I think of money
in terms of what it does for you. But he could do it, he
could certainly do iti
I stella:
Do what, Blanche?
blanche:
Why�set us up in a�shop!
stella:
What kind of a shop?
blanche:
Oh, a�shop of some kindl He could do it with half what his
; wife throws away at the races.
stella:
He's married?
blanche:
. Honey, would I be here if the man weren't married? [Stella
laughs a little. Blanche suddenly springs up and crosses to
phone. She speaks shrilly} How do I get Western Union?�
Operator! Western Union!
stella:
That's a dial phone, honey.
blanche:
I can't dial, I'm too�
87
r
SCENE FOXTB
stella:
Just dial 0. s .
blanche:
O?
stella:
Yes, "0" for Operator! [Blanche considers a moment; then
she puts the phone down.}
blanche:
Give me a pencil. Where is a slip of paper? I've got to write
it down first--the message, I mean...
[She goes to the dressing table, and grabs up a sheet of Kleenex and an eyebrow pencil for writing equipment.}
Let me see now . . . [She bites the pencit "Darling Shep.
Sister and I in desperate situation." stella:
I beg your pardon!
blanche:
"Sister and I in de
sperate situation. Will explain details later.
Would you be interested in--?" [She bites the pencil again} "Would you be--interested--in .. ." [She smashes the pencil
on the table and springs up} You never get anywhere
with direct appeals!
stella [with a laugh}:
Don't be so ridiculous, darlingi
blanche:
But 111 think of something, I've got to think of--something!
Don't, don't laugh at me, Stella! Please, please don't
--I--I want you to look at the contents of my purse! Here's
what's in it! [She snatches her purse open} Sixty-five measly
cents in coin of the realm!
stella [crossing to bureau}:
Stanley doesn't give me a regular allowance, he likes to pay
bills himself, but--this morning he gave me ten dollars to
smooth things over. You take five of it, Blanche, and I'll
keep the rest
blanche:
Oh, no. No, Stella.
68
T�iL-'
SCENE FOtTB
stella [insisting}:
blanche:
No, thank you--TU take to the streetsl
stella:
Talk sense! How did you happen to get so low on funds?
blanche:
Money just goes--it goes places. [She rubs her forehead! Sometime today I've got to get hold of a bromo!
stella:
I'll fix you one now.
blanche:
| Not yet--I've got to keep thinldngi
stella:
| I wish you'd just let things go, at least for a--while...
j blanche:
Stella, I can't live with himi You can, he's your husband.
But how could I stay here with him, after last night, with
, just those curtains between us?
| stella:
| Blanche, you saw him at his worst last night
blanche:
On the contrary, I saw him at his best! What such a man
has to offer is animal force and he gave a wonderful
' exhibition of that! But the only way to live with such a man
is to--go to bed with himi And that's your job--not minel
stella:
After you've rested a little, youll see it's going to work
out. You don't have to worry about anything while you're
here. I mean--expenses...
blanche:
I have to plan for us both, to get us both--out!
stella:
You take it for granted that I am in something that I want to get out of.
89
'Wai,t/'.
SCENE FOUR
blanche:
I take it for granted that you still have sufficient memory of
Belle Reve to find (his place and these poker players impossible
to live with.
stella:
Well, you're taking entirely too much for granted.
blanche:
I can't believe you're in earnest
stella:
No?
blanche:
I understand how it happened--a little. You saw him in
uniform, an officer, not here but--
stella:
I'm not sure it would have made any difference where I saw
him.
blanche:
Now don't say it was one of those mysterious electric
things between people! If you do I'll laugh in your face.
stella;
I am not going to say anything more at all about it!
blanche:
All right, then, don'tl
stella:
But there are things that happen between a man and a
woman in the dark--that sort of make everything else seem
--unimportant [Pause.]
blanche:
What you are talking about is brutal desire--just--Desire!
--the name of that rattle-trap street-car that bangs through
the Quarter, up one old narrow street and down another
...
stella:
Haven't you ever ridden on that streetcar?
blanche:
It brought me here.--Where I'm not wanted and where I'm
ashamed to be...
TO
SCENE FOTTB
stella:
Then don't you think your superior attitude is a bit out of
place?
blanche:
I am not being or feeling at all superior, Stella. Believe me Tm not! It's just this. This is how I look at it. A man like
that is someone to go out with--once--twice--three times
when the devil is in you. But live with? Have a child by?
stella:
I have told you I love him.
blanche:
Then I tremble for you! I just--tremble for you....
stella:
I can't help your trembling if you insist on trembling!
[There is a pause.]
blanche:
May I--speak--plainly?
stella:
Yes, do. Go ahead. As plainly as you want to.
[Outside, a train approaches. They are silent till the noise
subsides. They are both in the bedroom.
[Under cover of the train's noise Stanley enters from outside.
He stands unseen by the women, holding some packages
in his arms, and overhears their following conversation. He wears an undershirt and grease-stained seersucker
pants.}
blanche:
Well--if youll forgive me--he's common!
stella:
Why, yes, I suppose he is.
blanche:
Suppose! You can't have forgotten that much of our bringing
up, Stella, that you just suppose that any part of a
gentleman's in his nature! Not one particle, rw! Oh, if he
was just--ordinary! Just plain--but good and wholesome,
but--no. There's something downright--bestial--about
him! You're hating me saying this, aren't you?
71
SCENE FOUR
stella [coldly]:
Go on and say it all, Blanche.
blanche:
He acts like an animal, has an animal's habits! Eats like
one, moves like one, talks like one! There's even some- thing--sub-human--something not quite to the stage of
humanity yet! Yes, something--ape-like about him, like
one of those pictures I've seen in--anthropological studies! Thousands and thousands of years have passed him right
by, and there he is--Stanley Kowalsld--survivor of the
stone age! Bearing the raw meat home from the kill in the
jungle! And you--you here--waiting for him! Maybe hell
strike you or maybe grunt and kiss you! That is, if kisses
have been discovered yet! Night falls and the other apes