With close reference to the language, structure and form in scene 10,"close the curtains before you undress any further"..."Stanley goes into the bathroom and closes the door.", explore the ways in which Williams presents the contrasting aspects of Stanley's character and his treatment of Blanche.
Scene ten marks the climactic peak of the play, Williams using two contrasting characteristics of Stanley, builds tension during the ultimate confrontation between Stanley and Blanche, concluding with rape. From the outset of this extract Stanley adopts a façade of friendliness towards Blanche, uncharacteristic of him throughout the play, creating a disquieting atmosphere onstage. However through the use of stage directions Williams produces an ominous undercurrent, indicating Stanley’s caustic and aggressive nature, this remains until he reaches a turning point in the scene where his true cruelty is revealed-, displaying his true self to Blanche and the audience.
The first contrasting aspect of Stanley’s character is his front of affability. Stanley begins the scene acting ‘[amiably]’, sharing a jovial anecdotal story about, ‘a cousin who could open a beer bottle with his teeth’, and making jocular, exclamatory statements such as ‘Ha-Ha! Rain from heaven!’ ,a childish and indulgent action. Stanley engages Blanche, ‘Shall we bury the hatchet and make it a loving cup?’ Williams clearly employs irony here, as in previous scenes Stanley has criticised Blanche’s drinking, often through sarcasm, ‘some people rarely touch it, but it touches them often.’ However here he ‘[extends the bottle towards Blanche]’, clearly acting contrastingly to his normal self, this creates tension and a sense of foreboding within the scene due to the audiences’ understanding of Stanley as aggressive, along with our knowledge of his feelings towards Blanche, that have been built up throughout the play. This is disconcerting to the audience as these actions are incongruous with characteristics of Stanley previously seen. Therefore statements such as, ‘well, it’s a red-letter night for us both’ are revealed to be mocking and sarcastic, as he is aware of her lies about Shep, meanwhile he is expecting the birth of his child, he is consequently aware that he is far more fortunate. Williams employs subtlety within Stanley’s language, ‘This is all I’m going to undress right now’, which is foreboding as ‘right now’, is revealing of Stanley’s malicious motives, although appears initially innocent . Dramatic irony is used as Blanche is unaware of his mal-intent and pretension of kindness. Through the use of stage directions Williams reveals the underlying sexual tension and Stanley’s aggressive nature to the audience. Words such as ‘[pounding]’ and‘[Rips]’ have clear aggressive and sexual connotations, indicative of Stanley’s true and volatile character, these are a like to previously seen, ‘[booming]’ or ‘[slamming]’. These actions, indicated by stage directions, are far more typical of Stanley, noted before at the poker night, ‘[stalks fiercely…snatches…With a shouted oath, he tosses the instrument out if the window.]’ And also at Blanche’s birthday, ‘[He hurls a plate to the floor.]’ These are all clear indicators of Stanley’s explosive physicality that are familiar to the audience. Stanley ‘[goes into the bureau in the bedroom and crouches to remove something from the bottom drawer.]’ This is proleptic of the rape; he is both literally and symbolically invading Blanche’s space, to get out the ‘silk pyjamas I wore on my wedding night!’ The ‘wedding night’ has obvious connotations of consummation and adds to the overall sense of foreboding. In combination with this, the image of the beer bottle, ‘[the cap pops off and a geyser of foam shoots up]’, holds a clear phallic resemblance and it is pre-emptive of the rape due to its connotations of sexual ecstasy. The discrepancy between his words and actions suggests the disingenuousness in his treatment of Blanche at the beginning of the extract.
Blanche uses the eloquent, fantasy monologues to help cope with the uncomfortable tension Stanley has been creating, ‘But then he came back. He returned with a box of roses to beg my forgiveness!’ The use of the exclamation mark shows Blanche’s engagement with the fictional scene she has formed, the audience are unsure if she is delusional or unaware that Stanley knows she is lying, ‘[improvising feverishly]’, suggests the latter, as she is attempting to corroborate her lies . Blanche’s discomfort is illustrated through the use of stage directions, ‘[drawing back]’ and ‘[hands knotted together]’, both conveying her apprehension and Stanley’s domination onstage.
Prior to Stanley’s attack he is lulling Blanche into a false sense of security, indulging her by listening to her fictitious monologues about Shep and Mitch, making inane comments, ‘You did, huh?’, ‘Swine, huh?’ or actively attempting to engage her, ‘This millionaire from Dallas is not going to interfere with your privacy any?’, a lightly veiled euphemism. William’s uses this dramatic irony of Stanley pretending to be unaware of her lies, whilst the audience knows the opposite. This creates a sense of foreboding, as Stanley prepares a mounting attack, like a predatory animal, a fitting emblem for Stanley’s character during the course of the play, ‘[stalks fiercely]’, or ‘[he throws back his head like a baying hound and bellows]’. The tension builds gradually within the scene, until it reaches its apex and releases as Stanley confronts Blanche with the bellicose remark, ‘was this before or after the telegram came from Texas oil millionaire?’.
After the breaking point of Stanley’s false engrossment, a final turning point is reached, ‘As a matter of fact there wasn’t no wire at all!’, this grammatical inaccuracy and the use of the exclamation mark clearly indicate Stanley’s regression into his aggressive self. Williams then employs sticomythia between the pair, consisting of Stanley making sharp accusatory statements, becoming verbally dominant, and Blanche, in shock, meekly responding with exclaiming declarations of, ‘Oh!’, a monosyllabic expression clearly portraying her as submissive. Stanley then begins using long metaphors alike to Blanche’s, ‘and lo and behold the place has turned into Egypt and you’re the Queen of the Nile!’ However, unlike Blanche, Stanley is appalled by the figurative imagery he depicts, ‘Mardi Gras outfit’ and ‘crazy crown’, the consonance of the double ‘c’ creating a harsh sharp sound. The belief that Stanley’s previous actions were being conducted with insincerity is consolidated by the outburst, ‘I’ve been onto you from the start!’, and his open resentment for Blanche’s alcoholism, ‘Sitting on your throne and swilling down my liquor!’ which completely undermines Stanley’s initial goodwill.
Therefore in conclusion Stanley’s initial behaviour during the scene worked to conceal his true intensions and character. His treatment of Blanche at the beginning appears to be amicable; however the opposite is true, as it is in fact a calculated method of lulling her into a false sense of security before ‘pouncing’, typical of Stanley’s antagonistic and aggressive manner. Therefore because these actions are so emblematic of Stanley’s nature the audience may have believed it to be inevitable, however the dramatic nature of the confrontation is the product of building tension and the threat that Stanley presents due to his shift in character. The climax is finally reached when the rape symbolically dictates the outcome of the battle between Blanche and Stanley before the start of the final scene.