Desire Under the Elms Writing about Desire Under the Elms in 1926, Barrett H.

Clark recognized the pow er and paradox of O'Neill's drama: "When I left the theatre I knew I had never b een more profoundly moved by any other play. Desire purges the soul, sears, tort ures and twists it, only to exalt it in the end. O'Neill has built a shining edi fice, an epic drama of the workers of the soil, with ingredients as ugly and as beautiful as can be found in our contemporary civilization." O'Neill first made a name for himself as a playwright in 1916 with the Provincet own Players, a collection of bohemian artists committed to new work. Rejecting t he tawdry melodrama epitomized by his father James O'Neill's histrionics in The Count of Monte Cristo, O'Neill welcomed the opportunity to experiment with style and subject in a nurturing environment. Over the next five years, the Players p roduced a number of his one-act plays including Bound East for Cardiff, Thirst a nd Moon of the Caribbees. With the full-length, critically-hailed Beyond the Hor izon (1920), O'Neill earned the first of four Pulitzer Prizes and emerged as the most promising American playwright. O'Neill charged into the 1920s with the creative gusto that led to Desire Under the Elms. A string of full-length plays including Anna Christie, which won his s econd Pulitzer, The Hairy Ape, The Emperor Jones, Welded and All God's Chillun G ot Wings solidified his reputation as the most promising American playwright. A voracious reader, O'Neill devoured Nietzsche, Freud and Jung. He studied the tra gedies of Aeschylus and Sophocles with an eye to reviving Greek myths for a cont emporary audience. Above all, O'Neill revered August Strindberg for his honesty in exploring the brutality of love. When the Provincetown Players staged The Spo ok Sonata in 1924, O'Neill contributed a rare program note: "Strindberg still re mains among the most modern of moderns, the greatest interpreter in the theatre of the characteristic spiritual conflicts which constitute the drama - the blood - of our lives today. ... Truth, in the theatre as in life, is eternally diffic ult, just as the easy is the everlasting lie." The seeds of Desire Under the Elms began to take root in the fall of 1923. An en try from O'Neill's work diary detailed his concept: "Play of New England - locat e on farm in 1850, time of California gold rush - make N.E. farmhouse and elm tr ees almost characters in play - elms overhanging house - father, hard iron type, killed off wives (2) with work, (3) sons - all hate him - his possessive pride in farm - loves earth to be as hard - in old age in a moment of unusual weakness & longing marries young woman, brings her back to farm, her arrival brings on d rama, youngest son falls for her." In conversations with friends, O'Neill mentioned an idea for a New England play about a Scripture-quoting farmer and his volatile son. His interest in behaviora l psychology led him to Twelve Essays on Sex and Psychoanalysis by William Steke l, where he read the case history of a seducing stepmother. Finally, the onslaug ht of tragedy in his own life compelled O'Neill to draft his ground-breaking por trayal of a family destroyed by desire. Within three years, his father, mother, and older brother Jamie died. According to scholars Louis Sheaffer and Travis Bogard, O'Neill's writing, alrea dy shifting towards realism, grew more autobiographical in response to personal losses. The Puritanical New England of Desire Under the Elms recalled his childh ood home in New London, Connecticut; the near-incestuous affair between Eben and Abbie alluded to Jamie's obsessive adoration of their mother; and the anger tow ards a stingy patriarch mirrored O'Neill's resentment of his own father. The pla ywright camouflaged the fierce desire of the O'Neill men to monopolize Ella's ma ternal affections in a historical narrative of Puritan lust and greed. Lionel Trilling acknowledged the power of O'Neill's play in an article for The N ew Republic: "We do not read Sophocles or Aeschylus for the right answer; we rea d them for the force with which they represent life and attack its moral complex ity. In O'Neill ... this force is inescap-able." In O'Neill's words, Desire Unde r the Elms was "a tragedy of the possessive - the pitiful longing of man to buil d his own heaven here on earth by glutting his sense of power with ownership of land, people, money - but principally the land and other people's lives." Becaus

e Desire Under the Elms probed forbidden desires critics blasted the play for it s bleak depiction of humanity, labeling it, "a tale of almost unrelieved sordidn ess," full of "hideous characters." Fred Niblo of The New York Morning Telegraph grumbled that, "the play itself will be hailed as realistic. No one will call i t entertainment, but at the slightest suggestion of its foulness, many will rise to exclaim: 'But that's life - that's real!' Sure. So is a sewer." Not all reviewers were nauseated. Stark Young of The New York Times wrote that t he "poetry, terror and ... unflinching realism rise above anything that O'Neill has written." In The Nation Joseph Wood Krutch said that seeing the play was "an experience of extraordinary intensity." When Desire Under the Elms moved to Broadway on January 12, 1925, the scandal su rrounding O'Neill's play of adultery reached fevered pitch. In February, O'Neill 's literary agent informed him that New York City District Attorney Joab H. Bant on, having failed to suppress All God's Chillun Got Wings the previous year, lab eled the new play obscene and threatened to halt its production. The critic and producer Kenneth MacGowan, long-time friend and collaborator of O'Neill's, sugge sted that the decision be left to a "citizens' play-jury," and Banton reluctantl y agreed. Desire Under the Elms was acquitted, but the notoriety attracted playg oers, intrigued by the allegedly lurid nature of the production. O'Neill, though pleased with the play's success, lamented the reason: "It attracts the low-mind ed, looking for smut, and they are highly disappointed or else laugh wherever th ey imagine double-meanings. We got a large audience but the wrong kind of people ." Attacked in New York, banned in Boston and England, and the cast arrested in Los Angeles, Desire Under the Elms provoked outrage from critics and spectators. To o often the play's notoriety overshadowed its importance as a milestone of moder n drama. This simple family tragedy propelled O'Neill into the mature phase of h is career. Born of deep anguish, Desire Under the Elms reveals, in O'Neill's own words, "the poetical vision illuminating even the most sordid and mean blind al leys of life." Desire Under the Elms, tragedy in three parts by Eugene O'Neill, produced in 1924 and published in 1925 . The last of O'Neill's naturalistic plays and the first in which he re-created the starkness of Greek tragedy, Desire Under the Elms draws from Euripides' Hipp olytus and Jean Racine's Phdre, both of which feature a father returning home wit h a new wife who falls in love with her stepson. In this play Ephraim Cabot abandons his farm and his three sons, who hate him. T he youngest son, Eben, resents his father for destroying his mother's life; he b uys out his brothers, who head off to California. Shortly after this, Ephraim re turns with his young new wife, Abbie. Abbie becomes pregnant by Eben; she lets E phraim believe that the child is his, thinking the child will secure her hold on the farm, but she later kills the infant when she sees it as an obstacle betwee n herself and Eben. Eben, enraged, turns Abbie over to the sheriff, but not befo re he realizes his love for her and confesses his complicity. One of O'Neill's most admired works, Desire Under the Elms invokes the playwrigh t's own family conflicts and Freudian treatment of sexual themes. According to O 'Neill's stage directions, the elms of the title are supposed to dominate the se t with "a sinister maternity." Although the play is now considered a classic of 20th-century American drama, it scandalized some early audiences for its treatme nt of infanticide, alcoholism, vengeance, and incest; the first Los Angeles cast was arrested for performing an obscene work. Paper Summary: The paper begins by looking at the characters who are similar to the Greek chara cters, but have differences as well. According to the writer, the plot differs f rom the Greek myth, but captures many of the same archetypal premises set forth by the story of Hippolytus and Phaedra.

From the Paper: "O'Neill's play is set in rural New England during the 1850's. The main characte rs are Ephraim Cabot, his son Eben Cabot, and his two brothers Simeon and Peter. The Cabots work a farm and Simeon and Peter grow wary of laboring through the s tone-plodded fields of New England. Eben, the youngest of the three has vowed to himself that he will one day take back the land that once belonged to his mothe r, who is dead. Eben believes that his father intently overworked his mother, cr eating her death so he could have say so over who will be heir to the farm. When Ephraim goes out of town for a spell, Eben offers Simeon and Peter three hundre d dollars a piece to leave town. The elder brothers decide to take the money and run to California to work in the gold mines. Half of Eben's equation is solved, but Ephraim returns home married for the third time to a lady named Abbie." We seem to be living in the midst of a full-fledged resurgence of interest in th e plays of Eugene O'Neill. After seeing a few of these (to quote the press relea ses) "rarely performed" works, it is not hard to understand why. While O'Neill's tragedies require that we muster all of our strength just to watch them, they a ddress questions that have lost none of their resonance. More importantly perhap s, they do so in a language, and with a force, that has rarely -- if ever -- bee n matched. O'Neill set Desire Under the Elms on a Connecticut farm in the middle of the 19t h Century. It was thus "history" in 1924 when he wrote it. He has been dead long enough now that the temptation to re-interpret his scrupulously detailed play h as become overwhelming. This production, by the Peccadillo Theater Company, bold ly adds a new twist for its audience to ponder. As usual with O'Neill, Desire centers on a family, here the Cabot Family. We fir st meet the three sons of Ephraim Cabot: Simeon (Evans Johnson) and Peter (Rober t G. Siverls), from his first marriage, and Eben (Carl Jay Cofield), from his se cond. All three live and work on the farm. The three things the sons have in com mon are a resentment of their father, a hunger to own his farm (a condition that seems contagious in these parts) and the fact they are portrayed in this produc tion by African American actors. This is not color-blind casting: the racial overlay on O'Neill's white-as-picket -fences Connecticut setting is quite intentional. The opening scenes are a delic ious portrayal of the boys' life without father. Performed ably, and to great co mic effect, it is immediately apparent, particularly in the elder sons, that the voices we are hearing are not those of O'Neill's New England farm boys. When, a fter a lengthy, unannounced absence, Ephraim (George Bartenieff) returns with a new bride less than half his age, Abbie (Devora Millman), both perfectly cast to O'Neill's original (that is to say white New England farmer) specifications, th e thrust of the intended racial confrontation becomes manifest. We will return t o this topic later. As father and new wife arrive, Simeon and Peter depart to seek gold in Californi a. Simeon and Peter have given their "rights" to the farm to Eben, in exchange f or the money they need to head West. A new contestant (Abbie) of course has now appeared to compete with Eben for "his" farm. The competition takes a sharp turn when Abbie seduces Eben, and they seemingly f all in love. Freud pays a theoretical visit when we learn Eben also views his re lationship with Abbie as his mother's revenge against his father. Sticky questio ns of love, hate, revenge, greed and trust abound. When Abbie tells Ephraim she wants to have a baby, she neglects to mention, and septagenarian Ephraim neglect s to notice, what seems obvious to everyone else: it is Eben's child. With the c hild, new complications ensue for the Cabots, with gruesome, tragic consequences .

O'Neill fashions his plot with enormous detail and overwhelming emotional intens ity. Characters are developed first in relation to very elemental things (like s ky, stones and land), and then in terms of structures (things like barns, fences , walls and, of course, elm trees). Values are understood through these symbols. Ephraim, Abbie and Eben Cabot are not people possessed of a care-free existence . Ephraim is a hard man, and hardness to him is a virtue. This production, which is to be applauded for bringing this classic to the stage , unfortunately misses this point. Bent on lightening the load for the audience, Director Dan Wackerman hollows the temperament of the characters. When Ephraim Cabot says he likes to sleep in the barn so he can take lessons on life from the cows, that's not the punch line of a joke. He's serious, and needs to be taken that way. When Eben spews hate at his father, this is no immature frustration; h is anger is deep. The problem here is not the acting. All three participants in the "love triangle " -- Bartenieff (celebrating his 50th year as an actor), Cofield and Millman are splendid actors who offer painstakingly studied performances. They would have b een perfect in a family that carries around lesser burdens. But Desire should no t be an easy pill to swallow. The question of the race-based casting also needs to be addressed. The first que stion is, does this play need a "new" issue? O'Neill presents us with complex ps ychological issues, and an opportunity to examine in detail the motivations for incest and infanticide -- which are still very topical. Addressing race, althoug h commendable, of necessity distracts from these intended subjects. Wackerman in troduces an additional African American woman (Sarallen), called Silent Woman in the playbill. She actually speaks lots, but only with her eyes and body and is extraordinarily effective, no matter what one concludes about the wisdom of addi ng her character. When one of the townfolk rubs coal dust on his face to mock Eb en, Silent Woman, showing the sadness and alienation she feels, wanders away in her silence, unearthing a myriad of race-related considerations. There is a second, more important, question: is the import of the race issue rea lized? In a play which so carefully develops the underlying motivations and valu es that fuel the tragedy, the exposition on race relations seems skeletal and su perficial. Perhaps in a less finely orchestrated play, this would not be as noti ceable. Here, it is never integrated into the fabric of the work, and thus seems unrefined All of the criticism of the treatment to the contrary, this Desire does not unde rmine the fact that it is a satisfying, well-acted production of a masterpiece a lways well worth seeing..The sets, by Dennis Eisenberg, are well-thought out and exploit every inch of the small theater. The audience enters through the gate t o the farm, and walks over straw to reach its seats. (In this age of hyper-conce rn for potential liability for perils to which audiences are exposed, a sign war ning of the dangers of walking on straw is duly posted at the theater entrance.) The sky and stone walls which are such important features of the Cabot farm are beautifully rendered. The other production values are quite impressive as well, especiallygiven the small size of this production. Editor's Note: If this review has whetted your interest in O'Neill, you might wa nt to check out the autobiography of the actress considered one of the finest in terpreters of his female characters, Colleen Dewhurst. (our review of that book) --and another O'Neill review posted by Les less than a week after this one--Ah W ilderness.

Desire Under the Elms" is one of Eugene O'Neill's best drama works. A story of t he love and lust triangle that is ignited between a family patriarch, his much y ounger new wife and his rebellious younger son. "Elms" unfolds like a horrible h ighway collision. There is sex and death and betrayal leading to one of the most disturbing finishes in the entire American theater repertoire. The show has lost none of its power since it was first produced in 1924. It rema ins a harrowing story of how basic human needs and desires can unleach astonishi ng destruction and almost unimaginable conduct. Produced by the American Century Theater. Directed by William Aitkin. With Susan Marie Rhea, Parker Dixon, Kevin Adams, John Geoffrion and Colin Smith. Wednesday-Saturday evenings at 8 PM, selected Saturday-Sunday matinees at 2:30 P M. Call Box Office at 703-553-8782 for information or visit homepage A LONG DAY... Summary The action covers a fateful, heart-wrenching day (from around 8.30 in the mornin g to 12.00 midnight) in August of 1912 at the seaside Connecticut home of the Ty rones - the autobiographical representations of O'Neill himself, his older broth er, and their parents. [edit] Characters * James Tyrone Sr. - An Irish-born retired actor who made a career playing one p articular role in a commercially successful but artistically unfulfilling play. He has a strong work ethic and is very frugal - almost stingy - due to his fathe r abandoning him at age 10. * Edmund - The younger and more intellectually and poetically inclined son, who finds out in the play that he suffers from tuberculosis. He has returned home af ter a stint as a sailor and prolonged drunken binges, and is dependent once agai n on his father for a home and money. * James Jr. ("Jamie") - The older son who is an affable alcoholic and also an ac tor, employed by his father's production company because no one else will hire h im. He's an alcoholic, wasting his money on whiskey and whores. * Mary Cavan Tyrone - The wife and mother of the family who lapses between selfdelusion and the haze of her morphine addiction. [See "Morphine Addiction" below ] * Cathleen - She is the summer maid, often referred to as stupid and lazy. She a ccompanies Mary into town. [edit] Key topics [edit] Mary Tyrone's morphine addiction This is the result of the shoddy ministrations of a quack doctor during her diff icult labor and delivery of Edmund twenty-three years prior. Tyrone is often bla med for this as his stinginess is cited as a reason he didn't pay for a better d octor. Mary is treated in a sanatorium for this condition. Even after being rele ased from the institution, Mary is still addicted to morphine, but is unable to accept her addiction. [edit] Repetition The day described in this play is very routine and repetitious. Act I scene i oc curs right after breakfast, Act II scene i occurs before lunch and Act II scene ii occurs right after lunch. Act III occurs before dinner. Throughout the day, d rinking is heavy and is perhaps the basis of the cycle of arguments which occur. Their arguments deal with the sickness of Edmund and the addiction of Mary, as well as the lack of commercial success experienced by Edmund and Jamie in compar ison with their father. The arguments also deal with Mary's accusation that Tyro

ne does not provide a "real" home for her. [edit] Alcohol The male characters drink throughout the play. This provides them with a way to escape from the realities of the home. Mary does not drink, but also escapes fro m the home, through her use of morphine. [edit] History of the play Upon its completion in 1942, O'Neill had a sealed copy of the play placed in the document vault of publisher Random House, and instructed that it not be publish ed until 25 years after his death, and never performed. A formal contract to tha t effect was drawn up in 1945. However, O'Neill's third wife Carlotta Monterey t ransferred the rights of the play to Yale University, skirting the agreement. Th e copyright page of Yale editions of the play states the conditions of Carlotta' s gift: All royalties from the sale of the Yale editions of this book go to Yale Univers ity for the benefit of the Eugene O'Neill Collection, for the purchase of books in the field of drama, and for the establishment of Eugene O'Neill Scholarships in the Yale School of Drama. The play was first published in 1956, three years after its author's death. O'Neill presented the manuscript of the play to his wife Carlotta on their twelf th wedding anniversary in 1941, with a dedication that read: For Carlotta, on our 12th Wedding Anniversary Dearest: "I give you the original script of this play of old sorrow, written in tears and blood. A sadly inappropriate gift, it would seem, for a day celebratin g happiness. But you will understand. I mean it as a tribute to your love and te nderness which gave me the faith in love that enabled me to face my dead at last and write this play--write it with deep pity and understanding and forgiveness for all the four haunted Tyrones. These twelve years, Beloved One, have been a Journey into Light--into love. You know my gratitude. And my love! Gene Tao House July 22, 1941. Thornton Wilder OUR TOWN

Act I, which Wilder calls "Daily Life," is a re-creation of the normal daily act ivities found in a small New Hampshire town. The act opens with the appearance o f the Stage Manager, who speaks directly to the audience. He tells where all of the main buildings of the town are located and gives pertinent facts about Grove r's Corners. Then he introduces us to the Webbs and the Gibbses, who are two of the town's main families. After the introduction by the Stage Manager, the milkman and paper boy arrive an d signal the official opening of the action of the play. Then the representative families begin to assemble for breakfast. First, the mother in each family trie s to get her children up, dressed, fed, and off to school. After the children le ave, the two mothers (Mrs. Webb and Mrs. Gibbs) meet for a chat. The Stage Manag er returns and states more facts about the town. By this time, the day has passe d by. Emily Webb and George Gibbs come home from school. George is struggling wi th schoolwork; Emily is the best student in her class. The two young people arra nge a way so that Emily can assist George. The Stage Manager returns and tells more about the town. Mrs. Webb and Mrs. Gibb s attend weekly choir rehearsal. Afterward, they discuss the organist's drinking . That night, Mrs. Gibbs tells her husband that the organist's drinking problem is the worst she has ever seen. The constable strolls by on patrol. This passage signals the end of a typical day. The second act occurs some years later. After more comments by the Stage Manager , Mrs. Gibbs and Mrs. Webb return to the stage to prepare for a wedding. Both re

ceive deliveries from the milkman and invite him and his wife to the ceremony. George Gibbs comes downstairs and tells his mother that he is going across the y ard to see Emily, his girl; they are to be married later that day. When he reach es the Webbs' house, Mrs. Webb reminds him that the groom should not see the bri de on the day of the wedding. George talks to his future father-in-law until Mrs . Webb reappears and sends George home so that Emily can come downstairs to brea kfast. The Stage Manager then turns back time to the day when George and Emily first di scover their love for each other. George stops Emily on their way home from scho ol. He has just been elected president of the senior class; Emily is secretary-t reasurer. He asks her why she is mad at him. Emily admonishes George for immersing himself in baseball and forgetting his friends. He assures Emily that he has not forgot ten her. George emphasizes that Emily is special to him and that she remains in his thoughts. Emily feels that she is mistaken about George and returns his affe ction. They part after having acknowledged their mutual love. The Stage Manager enters and explains that he will serve as minister and makes further comments ab out weddings. Mrs. Webb expresses fear about losing her daughter. Then George ow ns up to momentary doubts about getting married. In the meantime, Emily relates her qualms to her father. As soon as George and Emily see each other, they overc ome their fears. The ceremony takes place in the background while the audience h ears the comments of Mrs. Soames, a wedding guest. Then the Stage Manager return s in his original persona to make closing remarks. The third act occurs in the cemetery at the burial of Emily Webb Gibbs, who has just died in childbirth and left her husband and four-year-old son. Like any new comer, she is uneasy among the dead; she wonders how long the feeling will last. After the mourners leave the cemetery, she longs to return to life for a single day. The other spirits try to dissuade her, but she insists. Emily chooses to r elive her twelfth birthday, but when she returns to earth, she discovers that pe ople live their lives without appreciating or sharing the moment of living. They overlook the joy found in simple everyday activities. Emotionally unable to end ure a full day of her past, Emily returns to the cemetery. There, at night, she watches George come to grieve at her grave. Emily perceives that the living unde rstand little about death and even less about being alive.

TENNESSEE WILLIAMS During the incredibly successful run of The Glass Menagerie, theatre workmen tau ght Williams how to play poker. Williams was already beginning to work on a new story, about two Southern belles in a small apartment with a rough crowd of blue -collar men. A poker game played by the men was to be central to the action of t he play; eventually, this story evolved into A Streetcar Named Desire. Streetcar hit theaters in 1946. The play cemented William's reputation as one of the greatest American playwrights, winning him a New York's Critics Circle Awar d and a Pullitzer Prize. Among the play's greatest achievements is the depiction of the psychology of working class characters. In the plays of the period, depi ctions of working class life tended to be didactic, with a focus on social comme ntary or a kind of documentary drama. Williams' play sought to depict working-cl ass characters as psychologically evolved entities; to some extent, Williams tri es to portray these blue-collar characters on their own terms, without romantici zing them. Tennessee Williams did not express strong admiration for any early American play wrights; his greatest dramatic influence was the brilliant Russian playwright An ton Chekhov. Chekhov, with his elegant juxtaposition of the humorous and the tra gic, his lonely characters, and his dark sensibilities, was a powerful inspirati on for Tennessee Williams' work. At the same time, Williams' plays are undeniabl y American in setting and character. Another important influence was the novelis t D.H. Lawrence, who offered Williams a depiction of sexuality as a potent force

of life; Lawrence is alluded to in The Glass Menagerie as one of the writers fa vored by Tom. The American poet Hart Crane was another important influence on Wi lliams; in Crane's tragic life and death, open homosexuality, and determination to create poetry that did not mimic European sensibilities, Williams found endle ss inspiration. Williams also belongs to the tradition of great Southern writers who have invigorated literary language with the lyricism of Southern English. Like Eugene O'Neill, Tennessee Williams wanted to challenge some of the conventi ons of naturalistic theatre. Summer and Smoke (1948), Camino Real (1953), and Th e Glass Menagerie (1944), among others, provided some of the early testing groun d for Williams' innovations. The Glass Menagerie uses music, screen projections, and lighting effects to create the haunting and dream-like atmosphere appropria te for a "memory play." Like Eugene O'Neill's Emperor Jones and Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman, Williams' plays explores ways of using the stage to depict the interior life and memories of a character. In Streetcar, stage effects are used to represent Blanche's decent into madness. The maddening polka music, jungle sound effects, and strange shadows help to re present the world as Blanche experiences it. These effects are a departure from the conventions of naturalistic drama, although in this respect Streetcar is not as innovative as The Glass Menagerie. Nevertheless, A Streetcar Named Desire us es these effects to create a highly subjective portrait of the play's central ac tion. On stage, these effects powerfully evoke the terror and isolation of madne ss. Blanche Dubois: No longer a young girl in her twenties, Blanche Dubois has suffe red through the deaths of all of her loved ones, save Stella, and the loss of he r old way of life. When Blanche was a teenager, she married a young boy whom she worshipped; the boy turned out to be depressive and homosexual, and not long af ter their marriage he committed suicide. While Stella left Belle Reve, the Duboi s ancestral home, to try and make her own life, Blanche stayed behind and cared for a generation of dying relatives. She saw the deaths of the elder generation and the end of the Dubois family fortune. In her grief, Blanche looked for comfo rt in amorous encounters with near-strangers. Eventually, her reputation ruined and her job lost, she was forced to leave the town of Laurel. She has come to th e Kowalski apartment seeking protection and shelter. Stella Kowalski: Blanche's younger sister. About twenty-five years old and pregn ant with her first child, Stella has made a new life for herself in New Orleans. She is madly in love with her husband Stanley; their relationship is in part fo unded on the most direct and primitive kind of desire. She is close to Blanche, but in the end she will betray her sister horribly by refusing to believe the tr uth. Stanley Kowalski: Stella's husband. A man of solid, blue-color stock, Stanley Ko walski is direct, passionate, and often violent. He has no patience for Blanche and the illusions she cherishes. He is a controlling and domineering man; he dem ands subservience from his wife and feels that his authority is threatened by Bl anche's arrival. He proves that he can be cold and calculating; in the end, he m oves mercilessly to ensure Blanche's destruction. Harold "Mitch" Mitchell: One of Stanley's friends. Mitch is as tough and "unrefi ned" as Stanley. He is an imposing physical specimen, massively built and powerf ul, but he is also a deeply sensitive and compassionate man. His mother is dying , and this impending loss affects him profoundly. He is attracted to Blanche fro m the start, and Blanche hopes that he will ask her to marry him. In the end, th ese hopes are dashed by Stanley's interference. Eunice Hubbel: The owner of the apartment building, and Steve's wife. She is gen erally helpful, giving Stella and Blanche shelter after Stanley beats Stella. In the end, she advises Stella that in spite of Blanche's tragedy, life has to go on. In effect, she is advising Stella not to look too hard for the truth. Steve Hubbel: Eunices's husband. Owner of the apartment building. One of the pok er players. Steve has the finally line of the play. As Blanche is carted off to the asylum, he coldly deals another hand.

Pablo Gonzales: One of the poker players. He punctuates the poker games with das hes of Spanish. Negro Woman: The Negro Woman seems to be one of the non-naturalistic characters; it seems that the actor playing this role is in fact playing a number of differ ent Negro women, all minor characters. Emphasizing the non-naturalistic aspect o f the character, in the original production of Streetcar, the "Negro Woman" was played by a male actor. A Strange Man (The Doctor): The Doctor arrives at the end to bring Blanche on he r "vacation." After the Nurse has pinned her, the Doctor succeeds in calming Bla nche. She latches onto him, depending, now and always, "on the kindness of stran gers." A Strange Woman (The Nurse): The Nurse is a brutal and impersonal character, ins titutional and severe in an almost stylized fashion. She wrestles Blanche to the ground. A Young Collector: The Young Collector comes to collect money for the paper. Bla nche throws herself at him shamelessly. A Mexican Woman: Sells flowers for the dead. She sells these flowers during the powerful scene when Blanche recounts her fall(s) from grace. The play takes place right after World War II, in New Orleans. The Kowalski apartment is in a poor but charming neighborhood in the French Quar ter. Stella, twenty-five years old and pregnant, lives with her blue collar husb and Stanley Kowalski. It is summertime, and the heat is oppressive. Blanche Dubo is, Stella's older sister, arrives unexpectedly, carrying all that she owns. Bla nch and Stella have a warm reunion, but Blanch has some bad news: Belle Reve, th e family mansion, has been lost. Blanche stayed behind to care for their dying f amily while Stella left to make a new life for herself, and Blanche is resentful . Blanche meets Stanley for the first time, and immediately she feels uncomforta ble. We learn that Blanche was once married, when she was very young, but the bo y died. The situation grows more and more tense. Stanley initially distrusts Blanche, th inking that she's swindled them; the idea is ludicrous, and eventually Stanley r ealizes that Blanche is hardly the swindling type. But the animosity between the two never stops. Blanche takes long baths, criticizes the squalor of the apartm ent, and irritates Stanley. Stanley's roughness bothers Blanche; he makes no eff ort to be gentle with her. One night, the night when Stanley hosts a poker game, he gets too drunk and beats Stella. The women go up to their upstairs neighbors ' apartment, but soon Stella returns to Stanley, the two coupling with an animal -like need. Blanche is shocked by these events. That night, she also meets Mitch , and there is an immediate mutual attraction between the two. The next day, Stanley overhears Blanche saying terrible things about him. From t hat time on, he devotes himself fully to her destruction. Blanche has a shady pa st in Laurel. In her loneliness, during the last days of Belle Reve and after th e mansion was lost, she turned to strangers for comfort. Her numerous amorous en counters destroyed her reputation in Laurel, leading to her loss of her job as a high school English teacher and her near-expulsion from town. Tensions build in the apartment throughout the summer. Blanche and Stanley look on each other as mortal enemies, and Blanche turns increasingly to alcohol for c omfort. Stanley bides his time. Stanley looks into Blanche's past, and he passes the information on to Mitch. Al though previously it seemed that Blanche might marry Mitch, after he learns the truth he loses all interest. In autumn, on Blanche's birthday, Mitch stands her up. Stanley presents Blanche with her gift: bus tickets back to Laurel. Blanche is overcome by sickness; she cannot return to Laurel, and Stanley knows it. As B lanche is ill in the bathroom, Stella fights with Stanley over the cruelty of hi s act. Mid-fight, she tells him to take her to the hospital: the baby is coming. That night, Blanche packs and drinks. Mitch arrives. He confronts her with the s tories of her past, and she tells him, in lurid detail, the truth about her esca

pades in Laurel. He approaches her, making advances, wanting what she has denied him all summer. She asks him to marry her, and when he doesn't, she kicks him o ut of the apartment. Hours later, Stanley comes home. Stella is still in labor, and will be until mor ning, so Stanley's getting some sleep. Stanley mercilessly destroys Blanche's il lusions, one by one, and then rapes her. Weeks later, another poker game is being held at the Kowalski apartment. Blanche has suffered a mental breakdown. She has told Stella what Stanley did, but Stel la has convinced herself that it can't be true. A doctor and nurse come and take Blanche away to the asylum. Stella weeps, and Stanley comforts her. The other m en continue their poker game as if nothing has happened. Summary and Analysis of Scenes 1-2 Scene 1: Summary: We are in New Orleans, in the poor but colorful neighborhood where Stanley and S tella have their apartment. Outside, the people of the city go about their busin ess. Stanley Kowalski and his friend Mitch enter walking on the street outside t he apartment building. They are both in their late twenties, and they are rough, powerfully built men. Stanley calls for Stella, and she appears on the first-fl oor landing of their apartment. She is about 25 years old, and somewhat delicate looking. Stanley tosses her some meat, and announces that he is going bowling. Stella wants to come to watch. Just after she leaves, Blanche Dubois arrives on the black; she looks at the add ress she has and looks at her surroundings, shocked that her sister Stella lives in such a place. She is helped into the Kowalski apartment by Eunice, the landl ady. Eunice mentions that she saw pictures of the Dubois home, Belle Reve; she s ays wistfully that a place like that must be hard to keep up. Blanche, exhausted and in no mood for small talk, finally says that she wants to be left alone. Eu nice goes to fetch Stella. Stella and Blanche greet each other with some emotion. Things start out cordiall y enough, but before long Blanche is irritable. They speak about the poor condit ions Stella lives in; Stella talks about how much she needs Stanley. Blanche see ms to disapprove of the relationship; the Dubois sisters come from Southern aris tocracy, and now Stella is married to a "polack." Blanche has bad news: Belle Re ve has been lost. Blanche, with her teacher's salary, couldn't keep the place up . She stayed and fought for Belle Reve, caring for all of their dying relatives, while Stella left. Blanche is full of resentment, and her harshness makes Stell a cry. While Stella goes to the bathroom to wash her face, Stanley comes home. O utside, Stanley, Steve, and Mitch plan their next poker game. Stanley enters, gi ving Blanche a frank stare. They have an awkward conversation. Stanley is course and rough compared to delicate Blanche, and he is a very sexual man. Through th eir conversation, we learn that Blanche had a husband long ago, but the young ma n died. Analysis The setting of New Orleans is important to the play: The city is one of powerful contrasts: old French architecture and the new rhythms of jazz; a kind of Old W orld refinement mixed with the grit of poverty and modern life; decay and corrup tion alongside the regenerative powers of desire and procreation. The city is et ernally in a state of convulsion, a mix of the modern world and New Orleans' con fused history; in the American imagination, New Orleans is also associated with desire and the most direct kind of sexuality. From the beginning, the three main characters of Streetcar are in a state of ten sion. Williams establishes that the apartment is small and confining, the weathe r is hot and oppressive, and the characters have good reason to come into confli ct. The South, old and new, is an important theme of the play. Blanche and her siste r come from a dying world. The life and pretensions of their world are becoming a thing of memory: to drive home the point, the family mansion is called "Belle

Reve," or Beautiful Dream. The old life may have been something beautiful, but i t is gone forever. Yet Blanche clings to pretensions of aristocracy. She is now as poor as Stanley and Stella, but she cannot help but look down on the humble K owalski apartment. Stanley tells her that she'll probably see him as "the unrefi ned type." The differences between them, however, are more complex and volatile than a matter of refinement. Desire is central to the play. Blanche is unable to come to terms with the force of her own desire. She is clearly repelled and fascinated by Stanley at the sam e time. And though she stayed behind and took care of the family while Stella ra n off to find a new life, Blanche is both angry and jealous of Stella's choice: she seems a bit fixated on the idea of Stella sleeping with her "Polack." Stella has chosen a life built around her powerful sexual relationship with Stanley. B lanche is both repulsed by and jealous of the choice. Stanley, on the other hand, is a creature comfortable with desire and satisfying his physical needs. Sex is part of what makes him tick. His appraisal of women is frank and straightforward, and he makes no pretenses of being sexually self-c ontrolled. The play is haunted by mortality. Desire and death and loneliness are played off against each other again and again. The setting is one of decay; the dying Old South and the dying DuBois family make for a macabre and unsettling background. Blanche's first monologue is a rather graphic description of tending to the term inally ill. There is also the specter of Blanche's husband, who died when they w ere both very young; indeed, Blanch still refers to him as a "boy." Williams is fond of symbols, and his plays are full of symbols that resonate wit h his central themes. To get to the "Elysian Fields," where Stella and Stanley l ive, Blanche had to take "a streetcar named Desire" and then a "streetcar named Cemeteries." The symbolic names echo the themes of desire and mortality. Another symbol is the meat: Stanley enters carrying a package of bloody meat, li ke a hunter coming home from a day of work. Stanley is a superb specimen of prim itive, unthinking, brutal man. The meat-tossing episode is seen as humorous by E unice and the Negro Woman, who infer a sexual innuendo from the incident. Appare ntly, it is obvious to the neighbors that the sexual bond between Stanley and St ella is intense. Scene 2: Summary: Six o'clock, the following evening. The Kowalski apartment is being prepared for a poker game. Stella and Blanche are going to go out for the evening. Blanche i s taking a bath, and Stella tries to tell Stan to be nice to her. She also tells Stan that they've lost Belle Reve. Stan, convinced that the plantation was sold , begins to ask about papers. Stella is sure, and rightly so, that Blanche has n ot profited from the home's loss. Almost in a frenzy, Stanley begins to pull out Blanche's "expensive" clothing. He is convinced that Blanche has pocketed the m oney and spent it on finery: in truth, anything fine that Blanche owns is old, a nd anything new is cheap. Stanley can't tell the difference. Blanche emerges. As she prepares for her night out, Blanche tries to make small talk with Stanley, but the two converse in a way that is entirely incompatible. Stanley is increasingly rude, and Blanche is fully aware of what he suspects: sh e sends Stella to get a soft drink for her, and tells Stanley to ask away. He de mands to see papers, and begins to search through the trunk. He upsets her terri bly when he begins to examine love letters from her dead husband. She gives him the papers he demands, and Stanley says he's going to have a lawyer acquaintance go over them. Blanche is unconcerned. Stanley lets slip that Stella is pregnant . Blanche greets her sister with joy. She feels exhilarated about winning her conf rontation with Stanley, as well as the idea of Stella having a baby. Blanche fee ls strong, and the women go out for their dinner; on their way out into town, Bl anche is startled by the shout of a tamale vendor. Analysis: Blanche understands, as if by instinct, the threat that Stanley represents. She knows that he has no need for the polite evasions that are so important to her.

She also understands instinctively his need to dominate. And she is not blind to Stanley's aggression as Stella is: "I have an idea she [Stella] doesn't underst and you as well as I do" (138). In their attitudes toward money, we see the tremendous difference in class betwe en them. Stanley is convinced that he is being swindled, but after a moment it b ecomes clear that Blanche is capable of no such thing. She cares nothing for mon ey; her class only understands how to spend it, and that is part of why Belle Re ve was lost. When Stanley demands if it was lost on a mortgage, Blanche can only respond uncertainly, "That must have been what happened." She is completely ign orant on business matters. Stanley is no expert, but his basic approach is that of a new world, the real world in which Blanch is so unable to survive. Blanche also believes she is much stronger than she is. Speaking of her dead hus band, she tells Stanley that she hurt the boy, in the same way that Stanley woul d like to hurt Blanche. But she believes he can't: "I'm not young and vulnerable anymore" (139). The truth is far harsher. Although Blanche is exuberant after h er supposed victory over Stanley, we soon see how frayed her nerves are. When th e tamale vendor shouts out to hawk his product, the cry startles Blanche terribl y. She reacts as if she's seen a ghost. Summary and Analysis of Scenes 3-4 Scene 3: Summary: 2:30 AM, the same night. Stanley, Steve, Pablo, and Mitch play poker. Everyone i s tipsy, and Stanley is quite drunk. He is somewhat bossy with the other men. Mi tch announces that he should go home, as he fears his sick mother will be waitin g up for him. Stella and Blanche return home to find the poker game still in pro gress. Stanley rebuffs her friendly overtures with absolute rudeness. On her way to the bathroom, Blanche meets Mitch. The two seem attracted to each other righ t away. Blanche asks Stella about Mitch. In the back room, the two sisters chat and Blan che turns on the radio. Although the other men seem to like the music, Stanley d emands that it be shut off. When the women don't obey, he jumps up and shuts it off himself. Mitch goes to the bathroom, but it is being used by Stella. He chats with Blanch e, and they smoke together. Blanche is tipsy, too. She admires his cigarette cas e, which was a gift from an old girlfriend, who now is dead. They talk about the sincere affections of suffering people. Blanche claims to be Stella's younger s ister. She's bought a Chinese paper lantern and asks Mitch to put it over the bu lb. Stanley is growing angrier and angrier about Mitch's absence from the poker table; he also seems to be in a foul mood because he's been losing. When Stella comes out of the bathroom, Blanche turns on the radio again and starts dancing; Mitch moves in imitation of her. Furious, Stanley jumps up and throws the radio out the window. Stella, infuriated and embarrassed by Stanley's behavior, calls Stanley a drunken animal and tells all the men to go home. Stanley pounces on St ella and begins beating her. The men restrain him; at first, he resists, but eve ntually he goes limp. Blanche is hysterical. She gathers Stella's clothes and they go up to Eunice's p lace. Stanley attacks the men, even as they try to help him. The men sweep up th eir winnings and leave. Stanley tries to call up to Eunice's place. When that doesn't work, Stanley goes outside and bellows Stella's name. Eunice comes out and tells him to go away. S he goes back inside, but Stanley keeps calling to her. Stella comes out, and the two come together like animals in heat. He carries her into the apartment. Blanche comes out looking for Stella, frantic with fear. She goes down to the la nding in front of the Kowalski apartment, and then stops, as if stunned by somet hing she sees. She looks around, lost. Mitch appears. Blanche is shocked that Stella went back to Stanley, but Mitch se ems not at all surprised. Blanche and Mitch smoke together on the steps, and Bla nche thanks Mitch for his kindness. Analysis Two elements of this scene are striking. First, we recognize more and more that

Blanche is more comfortable with make believe than reality. Second, the animal n ature of Stanley and his bond with Stella becomes clear. Blanch has suffered terribly; we have only seen hints of it so far, but later we will learn more about the depths of her loneliness. Loneliness and desire are i ntegral to Blanche's being. She chose the harsh road of staying at Belle Reve to care for the dying, and she has suffered because of it. For many years, she was a delicate young woman who lived alone in a house full of the terminally ill. There is both honesty and illusion in her comments about the sincerity of the su ffering. On one hand, Blanche is very insincere. She has dealt with her sufferin g by making-believe, by taking refuge in fanciful dreams about herself and her s urroundings. She lies about her age. She also insists that Mitch cover the naked bulb. She does not want to be seen in the harshness of bright light. In darknes s, she is free to fabricate and re-imagine whatever cannot be seen. On the other hand, there is something very sincere about Blanche's affection and kindness. S he lies, but never with the intent to hurt. She seeks to become what she thinks will please others. Stanley is at his most basic and animalistic in this scene. He insists on living up to the ideas of absolute male dominance; he acts like the apartment is his a nd his alone. He seeks to dominate not only the women, but the other men as well . He beats his pregnant wife. And yet Stella comes back. Something about Stanley excites her, even, or perhaps especially, when he is at his most beast-like. Significantly, what we see of th eir making-up is completely wordless. There is not an eloquent plea for forgiven ess, no promise of better behavior: Stanley and Stella make up by coupling like animals. Words come second, if at all. The bond between Stanley and Stella is no t intellectual, but physical. Scene 4: Summary: The next morning. Blanche stayed at Eunice's last night. When Stanley is gone, s he rushes into the Kowalski apartment, frantic with worry. Stella seems baffled by Blanche's concern; she thinks Blanche is overreacting. Blanche simply cannot understand how Stella could return to a man who beat her. Stella insists that sh e loves Stanley, and his impulsive and ferocious nature is part of what she love s about him. Blanche is awash with plans to "escape." She seems oblivious to the fact that St ella does not want to escape Stanley. She recently ran into an old college frien d of hers, who has since become a millionaire. She thinks he might provide the f unds to set the women up in a shop. As she tries to think of an appropriate way to word the telegraph message, Stella tries to assure Blanche that everything is fine. She tries to share some of the money Stanley has given her, and she also tries to convince Blanche that what she saw was Stanley at his worst. Blanche be lieves she saw Stanley's true self. Stanley comes home, but the sound of a passing train masks the sound of his comi ng. He overhears as Blanche condemns him as an animal, a primitive, an ape-like creature. Stanley hears it all. He waits for the sound of another train to leave and make another entrance. He embraces Stella and grins at Blanche over Stella' s shoulder. Analysis: The streetcar named Desire comes up again as a metaphor. As Blanche and Stella a rgue about desire, Blanche talks about the rattletrap streetcar. Stella asks if Blanche has ever ridden it; Blanche says that it brought her here. They're talking about the literal streetcar, but the symbolism is clear. Blanche denounces the streetcar, just as she denies the power and appeal of desire. But in reality, she has known desire, too. In her loneliness, it's been one of her refuges. As she says of the streetcar, "It brought me here," she is speaking als o of how her desire and loneliness caused her to be run out of town. Stanley's overhearing Blanche's denunciation of him will ultimately be disastrou s for her. If before they were enemies, now they will become locked in a more se rious struggle. Stanley will not be content until Blanche is gone from the apart ment, even if it means her destruction.

Summary and Analysis of Scenes 5-6 Scene 5: Summary: Blanche is in the middle of writing a letter to Shep, her millionaire friend. Th e letter is full of lies, describing a jet-set life for Stella and Blanche. Upst airs, Eunice and Steve are having a noisy fight. Eunice rushes down out of the a partment, saying she's going to call the police. Stanley comes home, dressed to bowl. Steve comes down, with a bruise on his forehead; Stanley tells Steve that Eunice has gone to a neighborhood bar. He rushes out to find her. Stanley asks some unsettling unquestions. A friend of his goes through Laurel, B lanche's and Stella's hometown, quite often; this friend claims that Blanche was a guest at a disreputable hotel called the Flamingo. Blanche denies it. Stanley leaves. Steve and Eunice come home, Eunice sobbing and Steve trying to make it up to her. Blanche is horribly shaken. She asks if Stella has heard any rumors about her; S tella is baffled by Blanche's behavior. Blanche admits that she "wasn't so good" during the last few years; she sought comfort with men. She insinuates that she was sexually intimate with these men, but Stella has stopped listen because Bla nche is being so morbid. Blanche is clearly on edge. Stella fixes her a drink. B lanche gushes with emotion and affection for Stella; Stella is embarrassed by Bl anche's sentimentality. Stella and Blanche talk about Mitch. Blanche will be going out with him later th at night. Blanche is quite taken with him. She hopes that their relationship can go somewhere. Stella leaves for an outing with Stanley. Eunice bounds out of th e apartment, shrieking with laughter, and Steve chases after her. A Young Man comes to collect for the paper. Blanche hits on him with shocking fo rwardness. The Young Man, a boy probably not out of his teens, seems nervous and excited at the same time. Finally, she kisses him, and then sends him on his wa y. Mitch comes with a dozen roses, and Blanche accepts them with mock-formality. Analysis The theme of illusion runs through this scene. We watch Blanche fabricate a seri es of lies in her telegraph to Shep. She has no qualms about it; the truth is so much less interesting and delightful than the illusion she offers, so why not d o it? But she is not the only character with some fear of the truth. When she co nfesses to Stella that her behavior in Laurel was less than exemplary, Stella st ops listening. She stops listening whenever Blanche is morbid; this convenient a bility to block out the truth foreshadows Stella's betrayal of Blanche at the en d of the play. Blanche's illusions are quite fragile. Stanley deeply upsets her by hinting that he knows the truth about her. Blanche is rendered vulnerable by this attack; he r lies have isolated her, and afterward she gushes with emotion for Stella. The theme of loneliness, central to the play, is rendered skillfully in this scene. Stella is uncomfortable with these displays of emotion; possibly, they make her feel guilty because Stella is all that Blanche has in the world, and Stella hers elf has Stanley. The local couples provide a contrast to Blanche's less healthy outlets for her d esire. The near-comic altercation between Eunice and Steve shows a world where m ore stable people go through the same convulsions of violence and desire, with a somewhat healthier approach. The fight is over another woman, but Steve and Eun ice seem to work it out. The violence of the fight also shows an alternative to the brutality of Stanley and Stella; Steve comes down the stairs with a bruise o n his forehead. A woman striking her husband, who afterward is none the worse fo r wear, is a healthier alternative to a man savagely beating his pregnant wife. By the middle of the scene, all is well between them. Blanche cannot seem to recover from the convulsions of desire. She denounced the physicality of Stanley's and Stella's relationship. But she herself suffers fro m a terrible loneliness, from which she seeks to escape in inappropriate ways. H er advances at the Young Man are the first direct sign, on stage, that she occas ionally seeks desperate remedies for her loneliness. Remember that in this scene

, Blanche has been the lone observer of two happy couples: Stella and Stanley, S teve and Eunice. Left alone in the apartment, she seeks some connection with the first person she sees. Scene 6: Summary: Late, that same night, Blanche and Mitch return from a carnival. Fragile Blanche is completely exhausted. Mitch seems upset that Blanche did not have a good tim e, but Blanche tells him it's her fault. He asks to kiss her, and she asks why h e always asks. He says that he asks because of a previous incident, when she reb uked him; she tells him that during said incident, she objected not to his kiss but to his somewhat familiar fingers. A girl, she says, needs to protect herself or else she is "lost." He tells her that she is like no one else he knows. Blanche invites Mitch in for a drink. While they enjoy their drink, Blanche brie fly speaks naughty French to Mitch, which he doesn't understand. Mitch and Blanc he discuss Mitch's imposing build. He speaks of his height and weight and trim w aistline with a charming awkwardness, somewhere between boyish shyness and boast ing. Blanche seems duly impressed by his physique. He lifts her. They flirt. Bla nche proclaims her devotion to old-fashioned values. She asks, somewhat anxiousl y, if Stanley has said anything about her. Mitch says no. She talks about the di fficulties of the situation, staying with Stella and Stanley. Mitch asks Blanche 's age, but she deflects the question. They talk about Mitch's mother, who is terminally ill. Mitch is touchingly devot ed to her. Blanche tells Mitch about her husband. They were only teenagers when they married. The boy was beautiful, sensitive, and talented. She eloped with hi m, not realizing that the boy needed her help. She "discovered" his secret in th e worst possible way: she found him in bed with someone else. Afterward, everyon e pretended that nothing had happened. All three of them went to Moon Lake Casin o, and danced the polka. As Blanche retells her memory, she hears the music agai n. In the middle of their dance, the boy broke away and shot himself. When Blanc he describes hearing the gunshot, the music stops. During their dance, Blanche had pulled the boy to her and said, "I know! I know! You disgust me." Blanche begins to hear the polka music again. She talks about how much the exper ience has changed her; she begins to sob. As Mitch embraces her and tries to com fort her, the polka music fades away. Blanche is grateful for Mitch's strong pre sence: "Sometimes there's God so quickly!" Analysis: Blanche's fatigue after the carnival emphasizes how frail she is. We also see th e act that Blanche puts on for Mitch. She pretends to be taken with old-fashione d values. Her need to be the virginal Southern belle isn't malicious in intent. She indulges in the deception not only to attract Mitch, but for her own sake. P laying the Southern belle gives Blanch great pleasure. It allows her to feel you ng and unscarred again. The conversation about Mitch's size is a charming and comic moment. The discussi on of Mitch's weight and his membership at the gym is downright cute; Blanche oo h-ing and ah-ing Mitch's muscles is wonderful courtship scene, a brief respite f rom the increasing darkness of the play. Finally, we hear the truth about Blanche's marriage. Depending on the version o the play you have, the homosexuality of Blanche's husband is either insinuated o r said outright. In some editions of the play, Blanche speaks of finding her hus band in bed with someone, but the gender is never explicitly stated; in other ve rsions, she tells Mitch that she found him in bed with an older man, a longtime friend. Either way, Blanche has never overcome her feelings of guilt for what happened. It was her expression of disgust that finally set the boy off; she blames hersel f, and has relived that horrible music, right up to the final gunshot, many time s since. Loneliness plays itself out in so many ways throughout the play. Blanche's inten se loneliness goes far back; she discovered that the man she loved had a secret life, quite separate from his life with her. Since than, she has been a girl car

ing for dying relatives. Mitch, too, is lonely. He had a love who died; he also is caring for his dying mother. Mitch makes Blanche feel safe. He is touchingly gentle and sensitive. In his com pany, the music fades away, and Blanche notices the difference. She dares to hop e that Mitch's entrance into her life is a touch of God helping her. Summary and Analysis of Scenes 7-8 Scene 7: Summary: Late one afternoon, in mid-September, Stella is preparing for Blanche's birthday celebration. Stanley comes home with some disturbing information. Blanche is ta king a bath, and Stanley takes the opportunity to tell Stella the many rumors he has collected about her. As he unfolds the sordid details of Blanche's last few years in Laurel, Blanche can be heard offstage, singing "It's Only a Paper Moon ." After Belle Reve was lost, Blanche stayed at the Flamingo Hotel; they eventua lly kicked her out, on account of the endless string of male guests she entertai ned. She apparently was involved with boys from the nearby military base. She al so lost her job teaching high school English because of an affair with a sevente en-year-old student. Stella is horrified and angry that Stanley believes the sto ries; but apparently, Stanley has checked the rumors with several sources. When Blanche calls for a towel, and Stella brings it, Blanche notices Stella's u pset expression. But Stella tries to pretend everything is fine. Stella defends Blanche, explaining that Blanche was crushed by the death of her husband. Stanley lets drop that Mitch won't be coming to the party tonight, as p reviously expected; he told Mitch about everything. Stella is horrified; she had hoped that Mitch would marry Blanche. Blanche emerges, feeling cool and rested; Stanley stomps past her into the bathroom to use the toilet. Blanche notices th at Stella is upset, but Stella tries to pretend that nothing has happened. Analysis Blanche's habit of always bathing is symbolic; when she emerges, she always anno unces that she feels like a new person. The baths are a cleansing ritual, but th e feeling of refreshment and renewed strength is not long lasting. We have seen before how frail Blanche is, and how quickly she tires. We also will see that th e past does not wash away so easily. Blanche's song, "It's Only a Paper Moon," was a popular song of the 1940's. The lyrics speak of a make-believe world, which is phony but pleasurable if everybod y plays. The song not-so-subtly parallels Blanche's attitude toward illusion and fantasy. She seems to pay no attention to the fact that her lies, sooner or lat er, will be found out. The pleasure of illusion is not primarily its power to ke ep people deceived; Blanche delights in the act of creating these lies. The perf ormance is part of the fun for her. As if life were a party at Belle Reve, she h opes that everyone will stay constantly entertained. Masking the truth is part o f this entertainment. Scene 8: Summary: Blanche's birthday dinner. One of the places at the table is empty; Mitch has st ood Blanch up. Stella seems upset and embarrassed; Stanley is sullen; Blanche is making painful attempts to seem happy. To lighten the mood, Blanche asks Stanley to tell a joke. When he refuses, she t ells one; it flops. Stanley is eating like a pig. Stella comments so, and asks h im to clear the table. Infuriated by her tone, he throws his plate on the floor. Stella begins to cry, and Stanley goes out on the porch to smoke. Blanche goes to call Mitch; he doesn't come to the phone. Stella goes out to talk to Stanley; she scolds him for telling Mitch. Stanley de fends his actions; he longs for the day when he can have privacy with Stella, an d they can make noise again without worrying about disturbing the guest who slee ps in the next room. Back at the table, Stella lights the candle's for Blanche's birthday cake. Blanc he is upset. The phone rings, but it turns out to be for Stanley. After the call , Stanley presents his present: a bus ticket back to Laurel. She runs to the bat hroom, sick. Stella reproaches Stanley, asking why he is being cruel. Stanley te

lls her, in rough, angry words, that Blanche has changed everything between them : Stella was happy enough with him before, but now she seems more and more unsat isfied with him because he is "common." Stella becomes distracted suddenly. She tells him to take her to the hospital. The baby is coming. Analysis: Stanley needs to possess Stella completely. He will not tolerate any kind of equ ality between them. She is not allowed to ask him for help with the chores. She is not allowed to criticize him. Stanley yells at her, "Huey Long said Every man is a King!' And I am the king around here, so don't forget it!" (195). Blanche's presence seems like a threat to his authority. He feels that Stella has become insubordinate since Blanche arrived. His motivations are clear: he is jealous of Blanche, he seeks to preserve his authority, and he delights in the power of hu rting another. He is absolutely merciless with Blanche. He gives her the bus ticket in the mome nt of her highest vulnerability, knowing full well that she cannot return to Lau rel. He delights in hurting her. Blanche cannot stand up to this kind of attack. Presented with the ticket, she f alls ill. She has been humiliated by Mitch, and now she is being forced out of h er sister's home. Stanley will not stop here. Summary and Analysis of Scenes 9-11 Scene 9: Summary: Later that evening, Blanche is home alone. She has been drinking. In her head, s he hears the polka music. Mitch enters, unkempt and in work clothes. He, too, ha s been drinking. She tries to brush aside his standing her up earlier; he treats her coldly. She offers a drink, but he insists he doesn't want any more of Stan 's liquor. Blanche hears the music of the polka again; she asks Mitch to excuse her until it ends. The music ends with the gunshot, as always. She continues to try to offer Mitch a drink but he refuses, saying that Stanley told him she's be en lapping up his liquor all summer. She brushes aside the accusation. Mitch wants to turn on the light. He's never seen in her in the light. Blanche s talls. She doesn't want realism: "I'll tell you what I want. Magic! Yes, yes, ma gic! I try to give that to people" (204). Mitch turns on the light, and Blanche gasps under its glare. He tells her he doesn't mind her being older than he thou ght. But what he does mind is the act she put on all summer; pretending to be ol d-fashioned, pretending to be devoted to old ideals of chastity. He's heard the stories from Stan, and confirmed them. Blanche finally admits the truth. After Alan, she had many intimate nights with strangers, looking for protection; until at last she became involved with a seve nteen-year-old boy, and lost her teaching job. She had nowhere to go; she realiz ed her youth and beauty were gone. Her innocence, too. Mitch repeats simply, "You lied to me, Blanche." She tells him she never lied in her heart. Outside, a Mexican woman comes by, selling flowers for the dead. As the vendor c ries outside, Blanche remembers the terrible days caring for her dying relatives . Changing the blood-stained sheets, when in her youth servants had waited on he r. Lonely, abandoned by her sister. Near Belle Reve, there was a training camp f or young soldiers; weekends, they would get drunk in town. On their way back, th ey would come back to the lawn of the mansion and call for Blanche. The only rel ative left was an old deaf woman, who suspected nothing. Sometimes, she slipped out of the house and went to the boys. Mitch comes to her, wanting "what I've been missing all summer." Blanche asks hi m to marry her. He tells her that she's not clean enough to be in the same house as his mother. Blanche tells him to get out, or she'll scream "fire." When he d oesn't immediately comply, she starts to scream. He leaves in a hurry. Analysis Blanche has a difficult time relinquishing illusion. Even as Mitch begins to con front her with the truth, she seeks to brush aside anything that is bothersome. She wants to pretend everything is fine. But she is not a malicious liar; she li es from weakness, from immaturity, from a fear of reality. She tells Mitch that

she speaks of the world as it ought to be, and as people would prefer it to be. She lies because she has a taste for a fantasy life better than her reality. But Mitch continues to insist on the truth, and when Blanche finally gives up he r lies, the effect is like a dam breaking. We hear, in chilling and lurid detail , about her escapades in Laurel. The description of the soldiers calling out her name from the lawn of Belle Reve is Williams at his lurid best. The story shows the depths of Blanche's loneliness and depravity; she sought comfort and protec tion in impossible places, with men who were only interested in one thing. She m ight as well have been alone at Bell Reve, and in all the beds she frequented. B lanche is terrifying isolated. In her desperate loneliness, her desires became m ore and more difficult to control, and more and more unhealthy. Throughout this whole scene, the theme of death and oblivion is underscored (none too subtly) by the vendor selling flowers for the dead. The flowers recall the deaths of the e lderly Dubois family members, and foreshadow Blanche's destruction. Blanche puts herself at Mitch's mercy. She asks him to save her, and he refuses. When he leaves, so does Blanche's last hope at salvation. She is hearing the po lka music again and again, and she is no shape for the coming confrontation with Stanley. Scene 10: Summary: Several hours later, that same night. Blanche has been drinking since Mitch left . She is dressed in some ridiculous clothes, as if preparing for a fashion show. She is packing to leave. Stanley comes home. The baby won't come until morning, so he has been sent home for some sleep. He asks why she's all dressed up; she tells him that while he was away a millionaire admirer called and invited her on vacation. Stanley plays along wryly. Stanley takes out his silk pajamas, the pajamas he wore on his wedding night. He wears them on special occasions. He wants to be wearing them when the hospital calls to tell him he has a new son. They continue to talk about the millionaire, and Blanche speaks of how much this millionaire respects her. She has "beauty o f the mind and richness of the spirit and tenderness of the heart." She says tha t she does not consider herself a poor woman; as she speaks, she fights hard to stifle her sobs. She says that she has cast her pearls before swine, not only with Stanley, but w ith Mitch. She tells Stanley that Mitch came and repeated the stories he had hea rd from Stanley. She told him to leave, and rejected him even when he came back begging for forgiveness and bearing gifts. The only unforgivable crime, she says , is deliberate cruelty. Stanley is merciless. He begins to tear down Blanche's illusions one by one, Bla nche only able to cry out inarticulately as he does it. She goes to the phone an d tries to wire Shep, the millionaire, with a desperate message begging for help . She never finishes: Stanley emerges from the bathroom, wearing his silk pajama s. As jungle noises build outside the apartment, Stanley begins to approach Blan che. Terrified, she tries to avoid him. She breaks a bottle, trying to use the t op as a weapon, but she's no match for Stanley. He wrests the bottle out of her hands. He says to her, "We've had this date with each other from the beginning" (215). Blanche collapses, and Stanley carries her listless body to the bed. Analysis: Blanche's illusions are not with the intent to hurt. When she speaks of the only unforgivable crime being deliberate cruelty, she's not being hypocritical. As s he says, it is a crime of which she has never been guilty. And here, at the end of her rope, she spins out another series of illusions. Unlike before, these lie s are not even remotely credible. She does not seek necessarily to be credible: she only seeks the comfort of fantasy, even if the fantasy is ridiculous. Blanch e is drunk, rejected, and about to become a vagabond; all she asks is to be indu lged. Stanley refuses. He is on the brink of his great triumph. His child is about to be born; this birth, coinciding with Blanche's birthday and destruction, is a sy mbol of the new order coming into being as the old passes away. Blanche will hav e no descendents. The South she represents, ineffectual and frail and ultimately

sterile, is dying. In this horrible climax, the paired themes of desire and loneliness once again c ome into focus. Blanch has longed for some kind of contact; she needs company, a nd the protection of men. She is not a stranger to desire. But finally, the man she hoped for rejects her, and the man she despises takes her by force. She is n ot strong enough to offer any resistance; and at the same time, Stanley is right when he says that they've had this encounter coming since the beginning. Part o f her does long for Stanley; in her loneliness, she is desperate for contact. He r previous comments indicate that some part of her is fascinated by Stanley's an imal nature. The animal side of desire is emphasized by the jungle sound effects outside the apartment. However, Blanche does not want to be raped. The rape will deliver the deathblow to Blanche's sanity. Scene 11: Summary: Several weeks later. The men are playing poker. Stella is upset. Among the men, only Mitch seems to be ill at ease. Eunice, helping Stella, complains that men a re callous, unfeeling things; it becomes clear that today is the day the doctors come to take Blanche to the asylum. She has not been well since the rape. Stell a tells Eunice that Blanche's story is too wild to believe; Stella couldn't beli eve it and continue living with Stanley. Eunice tells her not to believe it, no matter what, because life has to go on. Blanche comes out fresh from her bath. The polka music plays in the background. She is unhinged, though cheerful. The women are in the bedroom, while the men pl ay poker in the kitchen. Stella and Eunice compliment her, and Blanche continues to make strange, ungrounded comments. Mitch is completely unnerved by Blanche's madness. Stanley tries to get Mitch to snap out of it; the sound of Stanley's v oice frightens Blanche. She demands to know what's going on. The women assure he r that everything is fine. They tell her that she is going to go on vacation in the country. Blanche speaks dreamily about the sea, and living by the ocean unti l she dies. The doctor and nurse arrive. Blanche goes out to greet them, thinking that it's Shep Huntleigh, her millionaire friend, arrived to pick her up. She sees the doc tor and nurse and retreats back into the apartment, saying she's forgotten somet hing. The polka music plays in the background, along with the animal noises that played during the end of Scene 10. Weird shadows dance around the walls. She gr abs a chair, as if the defend herself. The nurse goes in to capture her. Stella cannot bear to watch the struggle between Blanche and the nurse. On the porch, E unice comforts Stella, telling her not to go inside. The men call for the doctor as Blanche continues to fight the nurse. Mitch is furious; he tells Stanley tha t this tragedy is all due to Stanley and his interfering. Mitch hits Stanley, bu t the other men rush to restrain him; he breaks down into sobs. The Nurse has su cceeded in pinning Blanche. The doctor enters, and at Blanche's plea, he command s the Nurse to release her. Blanche delivers her famous line: "Whoever you are I have always depended on the kindness of strangers" (225). As she is led out lik e a blind woman, Stella cries out her name, sobbing. Blanche walks by her and sa ys nothing. Eunice gives Stella her baby, and Stella continues to sob. Stanley c omes out onto the porch to comfort her. In the kitchen, the men have silently re sumed their places at the card table. Steve deals a new hand. Analysis: Although Blanche is the character most dependent on illusion throughout the play , it would be too simple to describe Stanley and Stella as representing "truth." Stella is able to stay with Stanley only after a monumental act of self-decepti on. Stella tells Eunice that she wouldn't be able to stay with Stanley if she be lieved Blanche's story. Eunice's response is telling. She tells Blanche not to b elieve it, but she does not seem interested in trying to see if the story is tru e or not. The priority is believing whatever it takes in order to go on with lif e: "No matter what happens," she says, "you've got to keep on going." Eunice adv ises dismissing the accusation outright, and doing whatever it takes to go on li ving.

And on some level, it seems likely that Stella knows she has betrayed her sister . As they nurse wrestles Blanche to submission, Stella cries out, "What have I d one to my sister?" Note that as she leaves, Blanche pays no heed to Stella's cri es. Even in the midst of her dementia, some part of Blanche is aware that Stella has betrayed her. Stanley's comforting of Stella is an act of supreme hypocrisy. Blanche's madness is largely his doing, as Mitch correctly ascertains. But Stanley comforts Stell a lovingly, "voluptuously," and plays the role of tender caretaker. Their relati onship will from now on be based in part on a series of lies. Blanche's famous line is full of terrible irony. It is true that Blanche has oft en depended on the kindness of strangers, but all of them have abused and abando ned her. In the end, even her own sister has betrayed her. Her fragility, her in ability to fend for herself, and her self-deception have brought her to madness. She speaks the line with hope; in her madness, she clings to a belief in chival ry. But we have seen no chivalry in this play. The representative of the new man , Stanley, is more ape than knight. But Blanche's line is earnest in that it sho ws her terrible loneliness. For so long, she has known only strangers; young gir l in a house full of the dying, and then a woman losing her looks seeking protec tion from callous men. And her tragedy will for the most part be forgotten. Stella is crying, but she h as nonetheless decided to stay with Stanley. She also will have to busy herself with caring for the baby. The other men have callously chosen to go on with thei r poker game on this day, denying Blanche the dignity of being taken away in pri vate. The Old South dies, and the New South does not mourn her passing. Everyone is going to move on: as the play ends, Steve is already dealing a new hand. The Night of the Iguana The Night of the Iguana opens at the Costa Verde Hotel in Mexico. The hotel's pr oprietress, Maxine Faulk, greets her old friend, an expelled minister named Reve rend T. Lawrence Shannon, as he pants his way into the hotel. Maxine tells him t hat her husband, Fred, has died recently. Shannon, a tour director, is distresse d and has the key to his tour bus hidden in his pocket. He wants the tour to sta y here because he is afraid of losing his job and he is on the verge of collapse . The reason for Shannon's distress is revealed: His tour group consists of 11 y oung Baptist music teachers... At the hotel several hours later, Maxine confronts Hannah. Maxine attempts to ge t Hannah and her grandfather to move to a boarding house, but Hannah makes herse lf useful then tries to sell her jade. Their conversation is interrupted by the return of Shannon and some other guests. Hannah asks Shannon about the boarding house, and he tells her it is unsuitable. Their conversation is interrupted by t he entrance of Charlotte, the young woman with whom Shannon had a liaison. Shann on hides and Hannah covers for him. When Charlotte figures out that he is in his room, Shannon comes out. Charlotte... [The entire page is 460 words long] This act opens in the same place, several hours later. Shannon is in his room wr iting a letter to his Bishop when Maxine interrupts. Maxine tells him that she i s considering moving back to the United States. She also tries to coerce him to stay at the hotel with her. He leaves to mail his letter himself when he sees th e Baptist teachers gathered around the bus. Jake Latta, a man from the tour comp any, is with them. Jake approaches Shannon and Maxine and informs Shannon that t he group of Baptist teachers will now be combined with Jake's tour group. Jake d emands the key, but Shannon will not... Crucible Act 1 advertisement

Reverend Parris prays beside his daughter's bed. Ten-year-old Betty Parris lies in an unresponsive state. She has been in this condition since her father discov ered her and her cousin Abigail Williams dancing in the woods. Susanna Walcott e nters to inform the Reverend that Doctor Griggs has been unable to find a medica l explanation for Betty's condition and suggests that he look for an unnatural c ause. Abigail and the Reverend instruct Susanna to return home and say nothing m ore of the possibility of such things. Abigail informs her uncle that their parl or is packed with townspeople who have heard rumors of witchcraft. It is being s aid that Betty has been bewitched. Parris berates his niece for dancing in the w oods with the other girls and his slave Tituba. Tituba had been intoning unintel ligible words and waving her arms above a fire while the girls danced. He demand s to know what she was singing and why he saw a dress on the ground. Had there b een nudity as well? She denies this as well as the idea that they had been pract icing witchcraft. Her uncle is concerned about the future of his position in the parish as well as his daughter's health. Abigail had recently been discharged f rom her position at Elizabeth Proctor's and since, no other family had sought he r service. Goody Proctor has insinuated that Abigail is a corrupt girl. Parris a sks if she has done something to soil her name, and therefore his. Abigail is ag ain denying wrongdoing when Ann Putnam enters and is soon followed by her husban d. Goody Putnam informs Reverend Parris that another townsperson reported seeing his daughter Betty fly over a barn. When her husband enters, he informs Parris that his daughter, Ruth, is also afflicted but her symptoms are different from B etty's. Parris begs Thomas Putnam to refrain from blaming the situation on witch craft (as it will threaten his position in the parish). Putnam feels only contem pt for Parris however, and insists that evil spirits are to blame. He compels hi s wife to confess to Parris that she sent their daughter, Ruth, to Tituba to con jure up the spirits of her seven dead children so as to find out who was to blam e for their deaths. Parris is horrified that his family was involved in conjurin g spirits though Abigail insists it was only Tituba and Ruth. Putnam again decla res that a murderous witch is at work and that Parris ought to announce the disc overy of witchcraft. As the proof is in his own home, the Reverend refuses to do this, at least until Reverend Hale arrives to investigate further. Mercy Lewis, the Putnam's servant girl, arrives saying she wants to check on Betty. As soon as the adults are gon e however, she and Abigail begin to discuss the situation. Abigail lets her know how much has been confessed and instructs her to admit to nothing more. Another girl, Mary Warren, arrives and expresses her fear that they will be accused of witchcraft. She encourages the other girls to admit to dancing and accept a whip ping. Betty cries out for her mother and screams at her cousin for having drunk a charm (blood) to kill Elizabeth Proctor. She then tries to leap from the windo w but is restrained. Abigail threatens the girls if they dare to speak about the events in the woods further. John Proctor enters and reprimands his servant, Ma ry Warren, for having left the house against his orders. She and Mercy Lewis lea ve and Abigail attempts to seduce Proctor into resuming their affair. He rejects her harshly. At this point, a psalm is heard and Betty begins to scream bringing the others r unning and interrupting Abigail and Proctor. Rebecca Nurse advises everyone that the spectacle is all a child's silliness and nothing more. She believes that Be tty and Ruth will come out of their afflicted states when they tire of the game. The adults continue to squabble, moving from the children to the issues of Parr is' preaching and his pay. They then move on to issues of property and power. Th ese are the true issues in the society. Reverend Hale arrives and the subject tu rns back to the children and the presence of witchcraft. Hale assesses the situa tion. He attempts to revive the now limp Betty while questioning Abigail. Abigai l is forced into admitting further details of the night in the woods. She quickl y jumps to blame Tituba and claims ignorance. Tituba is called for and is shocke d when Abigail accuses her. She denies being affiliated with the Devil. Abigail continues accusing until the crowd has been worked up and calls for the executio n of the slave. Tituba caves in at this point and tells the people that she is a n unwilling servant to the Devil. She says that she believes one of the Devil's

other witches is afflicting the children. She is questioned further and Putnam e ven goes as far as to suggest certain women in the town as possibly being the wi tch. Tituba picks up the hint and accuses the women, Goody Good and Goody Osburn , suggested by Putnam. Abigail suddenly rises and claims to also have seen those women with the Devil as well as Bridget Bishop. Betty catches on at this point and rises from her unconscious state to join her cousin in accusing several othe rs. index.htmlindex.htmlsummaries/act2.htmlsummaries/act2.html Act 2 advertisement Act II opens in the house of John and Elizabeth Proctor, eight days later. They begin having dinner and it gradually comes out that Mary Warren has gone into Sa lem. John Proctor had forbidden her to do so and reprimands his wife for allowin g Mary to override her. She tells John what Mary has told her about the appointm ent of a court and its proceedings regarding the girls' accusations. She tells J ohn that he must go and tell the court that Abigail is orchestrating the whole a ffair. They argue again about his past involvement with the girl and Elizabeth's continuing suspicion. Mary Warren arrives home at that moment and so Proctor tu rns his rage onto her. She hangs limp and claims illness. Proctor releases her a nd reminds her of her duty to his family. She responds by giving Elizabeth a pop pet she made for her and then updating the Proctors on the current state of affa irs in Salem. Goody Osburn has been the first sentenced to hang. Sarah Good esca ped this fate by confessing to witchcraft. Mary Warren claims that Sarah Good se nt her spirit to choke her in the courtroom and reveals that she had a key role in the evidence against Goody Good. Proctor forbids her from returning to the co urt but Mary Warren insists she is doing God's work and when threatened further, reveals that Elizabeth herself has been accused. Mary Warren says that she defe nded Elizabeth but will not reveal who brought the accusation to court. Elizabet h realizes that it was Abigail (as does John) and that she means to take her pla ce in the Proctor household. She tells John that he must now go to Abigail, rath er than the court, to stop the accusations. They argue again about the girl but John agrees to confront her. Reverend Hale arrives at that moment. He discusses Elizabeth's accusation and hi nts at suspicion regarding Rebecca Nurse. He questions the Christianity of the P roctor household. Proctor admits that he does not respect Parris as a minister. Hale asks Proctor to recite the commandments (Sarah Good's inability to do so wa s taken as proof of witchcraft). Proctor tells Hale then what Abigail revealed t o him about the true cause of their affliction. Hale is more taken with Elizabet h's denial of the existence of witches than Proctor's revelation. Giles Corey ar rives at that moment, quickly followed by Francis Nurse, reporting that their wi ves had been arrested. Rebecca Nurse has been accused of supernaturally murderin g Goody Putnam's babies. Reverend Hale attempts to defend the witch trials in th e face of this outrageous accusation. It does little to alleviate the men's ange r. Ezekiel Cheever arrives and announces that he is now the clerk of the court a nd he has a warrant for Elizabeth. He says that Abigail Williams has accused her and he has been instructed to search the house for poppets (dolls). The Proctor 's hand over the only one they have, the one Mary Warren has just given Elizabet h. Cheever bids Elizabeth to come with him but Proctor insists on sending her to fetch Mary Warren. Upon examination of the poppet, Cheever discovers a needle imbedded in it and be comes convinced of Elizabeth's guilt. They learn that Abigail had suddenly clutc hed her stomach that evening and pulled out a two-inch needle. She claimed that Elizabeth Proctor had been her assailant. Mary Warren enters and admits to havin g made the poppet and to leaving the needle in it. She states that Susanna Walco tt and Abigail had both seen her make it in court. Elizabeth displays her fury t oward Abigail. Cheever takes this as further evidence of her guilt and insists o n her arrest. Proctor turns to Hale who responds by again defending the court sy stem. Elizabeth is taken. Proctor commands Mary Warren to accompany him to court

to tell the truth about the poppet. She responds that Abigail will kill her for this and that they will only incur Abigail's wrath by going to court. Proctor r ealizes then that he must reveal his relationship with Abigail to save his wife. act1.htmlact1.htmlact3.htmlact3.html Act 3 advertisement http://media.fastclick.net/w/click.here?delivery=fastclick.com&sid=7885&sdid=765 20&m=6&c=0http://media.fastclick.net/w/click.here?delivery=fastclick.com&sid=788 5&sdid=76520&m=6&c=0 Martha Corey is on trial in the Salem meetinghouse as Act III opens. She adamant ly denies any involvement in hurting the children. Her husband bursts into the c ourtroom shouting that he has evidence of her innocence, accompanied by Francis Nurse. He is dragged out of the room by Herrick and joined by the other men of t he court. The court refuses to hear the men and is attempting to dismiss them wh en Mary Warren arrives with John Proctor. They back up the men's story that the girls are frauds. Parris desperately tries to stop their testimony. Cheever brin gs up the incident in which Proctor ripped up the warrant for his wife and the m en debate the possibility that he is attempting to make an attack on the court. They reveal that Elizabeth Proctor has claimed to be pregnant and when Proctor s till refuses to drop his charges of fraud (His wife cannot be hung as long as sh e carries an innocent child), Danforth insists that he means to attack them. Pro ctor presents a petition that attests to the innocence of the accused women. Par ris tries to disparage these people and his arguments result in warrants being d rawn up for all of them to be examined. Thomas Putnam is brought in and it is re vealed to him that Giles Corey has accused him of compelling his daughter to acc use George Jacobs in order to acquire his land. He of course, denies this. Corey refuses to reveal the source of this information for fear that this person will be arrested like those who signed the petition. He is charged with contempt of court. Proctor speaks up at this point and compels Mary Warren to admit to her i nvolvement in Abigail's game. The children are brought in. Abigail denies Mary's charges and stands by her accusations. Proctor continues to try to discredit Ab igail and when it looks like he is going to succeed, Abigail unleashes her stron gest weapon. She begins to act as though she is afflicted, and is quickly follow ed by the other girls. Her accusing eyes roam until finally settling on Mary War ren. Mary Warren tries to fight Abigail but the favor of the room is quickly sli pping away from her. Proctor, having no options left, reveals his affair with Ab igail. The men are horrified. Proctor and Abigail are instructed to turn their b acks as Elizabeth Proctor is brought in. They ask her if her husband has been un faithful. Not knowing that he has confessed and thinking of his protection, she denies it. As she is led out, Proctor tells her that he confessed it and they bo th realize that they are undone. Abigail and the other girls continue to act as though afflicted by Mary Warren until the girl finally cracks. She accuses Proct or of having used her for the Devil's work and runs into the now welcoming arms of Abigail. Proctor and Giles Corey are led off to the prison. Reverend Hale rea lizes the dishonesty of the girls at last and quits the court in protest. Act 4 advertisement http://media.fastclick.net/w/click.here?delivery=fastclick.com&sid=7885&sdid=765 20&m=6&c=0http://media.fastclick.net/w/click.here?delivery=fastclick.com&sid=788 5&sdid=76520&m=6&c=0 The final act opens that fall in the Salem jail. Several hangings are scheduled for that morning, including those of John Proctor and Rebecca Nurse. Marshal Her rick enters and shoos Sarah Good and Tituba from the room. Danforth, Hathorne, a nd Cheever arrive and ask why Reverend Hale has been allowed in the prison. They discover that Parris has allowed it and so they send for him. They discuss how Parris has seemed rather unstable lately. When he enters, they discover that Hal

e has been trying to convince Rebecca Nurse to save herself by confessing. They ask Parris why he has been troubled and it is revealed that Abigail has vanished with Mercy Lewis having taken every cent he had. Parris attempt s to convince t he men to stop the hangings, realizing that it has all been taken too far. He fe els that the townspeople no longer support it. The men refuse however, to even p ostpone the hangings as it will bring the executions that have already taken pla ce, and therefore themselves, into question. They then speak to Elizabeth Procto r, now three months pregnant, to try to convince her to compel her husband into confessing and saving himself. She promises nothing but asks to speak to him any way. When they are left alone, they discuss their baby and recent events. He has been tortured and has not heard anything. She tells him that Giles Corey was pr essed to death. He had refused to enter a plea in order to prevent his land from being forfeited. The court piled stones upon him, the idea being that he would answer under the stress of the great weight. Instead, Corey simply called for mo re weight until he was finally crushed and since he could not be convicted witho ut a plea, his sons were able to retain his land. Elizabeth tries to take the bl ame for Proctor's unfaithfulness, which causes him great pain. Hathorne enters a nd John states that he will keep his life. The men enter and begin to take his c onfession. Rebecca is brought in to hear that Proctor has given in. She is horri fied and is not moved from her position of innocence. Proctor says that he had n ever seen any of the accused women with the Devil when questioned. He states tha t his confession should be enough. When it comes time to sign it however, he is hesitant. The confession will be posted on the church door for everyone to see. He finally does sign it but then, unable to stand the lie, rips the confession t o shreds. Danforth announces his fate. Rebecca and John are led out. Hale begs E lizabeth to plead with her husband but she will not. Proctor will die an honest man, condemned by a corrupt system. act3.htmlact3.html../characterprofiles.html../characterprofiles.html Reverend Parris- Pastor of the church in Salem. He is the father of Betty and th e uncle of Abigail Williams. He believes that he is being persecuted and that th e townspeople do not respect his position as a man of God. He secures his desire s in the town by preaching fire and brimstone until the people give in. The town speople have ousted the last few pastors and Parris fears that he may be next. I t is only too easy for him to believe the girls because to not believe them woul d mean that the trouble would be in his own house (Betty and Abigail). If he can not control his own household, he may not be trusted with an entire village. Betty Parris- Daughter of the Reverend, cousin to Abigail Williams. She is a wea k girl who goes along with her cousin as soon as she is threatened. Until Abigai l gives her a valid explanation for dancing in the woods, she lies mute in her b ed, terrified of her father's reaction. She is easily made into Abigail's tool. Tituba-Servant to the Parris household. She is a native of Barbados. She is enli sted by Ruth Putnam and Abigail to cast spells and create charms. When Abigail t urns on her to save herself from punishment, Tituba confesses to all and saves h erself. Abigail Williams- Orphaned niece of Reverend Parris. She was once the lover of J ohn Proctor but was turned out when his wife discovered the affair. She is extre mely jealous of Elizabeth Proctor and uses her power in the town to rid herself of Elizabeth as well as any others who have insulted her in the past. She cannot let go of her obsession with Proctor. She is the leader of the girls. Susanna Walcott-One of the girls. She is initially sent between Parris and Dr. G riggs to determine the cause of Betty's ailment. She is easily guided by Abigail . Ann Putnam-Wife of Thomas Putnam, mother to Ruth. She is a very superstitious wo man and believes that the deaths of so many of her babies in childbirth was caus ed by supernatural means. She sends her daughter to Tituba to cast a spell to di scover the murderer. Thomas Putnam-Husband of Ann Putnam, father to Ruth. He is a powerful man in the village with a long family line. He forces his way in whatever matters benefit him and becomes extremely bitter when he doesn't succeed. He is accused of coerc

ing his daughter to accuse people, for example, George Jacobs, in order to gain their forfeited land. Mercy Lewis- Servant to the Putnam household. She is a merciless girl who seems to delight in the girls' activities. The threats Abigail uses on the other girls are unnecessary for Mercy. When Abigail eventually leaves town, Mercy goes with her. Mary Warren-Servant to the Proctor household. Abigail uses her to effectively ac cuse Elizabeth. John Proctor takes Mary to the court to confess that the girls a re only pretending. She is not strong enough to fight Abigail and as soon as Abi gail leads the other girls against her, Mary caves and runs back to her side by accusing Proctor himself. John Proctor-Husband to Elizabeth. He had an affair with Abigail when she was em ployed in his household. He knows that the girls are pretending but cannot tell what he knows without revealing having been alone with Abigail. When Abigail use s her influence to convict his wife, he tries to tell the truth and finds himsel f condemned. He refuses to admit to witchcraft or to consider Abigail as anythin g more than a lying whore. He is hanged. Rebecca Nurse-Wife to Francis Nurse. She is a pious old woman who has often acte d as a midwife for women of the town, including Ann Putnam. She is accused of wi tchcraft by the girls and convicted of the supernatural murder of the Putnam bab ies. News of her arrest reveals how out of control the situation has become and inspires Elizabeth Proctor to urge her husband to go to the court with the truth about Abigail. Rebecca refuses to admit to witchcraft to the end and is hanged. Giles Corey- Husband to Martha. He inadvertently gives out information that is l ater used against his wife. He accuses Thomas Putnam of using Ruth to condemn pe ople for his personal gain. Realizing his source will be arrested, he refuses to reveal it feeling that he has done too much damage already. He is arrested for contempt of court. He is eventually pressed to death when he refuses to enter a plea (pleading guilty or being convicted would mean forfeiture of his land, leav ing his sons with no inheritance). Reverend John Hale-He is considered to be, and considers himself, an expert on w itchcraft. He is initially summoned to determine whether the devil is in Salem a nd enthusiastically participates in the court proceedings. When he finally reali zes that the girls are lying, it is too late to change the course of action. He attempts to convince the condemned to admit to witchcraft and save themselves fr om death. Elizabeth Proctor- Wife of John Proctor. She discovered an affair going on betwe en her husband and Abigail Williams and turned Abigail out of her house. She is Abigail's main target but is saved from hanging because of her pregnancy. She fe els responsible for driving her husband to infidelity. When he decides that he w ill not lie to save himself, she supports his decision though it will leave her alone. She feels that if he must redeem himself in this way, she cannot take it from him. Francis Nurse- Husband to Rebecca Nurse. He is a respected man in the community but is ignored when he attempts to speak for his wife. The old levels of respect and power in the community are gone as the girls take over. Ezekiel Cheever- He is the clerk of the court during the witchcraft trials. It i s his job to deliver warrants for the arrest of the accused. Marshal Herrick-Marshal of Salem. Judge Hathorne- The judge presiding over the witch trials. Deputy Governor Danforth- He seems to feel particularly strongly that the girls are honest. He is sensitive to the presence of the devil and reacts explosively to whatever evidence is presented. Sarah Good- One of the accused. She admits to witchcraft to save herself from de ath. The Dead Four of the accused died in prison. As many as thirteen others als o died there, as prisoners could not be released if they had not paid their pris on expenses. The actual number of prison deaths is not accurately accounted for. As mentioned before, Giles Corey was pressed to death. The others died on Gallo ws Hill. Bridget Bishop George Burroughs Martha Carrier

Martha Corey Mary Easty Sarah Good Elizabeth Howe George Jacobs Sr. Susannah Martin Rebecca Nurse Alice Parker Mary Parker John Proctor Ann Pudeator Wilmott Redd Margaret Scott Samuel Wardwell Sara Wildes John Willard Giles Corey Sarah Osborn Roger Toothaker Lyndia Dustin Ann Foster WHO`S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOLF On June 26, 1963, John F. Kennedy traveled to West Berlin and uttered the now-fa mous statement, "Ich bin ein Berliner." Nearly two years earlier, on the night o f August 13, 1961, the Communist East German government had erected the Berlin W all. Not only did this wall physically close the border between East and West Ge rmany, separating families and prohibiting travel between the two nations, but i t soon because a potent symbol in the Cold War. In his famous speech, Kennedy declared that Berlin was a symbol of democracy and freedom. "Freedom has many difficulties and democracy is not perfect, but we ha ve never had to put a wall up to keep our people in, to prevent them from leavin g us." Indeed, Berlin became a potent and embattled symbol during the Cold War 1 960's in both politics and literature. George, the battle-weary male protagonist of Edward Albee's 1962 play Who's Afra id of Virginia Woolf? references this Cold War understanding of Berlin. In act o ne, George proclaims, "I will not give up Berlin!" George's reference to Berlin, in the heat of battle with his braying wife Martha, not only reveals the influe nce of the Cold War on Albee's play but suggests deeper and darker meanings for the symbol of Berlin than those touched upon in Kennedy's famous speech. This re ference to Cold War politics was intentional. Albee later explained in straightf orward terms the influence of the era on his play: "Here was a time when Russia was trying to take Berlin, the Berlin blockade." Berlin's symbolic power and the Cold War perception of it as an embattled site c an be traced back to geographical and historical realities. Berlin, of course, i s the capital city of Germany. When Germany was partitioned into two halves, to be administered by the Soviet Union and the Allied western powers after World Wa r II, Berlin was split in half. However, Berlin's location within the country of Germany presented specific geographical concerns. Berlin is not at the center o f Germany but rather in the eastern half of the country. West Germany, Kennedy's bastion of freedom, was therefore geographically surrounded by what became Comm unist-controlled East Germany. In 1948, after the initial partition, Soviet powers had blockaded Berlin in a le ngthy stand-off. In 1961, White House foreign policy experts worried that such a situation could easily occur again. At that time, the illegal flow of East Germ ans into West Berlin was increasing, and Germany was perceived as a pressure coo ker about to blow. Nonetheless, Washington did not expect the Soviet-controlled East German government to respond by building a wall. Therefore, Kennedy was cau ght off guard by his nemesis, Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev. Albee purposefully named the character Nick, the young Biology professor in Albe e's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, after Nikita Khrushchev. Decades later, spe aking to a group of Howard University Students, Albee explained, "I was having s ome fun writing this. It was written in 1962, and I named Nick after Nikita Khru shchev. That was a private choice." George, whose first name echoes that of Geor ge Washington, represents the old American dream. But unlike Kennedy, who found optimism in the democracy of West Berlin, Albee was led by the Cold War to conce ive of a much darker and more cynical vision of American culture. Berlin, a site in which Communism and Democracy existed side by side, their coex istence held in check only by violence and the threat of violence, understandabl y became a microcosm for the Cold War world ? divided along Eastern and Western, Communist and Democratic, lines. Similarly, the single set of Who's Afraid of V irginia Woolf?, the living room of George and Martha's house, functions as a mic

rocosm in which Edward Albee explores the destruction of the American dream. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? opened on Broadway on October 13, 1962. That sam e month, the world seemed poised on nuclear war when the United States faced off against the Soviet Union over the presence of nuclear weapons on Cuba during th e Cuban Missile Crisis. During those tense thirteen days, Kennedy and an executi ve council of advisors met and discussed the fate of the world. On October 18, o nly five days after the opening of Albee's play, when faced with the question of whether to warn Khrushchev before striking Berlin, President Kennedy mused, "An d then if he says: ?If you are going to do that, we're going to grab Berlin.' . . . He'll grab Berlin, of course. Then either way it would be, we lost Berlin, b ecause of these missiles. Albee's play was clearly a product of its time. Indeed, the profanity and hatefu l words between George and Martha that so shocked audiences in the 1960's now se em commonplace to an American public accustomed to Jerry Springer and other tele vision shows of that ilk. Such was not the case, however, in 1962 American, stil l lingering in the halcyon days of 1950's optimism. This was a time before Vietn am, before Watergate, before the Camelot era ended with Kennedy's assassination. Honey and Nick, the young married couple who stumble into George and Martha's ma rital battlefield, are products of that era. Notably, Albee does not praise them or set them up as standards of perfection. Rather, he demonstrates that at thei r cores, they are hollow and flawed. Honey and Nick function as surrogates for t he audience inducted into George and Martha's chaotic world. In recognizing thei r commonality with this young couple, the audience is forced to comprehend Albee 's criticism of the American dream. At the time that Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? was produced, Albee was already a successful and noteworthy new playwright, most well known for his one-act, Th e Zoo Story. Both plays showcase his talent for combining realism and absurdism. The audience ? the very audience whose dreams and assumptions Albee sought to cr itique ? was immediately polarized by Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?. The play was an enormous commercial success. Many audience members and critics lauded it as revolutionary and as marking a new era in American drama. Within the decade, Albee became the second most produced playwright, after Shakespeare, on college campuses. (Albee's biggest competition for that spot was with Eugene Ionesco, an other absurdist playwright.) But many of the people who saw Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? during its 1962 r un found its language and sexual content shocking and labeled it "perverse" and "dirty minded." While this debate raged far and wide, even among those who had n ot seen the play, it had specific ramifications in the world of theater critics. The committee selected to chose the play that would be awarded the Pulitzer Priz e for Drama in 1962 voted to make Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? the winner. Ho wever, the Pulitzer Prize is overseen by Columbia University, and the trustees o f the university decided that Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'s explicit languag e, interest in "taboo" subjects, and controversial public reception made it the wrong choice. Though it had won the vote, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? did no t receive the award, which was not given to any play that year as a result. Nonetheless, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? won the New York Drama Critics Circ le Award and the Tony Award for Best Play that year. Albee has won three Pulitze rs in years since. The production, which ran at the Billy Rose Theatre, featured Uta Hagen as Martha, Arthur Hill as George, George Grizzard as Nick, and Melind a Dillon as Honey, and was directed by Alan Schneider. In 1966, Mike Nichols directed a film adaptation of the controversial play, star ring famous and controversial then-couple Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton as Martha and George. Sandy Dennis played Honey, and George Segal played Nick. Stu dio honcho Jack Warner insisted on maintaining the integrity of the play, and Th e screenplay, adapted by Ernest Lehman, preserved virtually all of Albee's dialo gue, though it did open up the locations of the one-set play beyond George and M artha's living room. The film was shot on-location as Smith College in Northampt

on, Massachusetts. Albee's play was without a doubt the product of an era. With the fall of the Ber lin Wall and the end of the Cold War, that era game to an end, but the power of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? lives on. Act One, "Fun and Games," opens at two o'clock on a Sunday morning as middle-age d couple George and Martha return home from a faculty party at a small college i n the New England town of New Carthage. Over the course of the scene, as Martha bickers with George, we learn that George is a going-nowhere history professor, while Martha is the daughter of the college president. She soon informs him that she has invited a new member of the Math Department over for drinks. Martha als o loudly sings, "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" a joke of a song they heard at the faculty party and is angry that George doesn't laugh. Before their guests a rrive, George warns her not to do "the bit about the kid." Their guests are Nick, a blond 30-year-old professor in the Biology Department, and his wife Honey. Nick and Honey are somewhat shocked at being thrown into the war zone that is Martha and George's marriage. While Honey copes by drinking br andy after Brandy, Nick attempts to insinuate himself into his hosts' good grace s. Drunken Martha is shamelessly flirting with him immediately. Martha goes off to show Honey to the bathroom. While the women are gone, George bitterly suggest s that Nick will take over the Biology Department and the college. When Honey re turns, she mentions that she didn't know George and Martha had a son. George is furious at Martha, who has told Honey that their son, whose 21st birthday is tom orrow, will be returning home the next day. Martha, who has changed into a seductive outfit, continues shamelessly flirting with Nick and insulting George, telling a story about how she punched George whe n he refused to join in a boxing match with her father. George grows fed up and leaves the room. He comes back with a rifle and shocks everyone by firing it at Martha. A parasol, not a bullet, erupts from the barrel. The tension dissipates a bit and George, much to Martha's chagrin, insists on talking about their son. The two argue which has been the worse influence on the boy, and Martha proceeds with her tact of humiliation by telling Nick and Honey how George is flop who f ailed to take over the History Department, as she'd anticipated when they got ma rried. Their shouting match ends when George grabs Honey and dances around with her while singing "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" Honey rushes off to the bath room to be sick. Act Two, "Walpurgisnacht," opens as Martha is making coffee in the kitchen. Geor ge learns from Nick that he married Honey because she was pregnant with what end ed up being a hysterical pregnancy. The added bonus is that she is rich, left mo ney by her evangelist father. He half-jokingly confides his plan to rise to powe r at the college by sleeping with wives of important faculty members. George sha res an anecdote of a boy, whom he says he knew in prep school, who ordered "berg in" at a gin joint with his friends. This boy had accidentally killed his mother with a shotgun, and a year later, with his learners permit in his pocket, he cr ashed into a tree and killed his father. Martha and Honey return. Martha is even more blatant in her flirtation with Nick . When Honey declares that she wants to do Interpretive Dance, Martha takes the opportunity to dance with Nick in a blatant lascivious manner. George gets fed u p when Martha continues to insult him, suggesting that the boy who ordered "berg in" and killed his parents was George and mocking his failed attempt at publishi ng a novel. He tries to strangle her, but Nick pulls him off. George announces it's time for a new game. They've just finished playing Humilia te the Host, and there will be time for Hump the Hostess later. Now, it's time f or Get the Guests. George toys with a confused Honey by telling her a story of a girl named Mousie who puffed up and whose puff went "poof." Honey again runs of f to be sick again. While Honey is lying on the cool tile of the bathroom floor, George turns his ba ck to Martha and Nick, who begin to kiss and grope on the couch. Martha is annoy ed that George is not paying attention and getting angry. She and Nick eventuall

y move off to the kitchen, bumping into the doorbell chimes on the way. Honey st umbles out to the living room, still half in her dream, telling George that she heard bells. Honey's half-coherent mumblings reveal that she's terrified of havi ng children and has actually been secretly preventing getting pregnant. Honey's continued talk of bells gives George an idea of how to get even with Martha he'l l tell her he received a telegram that said that their son is dead. Act Three, "The Exorcism," opens as Martha wanders onstage alone. Drunk and exha usted, she launches into a confused monologue which reveals her desperation and loneliness. She says that she and George cry all the time, then freeze their tea rs into ice cubes for their drinks. Nick comes back onstage, wondering what has happened. George is gone, and Honey is back in the bathroom. Martha calls him a flop and reveals his impotence, surprising him when she tells him that George is the only one who can satisfy her. She tells Nick not to believe appearances and praises George's ability to learn the games as quickly as she can change the ru les. Nick is furious and grows more so when Martha continually refers to him as a hou seboy and a gigolo. When the doorbell starts ringing, she tells the houseboy to get it. It's George, hiding behind a bouquet of flowers, quoting a line from Ten nessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire: "Flores para los muertos." George pre tends to be a Western Union man and acts as if he's mistaken Nick for his and Ma rtha's son. Nick gets fed up and calls them vicious, and George and Martha join together in deriding them. Soon, George and Martha launch into another series of arguments over seemingly m eaningless topics whether or not there is a moon that night, whether or not Geor ge has taken a trip to Majorca that continually reference truth and illusion. Ge orge starts throwing his bouquet of snapdragons at Martha, telling her their mar riage has gone snap. George drags Honey back into the room and announces one last game, Bringing Up B aby, to be played to the death. Honey, very drunk and holding a bottle, wants to play Peel the Label instead. George assures her they have. George begins to tel l a rehearsed story about their son, scared away by Martha's overbearing presenc e. Martha counters with a story of her own describing an idealized childhood. Du ring her story, George begins to chant the Requiem. In the midst of this, Honey suddenly cries out that she wants a child. Martha begins to blame George for dra gging the boy down with him, and their argument intensifies. Honey pleads for th em to stop. Slowly and deliberately, George tells Martha that their son is dead. He was driv ing on a country road, swerved to avoid a porcupine, and crashed into a tree, th e exact details of the "bergin" boy's story. Martha is furious and yells that Ge orge has no right to do this. George insists that those were always the rules of the game, and that once she broke the rules by mentioning their son, he had no other choice. Nick finally realizes that the son is imaginary, and George confir ms his suspicions. They couldn't have any children. He suggests Nick and Honey g o home. The last few minutes of the play are quiet and tender. George assures Martha tha t things will be better and says a quiet no to her suggestion that they create a nother child. He begins to sing her "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" as a sort of lullaby, and Martha answers, "I am." 34