The Poker night- Scene 3 opening Stage Directions

Scene III is perhaps one of the most important scenes in the entire play for numerous reasons;
indeed, Williams was on the verge of naming the play after it, such is its significance. Certainly, it is
the only scene with a short, one-line title which immediately introduces the audience to the theme
of fate (a concept which features a great deal in games of chance such as poker), and how it dooms
Blanche from the very beginning. This ties into the analysis in my last essay which included the
notion of how a ‘streetcar’ cannot veer off its set track, much like Blanche is unable to steer away
from her unfortunate fate.

The Stage directions

The stage directions at the beginning of the scene are very interesting in themselves, and the images
invoked by them present a whole host of things to analyse:

‘There is a picture of Van Gogh’s of a billiard-parlour at night’- There are a great many things which
could be said about this particular line as the painting referenced holds so many connotations and
nuggets of analysis, but perhaps its biggest importance is not the scene depicted in the picture, but
rather the colours used within it. As part of the Post-impressionist art movement in the 1880s, Gogh
used very bold simplified colours and definitive forms within his pieces, which could certainly be
taken as a metaphor for the men gathered in the room; they are ‘as coarse and direct and powerful
as the primary colours’. These strong dominating colours are undeniably juxtaposed with the ‘white
skirt’ and ‘pink silk brassiere’ worn by Blanche mere moments later, a symbolic technique perhaps
used by Williams to foreshadow the ruthless masculine dominance which will threaten to overpower
the vulnerable women in the coming scene. The colours included in Gogh’s work are raw,
unsoftened by lighter shades, and thus Williams could be commenting on the crude, realistic ugliness
of life in a New America which was flawed with problems inherited from the old South, such as the
strong and powerful (Stanley) taking advantage of the weak and vulnerable (Blanche). Certainly, Van
Gogh himself said that the vivid greens and reds were an ‘attempt to express the terrible passions of
humanity’ which, one could argue, are the centre of the entire plot of the play; the ‘terrible
passions’, desires and lust of the protagonists clash together in a vivid, unruly whirlpool, and
Williams thus foreshadows the terrible scenes to come (indeed, we see a great deal of mental
conflict within Stella at the end of the scene in which her almost irresistible sexual desire once again
pushes her back into her toxic relationship with Stanley even after the abuse she endured).

‘Lurid nocturnal brilliance, the raw colours of childhood’s spectrum’

Yet aside from using the intense, dominant colours in order to highlight the primality and masculinity
encapsulated in the poker night, Williams arguably creates an almost dream-like obscurity and
haziness in the stage directions; in doing so he possibly attempts to emphasise the fast-paced
confusion of New Orleans in New America which Blanche is unable to adapt herself to as Williams
once again highlights her as incongruous to the settings. Indeed, the use of the quasi-oxymoronic
phrase ‘lurid nocturnal brilliance’ in which the adjective [‘lurid’]’s unpleasant connotations of an
unbearably bright colour juxtaposed with the abstract noun ‘brilliance’ bares a startling resemblance
to the dizzying and disturbing sensation of ‘hypnopompic hallucinations’; realistic, intense and
disturbing dreams experienced directly before waking up. Perhaps in subtly referencing this
condition (which would have been rather close to Williams’ heart due to the hallucinations
experienced by his sister Rose), Williams possibly suggests how Blanche is inevitably going to wake
up from her dreamy, naïve outlook on the world, ultimately leading her into a downwards spiral into
madness.
Whether one believes the previous piece of analysis to be extremely tenuous, there is no denying
that the ‘lurid’ nature of the room with its piercingly vibrant colours not only conjures an unsettling,
unnatural atmosphere in order to further highlight Blanche’s alienation from the New-American
society upon her entry into the Scene, but the double meaning of the adjective ‘lurid’ could also be
of significance; by definition the adjective alternatively refers to an idea presented in “vividly
shocking or sensational terms” and thus Williams perhaps forewarns the audience of the shocking
abuse and treatment of Stella which we are about to witness. In highlighting this, Williams perhaps
seeks to address the mistreatment and domination of women which had become commonplace
after the war as society reverted back to stereotypical gender roles in the household; he once again
speaks out against the mistreatment of the weak due to the strong.

‘And they are men at the peak of their physical manhood, as coarse and direct and powerful as the
primary colours’

The idea that these 4 men are at the ‘peak of their physical manhood’ holds rather impressive
connotations, as though Williams attempts to emphasise them to be prime examples of what the
American Dream and New America have to offer; drinking, fun and games balanced by hard work.
Certainly, throughout the play Stanley is emphasised as being the stereotypical dominant, working
husband who provides for the family with ruthless dedication. Certainly, we could argue that
Williams utilises sentence structure here with the syndetic phrase ‘as coarse and direct and
powerful’ in order to highlight their physical manliness; through using this device Williams creates a
certain sense of unpremeditated multiplicity, as though upon contemplating on how to describe the
men’s’ force and brawn, a whole smorgasbord of powerful adjectives come to mind, highlighting
them to be a prime example of New American masculinity. Alternatively, the phrasal parallelism
used in the sentence here is perhaps symbolic of the ‘peak’ of their physical manhood; if the men
are symbolic of the industrial, prosperous New America, then perhaps by using the imagery of a
mountain ‘peak’, Williams highlights how without social reform (1000-word checkpoint! Keep going
you’re doing great!), the American Dream and New America will go “Downhill” very rapidly due to
the racial discrimination, sexism and class prejudice of the time.

Mitch in Scene 3

‘I gotta sick mother. She don’t go to sleep until I come in at night’- There is a terrible simplicity to the
first, short phrase which stimulates, in my opinion, a great deal of sympathy for Mitch who shows his
compassionate and “feminine” side in order to care for his ill mother. It is interesting then, that this
good deed only seems to herald an onslaught of verbal abuse from Stanley, and thus Williams
perhaps attempts to show here the harsh reality of the New America, in which the strong and cold-
hearted thrive and the weak and sentimental are preyed upon by the former. He certainly acts as the
antithesis of Stanley; whereas Williams uses a plethora of zoomorphic metaphors referring to
Stanley’s primal dominance like that of a wild predator, Mitch is immediately dismissed by Stella as
not being ‘a wolf’, highlighting even further that in New America it is the survival of the fittest, and
Mitch is far from being the top predator. Certainly, the idea that he'll ‘be alone when she goes’ even
further heightens our sympathy for him by highlighting his loneliness and isolation; perhaps Williams
includes this in order to show how Mitch acts as a chance of redemption for Blanche as their
personalities and positions in life appear to complement each-other perfectly. Moreover, we could
argue that Williams seeks to further the audience’s sympathy for Mitch through his awkward
descriptions of Mitch’s actions, which all conjure very definite connotations of someone with autism;
at the time it would have been especially difficult to thrive in New America if you had this disorder,
and a study even showed that out of 100 fathers with autistic children, 89 of them neglected these
children because of their condition, and thus Williams perhaps seeks to raise awareness about such
matters. Alternatively, as many critics have suggested, Williams could be using Mitch as an
expression of repressed homosexuality; he does, after all, possess “stereotypically gay traits” such as
his living with and caring for his ill mother and his lack of marriage, and thus verbal abuse he suffers
as a result of these things from Stanley is perhaps used by Williams in order to highlight the terrible
prejudices against homosexuality at the time. Indeed, it was a crime at the time to engage in sexual
activities with someone of the same gender, and thus Williams is perhaps using Mitch as a platform
to vent his homosexuality or even call for social reform to reduce the prejudice which forced those
like Williams to keep up the appearance of being heterosexual.

Stanley’s True Colours?

Perhaps one of the most significant aspects of Scene 3 is that Williams gives an insight into what is
arguably the true nature of Stanley’s character; aggressive, brutal, abusive and a raging alcoholic.
Certainly, his attempts to control the choices of Mitch in relations to Blanche suggest a cruel and
unfaithful jealousy of her attraction to him, whilst his terrible rage and consequent abuse of Stella
really highlight to the audience the toxic nature of their relationship.

‘He was looking through them drapes’

‘Deal!’

Throughout Scene 3 Williams highlights Stanley’s jealousy of Mitch due to Blanche’s seemingly
unwavering attraction to him in order to highlight Stanley’s unfaithful and toxic relationship with
Stella. Certainly, Williams’ use of Stanley’s almost incessantly repeated enquiries into whether Mitch
will play another round of poker, highlights his desire to prevent Blanche from speaking to him; it is
as if Williams references once again the primal urges within Stanley, as though he were marking his
territory (Blanche) and guarding it from other potential rivals nearby. Indeed, Williams’ use of
extremely aggressive verbs throughout this section when describing Stanley as he ‘jerks roughly’ and
‘lurches up’ suggests his increasing hostility throughout the scene as if he were using his masculine
violence and power to show his dominance over the other men, and the two women, in his
apartment. This dominance is perhaps highlighted most clearly in the short, mostly monosyllabic
imperative commands used repeatedly throughout the scene, such as when he commands Steve to
‘Deal!’. Indeed, the exclamatory nature of the phrases combined with the harsh plosive sounds
featured within them both go to further the aggressive, violent tone adopted by Stanley in order to
show his power over the other men; the plosives very effectively mimic the venom with which the
words are said, as if he were spitting them out with impatience and rising anger.

‘You hens cut out that conversation in there’

It is interesting to note Williams’ use of the metaphor ‘hens’ which has several analytical
interpretations. Perhaps most primarily, it suggests Stanley’s attempts to objectify and dehumanise
the women; it is as though they are nothing more than livestock to him through which he can profit
as they present an opportunity to vent his sexual desire. Alternatively, Williams’ inclusion of the
noun ‘hens’ is possibly a reference to the previous joke told my Steve in which a ‘young hen comes
lickety split’ around the house with a ‘rooster right behind her’. Indeed, this reference is possibly
utilised by Williams to highlight the mindset of Stanley who is symbolised by the rooster; he shows
dominance and extreme sexual desire towards Blanche and Stella unless money is at stake,
symbolised by the corn, at which point his materialistic instincts take complete control as he seeks to
profit in any way possible. Certainly, this was the case with Stanley’s suspicions about Blanche’s
‘swindling’ in Scene 2, in regard to which he was extremely business-like, rapidly stemming his
sexual lust for Blanche whilst he talked about finance.

‘Stanley stalks fiercely through the portières’……’with a shouted oath he tosses the instrument out of
the window’

Williams really emphasises Stanley’s hostility, anger and violence in response to Blanche’s attempts
at dominance when she disobeys his command to keep (2000-word checkpoint!! WOOOOO keep it
up) the radio turned off here. Indeed, the zoomorphic verb ‘stalks’ combined with the adverb
‘fiercely’ conjuring terrible connotations of a powerful tiger, prowling through the undergrowth, and
thus Williams links Stanley once again to primality, beastliness and primitive fury. Certainly, the
abundance of sibilance all the way through this passage not only helps to create a very sinister
atmosphere but it also aurally lends itself to the zoomorphic idea stated previously by mimicking the
rustling sound of a savage wildcat passing through undergrowth as it hunts down its prey. The idea
that Stanley bellowed an ‘oath’ upon throwing the radio out of the window could also be analysed.
On one hand we could argue that the phrase shows only Stanley’s intense anger and rage, as he
explodes with a violent profanity, yet I believe Williams also utilises a double entendre here; by
definition an oath is a pledge of one’s future actions, and thus Williams shows the inevitability of
Blanche’s downfall as he suggests how Stanley vows to destroy her. Thus, Williams perhaps links this
to the idea that Stanley’s rape of Blanche was a date that they’d had ‘from the beginning’; he took
an oath to do everything in his power to crush her into the dirt. Moreover, it is interesting that the
radio, an object of art and music, is described as being ‘small and white’ by Williams; it brings
connotations of the initial description of Blanche’s white clothes and purity, and in making this
subtle reference Williams perhaps even further foreshadows her eventual downfall.

‘Charges after Stella’

He advances and disappears. There’s the sound of a blow. Stella cries out. The men rush forward and
there is grappling and cursing.

Once again, we are hit by another extremely effective zoomorphic phrase in which Stanley ‘Charges’
after Stella, conjuring strong connotations of a wild beast, unstoppable in its extreme power and
momentum, highlighting Stanley dangerous strength and dominance. Indeed, the idea that he beats
his wife with a harsh ‘blow’ really highlights the terrible nature of their toxic relationship. The very
aggressive imagery is heightened by the abundant plethora of plosive sounds utilised throughout
this passage, almost rhythmic in nature such as in the phrase ‘sound of a blow’, such that Williams is
able to aurally mimic the appalling sound of Stanley’s thumping strikes, making the horror of the
scene even more vivid for the audience. Indeed, the sentence structure used here is also notable;
Williams really makes use of an abundance of very short, jerking sentences to create a confused,
halting flow, as though symbolising the rapid deterioration of the situation. Moreover, the violent
chaos is heightened even further by the following syndetic sentence in which the repetition of the
conjunction ‘and’ rapidly increases the pace of the passage, creating a feeling of adrenaline, energy
and turmoil as if recreating the sensory overload, one would experience were they there first hand.

Yet despite his terrible drunk abuse of her, we could argue that Stanley does indeed truly love her as
can be seen from his eventual guilt, shame and despair.

‘play “Paper Doll” slow and blue’

‘My baby doll’s left me!’

‘he breaks into sobs….still shuddering with sobs.’

Williams certainly highlights Stanley’s extremely emotional anguish at his own terrible mistakes
through describing how he ‘breaks into sobs’ whilst ‘shuddering’. The verb ‘breaks’ is perhaps
utilised by Williams to emphasise Stanley’s emotional fragility; perhaps Williams uses this to broach
the subject of the burden placed on Stanley in attempting to maintain his image of dominance and
masculinity when in fact without Stella he is nothing. Indeed, by showing the audience this
extremely vulnerable side of Stanley right after the atrocities of the previous scene, perhaps
Williams cleverly utilises plot structure to bring about a conflict within the audience as to their
feelings towards his character; on one hand he is abusive and toxic yet on the other he appears to
genuinely love Stella for he is nothing without her. Indeed, the verb ‘shuddering’ utilised by Williams
conjures definite connotations of the involuntary symptoms of shock, as though so great is his
remorse that he no longer has control over his body; he is appalled at his own actions and believes
he has paid the ultimate price in Stella leaving him. Even further, Williams arguably uses plastic
theatre to emphasise the distraught nature of Stanley; the ‘slow and blue’ piano music aids the
mournful tone of the passage. Alternatively, we could once again argue that Williams attempts to
show how Stanley’s love for Stella is only a façade; he ultimately seeks to completely dominate and
control Stella as one would a ‘doll’. Indeed, the moral of the song ‘Paper doll’ is that it is better to
have a fake doll than a real one as the latter will leave you due to fickleness; Williams highlights how
Stella once again slips back into the role of being a fake ‘paper doll’ once more after the fight as
Stanley once more gains toxic dominance over her.

‘[With heaven-splitting violence] STELL-LAHHHHHH!’

It is rather interesting from an analytical perspective to see Stanley’s reaction to Stella leaving him; it
was because of his violence that she ran away, and yet it is with ‘heaven-splitting violence’ that he
lures her back. Thus, by emphasising this Williams perhaps highlights the massive role which
violence has in their relationship; indeed, it is referenced later that Stella is ‘-sort of-thrilled by it’,
and thus by highlighting how Stanley’s violence only goes to heighten Stella’s desire for him,
Williams once again explores “the terrible passions of humanity” depicted in the Van Goh painting at
the beginning of the Scene. When thinking about the meaning of this contextually and the idea of
Stanley’s symbolism of New America, we could argue that Williams attempts to highlight the
problems within ‘New America’ which needed to be addressed before it could advance properly.
Certainly, Stella’s sexual desire for Stanley means that she wrongly looks past Stanley’s brutish
violence; Williams condemns the fact that many people (3000-word Checkpoint!!! Nearly there!)
selfishly chose to turn a blind eye to the terrible problems such as class-division, racism and sexism
which plagued New America, as they believed that in the wider picture New America promised to
bring them great prosperity. The use of the extremely hyperbolic metaphor ‘heaven-splitting
violence’ really highlights Stanley’s intense emotions and despair; such is the magnitude of his
screams that they appear to tear the very fabric of the atmosphere apart, connoting one of the
Greek Titans, emphasising his incredibly strong desire for her to return to him.

‘The low-tone clarinet moans’

‘They come together with low, animal moans…..’Her eyes go blind with tenderness’

Williams makes Stella’s and Stanley’s desire for each other extremely obvious in this scene through
his use of several words derived from the lexical field of sensuality and sex. Certainly, Williams’
description of the sounds made by the two as they come together conjures extremely sexual
connotations; the zoomorphic idea of the ‘low, animal moans’ suggests how they are reduced
almost to a primitive, wild desire, such is their lust for each other. Moreover, Williams compliments
the titillating scene with the very emotive plastic theatre of the ‘low-tone clarinet moans’; not only
does this music mimic the passionate sounds made by Stella and Stanley, but the personification of
the instrument even further aids the sexual atmosphere created, as though everything, even the
‘low-tone clarinet’ has been infected with the animal-like lust and desire possessed by the Kowalskis.
It is interesting, however, to not how Stella’s ‘eyes go blind with tenderness’; Williams could, as
suggested in the previous paragraph, be suggesting how Stella’s primal lust for Stanley renders her
blind to his terrible toxicity and abusiveness. Indeed, the personification of her ‘eyes’ really
emphasises her yearning for Stanley; such is the magnitude of her desire that it is as if she had lost
control of her own body as her wild sexual instincts take firm hold of her actions. She has become a
doll once more for Stanley to play with, highlighting his dominance over her through her sexual
desire for him.