The audience is aware that Blanche is on edge throughout the scene, this is emphasised by her visible wincing at each noise that Stanley creates.
He jerks open the bureau drawer, slams it shut, and throws shoes in a
corner. At each noise BLANCHE winces slightly.
Not only does this emphasis the anxiety Blanche is feeling but it also illustrates further to the audience how the tension between Blanche and Stanley is building. Stanley pushes her further when he begins to question her about a man named “Shaw”. This makes Blanche paranoid as she believes that “unkind gossip” about her past has been brought all the way from Laurel.
The mention of “Shaw” appears to make Blanche want to confide some of what she has been through to Stella and has a slight outburst. Stella however, ignores this, as she believes that Blanche is being “morbid”, again building the tension and expressing Blanche’s anxiety.
Blanche appears to behave in a way that suggests she does not believe that her sister’s way of life is real. This is shown through the way in which Blanche reacts to the fight between Steve and Eunice, asking brightly “Did he kill her?” as though it were a play or a story. Another example is when she announces that she is “compiling a notebook of quaint little words and phrases” that she learns, suggesting that she sees this as a learning experience.
The final example of Blanche’s play-acting is her encounter with the young man, the way in which she flirts, kisses him and then tells him to “Run along now!” comes across as unreal and made up. It is as though Blanche is living in her own dream world and living out fantasies. Another interpretation of this encounter is that she is searching for love and romance or perhaps the love she once experienced with her young husband that she lost. Whatever the interpretation, they all suggest that she is not living in the moment but either a made up one or in the past.
The instability of Blanche’s character is shown through not only her want and apparent need of alcohol “a shot never does a coke any harm” but her constant lying. At the beginning of the scene Blanche is writing a letter to Shep. Huntleigh in which she makes up a life which herself, her sister and her sister’s friends are supposedly living. Again this shows her living in a dream world. She also lies about her age and past and even admits that she wants to deceive Mitch.
“I want to deceive him enough to make him – want me”
The abrupt changes in Blanche’s mood again represent her instability and anxiety. This is clear when she changes from flirting with Stanley about his star sign to panicking because of a name that he has mentioned.
The tension between the characters is shown to become a three-way build up when Stanley refuses to give Stella “one kiss” in front of her sister. The audience is aware of the tension built from this situation as earlier on in Scene one, Stella makes it clear that she is drawn to Stanley because of their sexual interaction when she declares that she “can hardly stand it when he is away for a night…”. The climax of the scene comes from Blanche giving a piercing cry when the coke Stella is pouring foams over onto Blanche’s clean white skirt – which is a possible symbol for her purity.
Overall, Williams makes the audience aware of Blanche’s increasing anxiety throughout the scene using several techniques, in particular the actions and noises Blanche is directed to make. The tension is introduced from the start and although climaxes half way through, the tension can still be felt and is continued into the next scene.
