“Stanley…reaches way over the table to spear his fork into the remaining chop which he eats with his fingers…He hurls a plate to the floor” (130-131)
Stanley’s actions throughout Blanche’s birthday dinner further place him in an animalistic light. His lack of manners and aggressive “hurl[ing]” of a plate onto the floor causes the reader to sympathize more with Blanche’s opposition to her sister’s husband. Initially, Blanche is depicted as arrogant as she deems Stella's lifestyle's inferior to the one which they were raised in at Belle Reve. Her superior attitude renders the audience to be skeptical of her opinions; however, Stanley’s perpetual rudeness, bestial behavior, and sporadic aggressive actions give justification for Blanche’s objection to Stanley. The more prominent Stanley’s uncivilized persona becomes, the more Blanche’s hostility towards him is seen as concern rather than as arrogance. While she does deem him “common,” Blanche’s objection to Stanley’s animalism is derived from concern for her sister’s well being.
Mary-You make an intriguing claim here about the audience's shift in opinion or sympathy toward Blanche, suggesting that we see her more and more as someone to side with over Stanley. I do wonder about the last point about Blanche's motivation; might it not be because she's jealous-and perhaps jealous of each of them for separate reasons?
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