Seven card stud is a variant of poker where each player gets two cards that only they see and five cards (given to them one at a time) that all other players can see. In between each card given to the players, there is a round of betting. The goal is to make the best hand of poker out of the seven cards you are given. It is clear that this quote would have been directly linked with Williams' second-in-line title "The Poker Night."
The game that was being played throughout the play, instead of poker, was a struggle between Blanche and Stanley to see who would get Stella. Blanche was bluffing and lying about her state in order to get Stella to leave Stanley. In response, Stanley calls her bluff by giving Blanche bus tickets back to Laurel. The constant distribution of cards in seven card stud reflect the mounting tension between Blanche and Stanley. This tension ultimately climaxes at the "rape" scene in scene 10 where Blanche gives in to the desire, hence the actual title of the play. This desire that she gives into was what made Stella go with Stanley in the first place. This makes any attempt made by Blanche to try to convince Stella to ignore that desire irrelevant. After Blanche's madness peaked at the end of the play (foreshadowed by the coke overflowing from Blanche's glass in scene 5), it was clear that she had lost the game. This was reinforced by the fact that Stanley, the animal-like and territorial man that he is, is seen "finding the opening of [Stella's] blouse." The audience sees him taking pride and relishing the prize, Stella and her child, that he has won.
good comment, Alex! The fact that Williams ends the play with this quote, additionally, signals that he's using this as a pessimistic metaphor for life. Pretty deep when you think about it.
Seven card stud is a variant of poker where each player gets two cards that only they see and five cards (given to them one at a time) that all other players can see. In between each card given to the players, there is a round of betting. The goal is to make the best hand of poker out of the seven cards you are given. It is clear that this quote would have been directly linked with Williams' second-in-line title "The Poker Night."
ReplyDeleteThe game that was being played throughout the play, instead of poker, was a struggle between Blanche and Stanley to see who would get Stella. Blanche was bluffing and lying about her state in order to get Stella to leave Stanley. In response, Stanley calls her bluff by giving Blanche bus tickets back to Laurel.
The constant distribution of cards in seven card stud reflect the mounting tension between Blanche and Stanley. This tension ultimately climaxes at the "rape" scene in scene 10 where Blanche gives in to the desire, hence the actual title of the play. This desire that she gives into was what made Stella go with Stanley in the first place. This makes any attempt made by Blanche to try to convince Stella to ignore that desire irrelevant.
After Blanche's madness peaked at the end of the play (foreshadowed by the coke overflowing from Blanche's glass in scene 5), it was clear that she had lost the game. This was reinforced by the fact that Stanley, the animal-like and territorial man that he is, is seen "finding the opening of [Stella's] blouse." The audience sees him taking pride and relishing the prize, Stella and her child, that he has won.
good comment, Alex! The fact that Williams ends the play with this quote, additionally, signals that he's using this as a pessimistic metaphor for life. Pretty deep when you think about it.
ReplyDelete