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Paper Lantern and Paper Moon
Both Stanley and Blanche drink frequently throughout the play. When Stanley gets drunk, his masculinity becomes exaggerated: he grows increasingly physical, violent, and brutal. Stanley makes a show of drinking, swaggering and openly pouring himself shots. Blanche hides her alcoholism, constantly claiming that she rarely drinks while secretly sneaking frequent shots. She uses drinking as an escape mechanism.
Alcohol and Drunkenness Quotes in A Streetcar Named Desire
The A Streetcar Named Desire quotes below all refer to the symbol of Alcohol and Drunkenness. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Scene 3
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STELL-LAHHHHH!
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Scene 9
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I told you already I don’t want none of his liquor and I mean it. You ought to lay off his liquor. He says you’ve been lapping it up all summer like a wild-cat!
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Scene 10
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Tiger–tiger! Drop the bottle-top! Drop it! We’ve had this date with each other from the beginning!
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Alcohol and Drunkenness Symbol Timeline in A Streetcar Named Desire
The timeline below shows where the symbol Alcohol and Drunkenness appears in A Streetcar Named Desire. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Scene 1
...bed for Blanche, and the bedroom. Suddenly, Blanche springs up to the closet, finds a whiskey bottle, and quickly takes a drink. After replacing the bottle and washing the glass, she...
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...the physical and social surroundings slip into her effusive greetings. She asks Stella for a drink to calm her nerves, though simultaneously insisting that she’s not a drunk. Once the drink...
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...that Stella does not have a maid in the two-room flat, and she takes another drink.
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...makes small talk with Blanche, who is stiff and a little hectic. Stanley pulls the whiskey bottle out to take a drink, noting its depletion.
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Scene 3
...green shade, the men are dressed in bright colors, and they are eating watermelon and drinking whiskey. The men deal out yet another hand of poker. Mitch worries that he should...
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...there, and as he waits he and Blanche begin to flirt. Both are a little drunk.
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Scene 5
A while later, Stanley comes in and says that Eunice is getting a drink at the Four Deuces, which Stella says is much more “practical” than going to the...
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...morbidly. Blanche asks for a shot of alcohol in the Coke, and Stella pours some whiskey into a glass, insisting that she likes waiting on her sister. Blanche hysterically promises to...
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...collecting subscriptions for the Evening Star newspaper. Blanche flirts with the boy, offering him a drink, and attempts to seduce him, calling him a young Arabian prince. She kisses him on...
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Scene 9
...stage directions say that the music is playing in Blanche’s mind and that she is drinking to escape it.
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...the doorbell. The polka stops. Blanche hurriedly puts on powder and perfume and hides the liquor before letting Mitch in. She greets him with a hectic and excited chiding and offers...
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Mitch asks Blanche to turn off the fan. She offers him a drink. Mitch says that he doesn’t want Stanley’s liquor, but Blanche replies that she has her...
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Blanche pretends to happen upon the liquor bottle in the closet and pretends that she doesn’t know what Southern Comfort is. Mitch...
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Scene 10
It is still later that night. Blanche has been drinking steadily since Mitch left. She has dressed herself in a white satin gown and her...
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...slams the door, and gives a low whistle when he sees Blanche. Stanley is also drunk. He says that the baby won’t come until morning, so the doctors sent him home...
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Unable to find a bottle opener, Stanley pounds a beer bottle on the corner of the table and lets the...
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Stanley continues to advance toward Blanche. She smashes a bottle on the table and waves the broken end of the top at him. He springs...
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