1. Tiffany Wallis
Essay Question: Analyse scene 9, how is the grammar used effectively? What
other techniques does Williams use?
Here is an extract from Scene 9. (96) Blanche: ‘My, my, what a cold shoulder! And a
face like a thundercloud! And such uncouth apparel! Why, you haven’t even shaven!
The unforgiveable insult to a lady! But I forgive you. I forgive you because it’s such a
relief to see you. You’ve stopped that polka tune that I had caught in my head. Have
you ever had anything caught in your head? Some words, a piece of music? That
goes relentlessly on and on in your head? No, of course you haven’t, you dumb
angel-puss, you’d never get anything awful caught in your head!’This extract is from
scene 9, where Mitch has just arrived to see Blanche and he is acting very
differently. She talks a lot in this part, answering her own questions and talking on
and on, it seems to be rushed. This extract is effective because of the grammar
used. The Noun ‘thundercloud’ is effective as it is used as a simile to describe
Mitch’s facial expression. The noun creates very dark, unhappy, angry connotations.
Which is powerful because this is how Mitch appears to be. The adjective ‘uncouth’
describes how Mitch is. It is effective as it is a contrast to how he was acting before,
this adjective makes us believe he is now abrupt, coarse and distant towards
Blanche, it also demonstrates the distraught Blanche’s past brought to Mitch. ‘Cold
shoulder’ is irony, as Mitch is a guest to the house, and yet is giving Blanche the cold
shoulder. ‘You dumb angel-puss’ This is effective grammar because these are low-
frequency lexis words that were possibly only used at the time of the play. However
the words are still effective and make it seem like she is describing Mitch as Looney
and she is accusing Mitch to have tricked her that he is trying to convince her of
something that is not true. Blanche uses the conjunction word ‘and’ which creates a
list like effect. It adds emphasis to what she is noticing about him. This extract is
particular good in showing the effective grammar usedas it is portraying Blanche’s
reaction to the changes she has noticed in Mitch. She seems quite shocked here
and in this extract you can see her refined language compared to Mitch’s plain-
speaking language. He adapts his register to talk to her.
Another extract in scene 9 (98) shows how the grammar is effectively used.
Blanche: …’why it’s a liqueur, I believe! Yes, that’s what it is, a liqueur! (Mitch
grunts). I’m afraid you won’t like it, but try it, and maybe you will.
Mitch:‘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!’
Blanche:‘What a fantastic statement! Fantastic of him saying it, fantastic of you to
repeat it! I won’t descend to the level of such cheap accusations to answer them,
even.’Here, we see Mitch playing on what Stanley has told him about Blanche. Mitch
uses lots of grammar beginning with ‘L’ This is alliteration. ‘liquor, lay, liquor, lapping’
it is repeated sound of a particular consonant. So this words sound harsh and hard.
This grammar creates a sense of mocking Blanche and shows Mitch as being strong

2. Tiffany Wallis
and dominant in the conversation as he is not using any soft words. Also in this
extract, Blanche uses repetition on the adjective ‘fantastic’. Doing this is effective as
shows there is atmosphere as she is being sarcastic towards Mitch. It also begins
with a consonant, and therefore is also a harsh sound. This could show that the
atmosphere between Blanche and Mitch is quite tense and awkward at the moment.
The adjective ‘cheap’ is a short, strong-sounding word that Blanche uses towards
Mitch. This again reinforces the tense atmosphere between the two which makes it
effective. The noun ‘liquor’ is effective in this extract because we know it is alcohol
and by being used more than once refers to Blanche being hooked onto this specific
type of alcohol. We know she has been looking around for liqueur and by Mitch using
this word against her, shows her problem of drinking. Using the noun ‘liqueur’ seems
to be a cover for Blanche. It is her way of avoiding why Mitch has really come to see
him. This noun also creates atmosphere in the scene because by her finding the
liqueur is not solving Mitch’s problem, and it foreshadows the negative
consequences of their relationship. As shown there are many adjectives and nouns
in this extract that reveal a lot and are effective in the scene.
The final extract I would like to look at which shows how grammar is used effectively
in scene 9 is (102)
Mexican Woman: ‘(softly) corones…’
Blanche: ‘-and on the way back they would stagger on to my lawn and call-
“Blanche! Blanche! – The deaf old lady remaining suspected nothing. But sometimes
I slipped outside to answer their calls…and later the paddy-wagon would gather
them up like daisies…the long way home…’
This extract is taken from the end of scene 9 where Blanche is reminiscing and her
mind is being taken back to her past. It is almost like she is telling a story about what
happened to her. The Mexican woman plays a key part in this scene and is very
effective in this particular extract.The noun ‘corones’ is Spanish for Chorus/Choir.
This is an effective noun because the connection between chorus and death reflects
the grim prospects of Blanche's emotional release. We can recognize that in this
extract Blanche has wandered into a trance, she is unknowing of her surroundings
and having the Mexican woman talking about particular nouns, such as ‘flowers’ and
‘death’ is seen as effective as it could symbolize Blanche releasing her inner
emotions. The noun ‘paddy wagon’ is low frequency lexis. We would refer this to
meaning ‘a police van’ and here it is referring to Blanches ‘suitors’ not being about to
escape. By talking about this, whilst in her trance, foreshadows her insanity at this
moment. ‘gather them up like daisies’ this simile is effective as it contrasts with what
Blanche has been discussing. The noun ‘daisies’ is completely different to death
which is what Blanche is talking about, therefore this noun stands out. The verb ‘to
gather’ is a high frequency word. It is a very common and usual word which makes
what she is doing seem like it happened often, which maybe scarred Blanche. It is

3. Tiffany Wallis
also effective as this could explain why her past keeps coming up as maybe it was
extremely traumatic.
I picked these three particular extracts to portray how grammar is used effectively in
scene 9. In scene 9, as well as the use of grammar there are other techniques that
are effective in making this a good scene.
From examining this scene I see that there are certain quotes that stand out due to
the grammar and technology used in them. For example, Blanche: ‘Mitch! You know
I really shouldn’t let you in after the treatment I have received from you this evening!
So utterly uncavalier! But hello, beautiful!’ I think this quote stood out to me because
it seems like Blanche is rambling on in anger but also in contrast she is very excited
and happy to see him. There is alliteration on the words ‘utterly uncavalier’ it makes
you think about the words in a deeper sense and it seems to accentuate the
meaning. After analysing this quote, I have recognized that there is a minor sentence
type, ‘But hello beautiful’ it almost seems as if she has completely lost her train of
thought and attitudes and welcomes him in. Williams includes this minor sentence at
the end to make Blanche seem softer and so that she ends on a positive. It could
show that she is weaker and just wants to please Mitch.
In this scene the use of grammar is used very well to make it an effective scene. In
this scene there is a lot of tension between Blanche and Mitch and the way the
grammar is used shows this and the atmosphere between them. Right from the start
of this scene, seems eerie and like something bad is going to happen at the end.