英美戏剧与电影大作业
The Bright Morning Star(A Sequel to A Streetcar Named Desire)
MATRON: This is her room. [She knocks on the door.] Miss DuBois, here is someone who wants to visit you.
MITCH [overwrought]: Thank you. Has anyone visited her before? And has she recovered?
MATRON: No, no. Although she has recovered a lot, sometimes she’ll crouch over and tremble in corners as if someone will hurt her, and she’ll try to hit anyone who wants to touch her when she’s insane. [She pushes the door open and lets Mitch in. The room where Blanche lives now is a pure white space without windows, and a naked bulb brightens the whole room as if it were daylight. There is a collapsible bed in the corner of the room and a Bible on the table. Blanche sits on a chair in a blue dress and stares at Mitch, which makes Mitch feel a little guilty. Then the Matron goes out and leaves Mitch in the room.]
MITCH [keeping his head lower, staring at his hands]: Hello, Miss … DuBois.
BLANCHE [happily]: Hello, Mitch. I’m glad that you could visit me. You know, I haven’t spoken to anybody for a long time. I … I didn’t mean that the Doctor and the Matron treated me badly, and I also didn’t mean that you are just a … talkative partner in my heart. [Her voice dies out nervously.] You know that, you know that … did you bring some whiskey or lemon coke for me?
MITCH: No, the Matron said that you can’t have any liquor.
BLANCHE: That’s a pity. Did you bring some unwashed grapes for me?
MITCH: What?
BLANCHE [smiled]: That’s just a joke.
MITCH [relieved]: It’s a relief to see you more delighted and energetic now. [There is a pause.] The room is so … white, like a … marble palace.
BLANCHE [delightedly]: Yes. Yes, I know that you mean to say “Ivory tower”. The room is neat and … it is better than Elysian Fields, right? I feel like a new human being with the white walls, the light, and the Bible here. And Shep Huntleigh called me a few seconds ago. Soon I’ll leave here and go to the real palace, being old and full of days. The Lord will bless the latter end of mine more than my beginning. [The music of the polka rises, faint in the distance. She gets crazy] No, no, I don’t want to hear it again! [Mitch gets shocked.] I’m sorry for that. I … I don’t know why sometimes I behave like … like … Oh, how is your mother?
MITCH [sadly]: She has passed on.
BLANCHE: I’m sorry to hear that. [There is a pause.] Oh, don’t let silence ruin our meeting. We haven’t met for …
MITCH: Seven months.
BLANCHE: Yes, seven months … It’s difficult for me to count the days because there’s no calendar, nor sun … How about Stella’s baby? When I feel lonely at night, I will miss the lovely baby. I haven’t seen him … or her? Oh, it is not important, you know, Stella is my precious little sister, and her baby is my precious little nephew … although the baby’s father is … Stanley.
MITCH [avoiding Blanche’s eyes]: That’s why I came here, Blanche, I have known the brutal thing that Stanley had done. I feel angry and … sorry for it. I want to confess my behavior to you and … beseech your forgiveness. [His voice dies out.]
BLANCHE: What thing? I must forget something. Pardon me, let me remember for a moment … [She starts shaking all over and panting for breath.] No, no, no! [She screams] That’s enough.
MITCH [bravely]: You know, Blanche. I … I’m sorry for what Stanley … and I have done.
BLANCHE: I forgive you! You are the man that is without sin.
MITCH [shocked]: No, no, I’m not …
BLANCHE [raising her voice]: You are the one! It is you who lighten my life … although just for a while. But that is not your fault. I don’t deserve the light for my sinful self. It must be God’s punishment …
MITCH [restlessly]: No, Blanche, you are …
BLANCHE: A courtesan, I’ve known it.
MITCH [embarrassedly]: No, Blanche, I didn’t mean that.
BLANCHE [with a bitter smile]: So why do you come here? To remind me of the past which I try to forget, to sneer at my fate that I have been trapped in this prison, or just because you want to have a sweet rest without guilt?
MITCH [embarrassedly]: No, no, Blanche, I come here with kindness. I know the memory of Stanley is so harsh for you and I … I have no hostility to mention it. And … and, you see, the room is not so bad as a prison. It is safe. No one will hurt you here.
BLANCHE [coldly]: And no one will love me here.
[They keep silent for a while.]
MITCH [nervously]: Maybe we can turn the light off. The room is too bright.
BLANCHE [with a bitter smile]: Don’t touch the button. From the first day I came here, the merciful Doctor and the Matron kept the bulb on because they thought I’d be cured when there was no night. It works! Now I love the light, it makes the room like a … white coffin. Yes, a white coffin made of white woods.
MITCH: Don’t talk about death. You said you were afraid of it.
BLANCHE [faintly]: That was the past. In the past, I always wanted to get away from death. Before I met you, I escaped to desire; after I met you, I was lost in hope. In the past, I clutched at anything that would tell me that I’m alive, and when there was no solid thing in reality, I tried to clutch at myself … although I’m not solid enough. The seven months I have spent here helped me understand death. Maybe death isn’t just about crying and darkness but salvation and light. I thought I dreamt about Jesus a few days ago and he said, “Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.” I wanted to ask him what paradise is like but … I could speak no word, and then I woke up ... But, but I could imagine it! You see, the room is … is as stainless as heaven. You see I’m more delighted and energetic here! It is doubtless that I’ll keep delighted and energetic in heaven after I pass on … if I can go to heaven by entering in at the strait gate … Do you think I can?
MITCH: Yes, of course.
BLANCHE [laughed]: God love you for a liar! But let me tell you the truth: I’ve chosen a wide way that leadeth to destruction … it’s real … but why I talk about the truth …
MITCH: I’m serious. I have made up my mind to come here … and I want to take you away.
BLANCHE: I am not clean enough.
MITCH: Everyone is not clean enough. Everyone has … a sinful past. The world is broken, Blanche …
BLANCHE: No, Mitch. I'm too delicate and painful, but you … are realistic and natural. How can we live together … just because we long for a partner? Sick people have such deep, sincere attachments. But the truth is that I’m sick and you’re not. How can you forbear me when I’m on the edge of lunacy and want magic?
MITCH: If we … get married, I swear that you won’t be on the edge of lunacy.
BLANCHE [sobbing]: I will. I’m too vulnerable and the world is … always too harsh. [There is a pause.] It’s getting late. Maybe the bright morning star has risen.
MITCH: But …
BLANCHE [cutting him off, keeping sobbing]: Will you attend my funeral in the future? I have no idea when it will be held. But I know it will come soon.
MITCH: Don’t say that.
BLANCHE: It’s a pity I can’t attend my own funeral. But I could imagine it. It will be quiet and stainless, with pretty flowers … right?
MITCH [hesitantly]: Yes.
BLANCHE: Will I be buried at sea at noon in the summer?
MITCH [sobbing]: Yes.
BLANCHE: I wonder if you will cry for me that day. But don’t … don’t answer me. Let it be a mystery, a fantastic mystery, just like the end of a fairy tale. I had read so many fairy tales when I was young and I always imagined that I’m a princess living in a palace, in a magic palace, waiting for my prince and then having a happy ending. Everyone believes that the protagonists of stories will have a happy ending, and I’ll also believe it. Do you know the French story La Porte étroite?
MITCH: You know, I read few books.
BLANCHE: It’s my mother’s favorite novel. Do you believe that at the end of the story, the hero and the heroine get married and have a happy ending?
MITCH [sobbing]: I believe it.
BLANCHE [smiled palely]: Why are you so sad? Oh, don’t cry. Tears are so precious that you should save them for more precious people.
[Mitch covers his face with his hands. Blanche wants to wipe away his tears at first, but then she hesitates and turns back.]
BLANCHE: God shall wipe away all tears from our eyes, for the former things are passed away.
MITCH [raising his head with eyes full of tears, hesitantly]: Do you … do you still remember the inscription?
BLANCHE: What inscription? I have forgotten about it.
MITCH: Alright … alright, I’ll go. Good night, Miss DuBois.
BLANCHE: I shall say “Good night” till it be morrow.
[MITCH leaves.]
BLANCHE: And if God choose, I shall but love thee better after death.
[The lights fade away.]
END
SUMMARY
At the end of A Streetcar Named Desire, Blanche says she has forgotten something. In this sequel, Mitch visits the asylum where Blanche is living to express his wish to take Blanche away. Blanche refuses him despite her love for Mitch. While living in the asylum, Blanche has understood more about death and love. She knows she is not clean enough and wants to go to heaven and love Mitch after death.
Or is this sequel just Blanche’s another dream before death? In the Bible, there is no night nor sun in heaven, just like the room.
THEME
It’s an attempt to explain Blanche’s change after Stanley’s rape. Before that, she was afraid of death and tried to avoid harsh light. But after that, she claimed that she’d be buried at noon. I tend to link it to her chase for a fancy world like heaven.