Film vs Play

The end was the First distinctive thing that was different. In the book it ended with “the game is seven card stud” and in the movie it ended with Stella “breaking free” of Stanley. The movie accentuated Stanley’s more brutish aspects, particularly in his voice. When reading the book you don’t pick up on his harsh voice as you do in the movie. I think they made Stanley a bit more of the villain in this movie because they accentuated his brutishness and because Stella wanted to leave him. He no longer appears to be the passionate lover any more he appears to be an abuser more than he did in the book. In the book Stanley comforted Stella in a very sensual manner so his image of passion still remains. The fact that Stella thinks of leaving Stanley after Blanche is taken away in the movie shows that Blanche made her “wake up.” This really affects the way we see Blanche although she clearly seems crazy in the movie, her insecurity and antics have validity, because they make Stella more aware of the dark side of her relationship with Stanley. This adaptation made me so much more aware of the importance of Stella and the role of the supporting characters, as they heavily determine our perception of the main characters. I looked at this website called Theater folk that gave a very interesting interpretation of Stella. They refer to her dualistic nature, she is vitally important to Blanche and Stanley "To win is to have Stella on their side," but also "She lets Blanche push her around verbally and lets Stanley push her around physically. Both characters have control over Stella." She is often considered to be weak for this but, she has to make peace between two people she loves who rival each other and try to control her in different ways, but she is able to maintain "peace" between the characters for a while, which i think demonstrates of grace under pressure. "If Stella were weak and timid, she would have folded like a house of cards under the pressure of either side." The Theatre folk also discussed how Stellas choice of Blanche or Stanley was symbolic of her choosing illusion or realism, but those symbols are more dualistic and complex. Her choosing to remain in love with an abuser, who cheated on her by raping her sister while Stella was having his child, is naive and choosing the illusion of a good relationship. Blanche who is crazy, and lives illusion, has some realistic  she sees that Stanley is dangerous and she tells Stella not to hang back with the brutes like Stanley, when she could have probably married some one who could provide better and was safer to raise a kid with.

In both the film and the book there is still that sense of lack of progress. In the movie he screams “hey Stella” again at the end, which repeats what he did before, its not a sensation that things have gone back to normal, they just feel regressive. The same effect is created with the “the game is seven card stud” it ends with a mundane line that was mentioned early in the play.

In terms of creating a lack of privacy the doors to the house were almost always kept open, in the film. You would see Stella and blanche sharing a moment and there would be some random extra in the background just walking by. The scene where Stanley advances on Blanche was interestingly adapted. The shattering of the mirror with Blanches face showed many things. Previously Stella said that Stanley smashed on the light bulbs on their wedding nights, this establishes that there are Sexual implications with Stanley’s breaking things. So the image of the breaking mirror implies that Stanley raped Blanche, with out actually showing it in the movie. The mirror represents Blanches vanity and material beauty, which Stanley shatters with his brutish nature. The mirror breaking could also demonstrate Blanches mentally breaking.