Why in every conceivable way mitch im surprised to

Why,
in
every conceivable way.
MITCH:
I'm surprised
to
hear that.
BLANCHE:
Are you?
MITCH:
Well, I-<lon't see how anybody could be rude to you.
BLANCHE:
It's really a pretty frightful situatiou. You see, there's no
privacy here. There's just these portieres between the two
rooms at night. He stalks through the rooms in
his
under-
wear at ·night. And I have to ask him to . close the bath- .
room door. That sort of commonness isn't necessary. You
probably wonder why 1 don't move out. Wen, rn tell you
frankly. A teacher's sa1ary is barely sufficient for her living-
expenses. I didn't save a penny last year and so. 1 bad to
come here for the summer. That's why I have
to
put up
with my sister's husband. And he has
to
put up with me,
apparently so much against his wishes. • • • Surely he
must have told you how much he hates mel
MITCH:
I don't think he hates you.
BLANCHE:
He hates me. Or why would he insult me? The first time
I laid eyes on him I thought to myself, that man is my
executioner I That man
will
destroy me, unless-
MITCH:
Blanche>-
BLANCHE:
Yes, honey?
MITCH:
Can
I ask you a question?
BLANCHE:
Yes. What?
MITCH:
How old are you?
[She makes a nervous gesture.}
93

I
; I
t'
I
I ,
I
,
,
SOENE
SIX
BLANCHE:
Why do you want
to
know?
MITCH:
I talked
to my mother about you and she said,
"Howald
is
Blanche?" And I wasn't able
to
tell her.
[There is
another
pause.]
BLANCHE:
You talked to your mother about me?
MITCH:
Yes.
BLANCHE: ·
Why?
MITCH:
I told my mother how nice you were,.-and I liked you.
BLANCHE:
Were you sincere about that?
MITCH:
You know I was.
BLANCHE:
Why did your mother want
to know my age?
MITcH:
Mother is sick.
BLANCHE:
I'm sorry
to hear it. Badly?
MITCH:
She won't live long. Maybe just a few months.
BLANCHE:
Oh.
MITCH:
She worries because
I'm not settled.
BLANCHE:
Oh.
MITCH:
She wants me
to be settled down before
she--[His voice
is
hoarse and he clears his throat twice, shuffling nervously
around with his hands in
and out of his pockets.)
BLANCHE:
You love her very much, don't you?
94
SOENE
SIX
MITCH:
Yes.
BLANCHB:
I think
you have a great capacity for devotion. You
wiD
be
lonely when she passes on, won't you?
[Mitch clears
hJ.r
throat
and nods.] I understand what that is.
MITCH:
To be lonely?
BLANCHB:
I loved someone,
too, and the person I loved I lost.
MITCH:
Dead? [She crosseJ to the window
and
sitJ on the sil"
look-
ing out. She pours herself another drink.]
A man?
BLANCHB:
He was a
boy, just a boy, when I was a very·young
girl.
When I was sixteen, 1.
made the discovery-love. AIl
at
once and much, much too completely.
It was like you sud-
denly turned a blinding light
on
something that had always
been
half in shadow, that's how
it
struck the world for me.
But I was unlucky. Deluded.
There
was something different
about the boy, a nervousness, a softness and tenderness
which wasn't like a man's, although
he
wasn't the least
bit effeminate
looking-<ltill-that
thing
was
there. . ••
He came
to
me
for help. I didn't know that. I didn't find
out anything
till after
our marriage when we'd
run
away and
come back and all I knew was
I'd
failed
birO
in some mys-
terious way and wasn't able
to give the help