In the scene when they first met, he seemed to stare her down in an aggressively suggestive manner, stepped into her personal space, and verbally flirted with her. I already know Blanche was attracted to him while at the same time repulsed by him. Was it the same for Stanley? If so, then when he assaulted her in the end, did this conflicted attraction play a part in his decision to attack her?
shareI don't really think so. I think he recognized her for the narcissistic flirt she was as well as someone who had a poor relationship with the truth about herself. His decision to rape her was to dominate and destroy what he saw as a destructive force to his world.
The Fabio Principle: Puffy shirts look best on men who look even better without them.
His decision to rape her was to dominate and destroy what he saw as a destructive force to his world.
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Hmm... I think he was trying to size her up on her level, but when that didn't work here reverted back to his own level. That's how I looked at it. But she was prettier than Stella so maybe a part of him was wondering about her on a physical level before she started annoying him with her prissy ways.
shareHe was Williams' idea of a primal man with a fragile yet massiv ego. He raped her as mostly a power play -to show her he was in charge no matter how 'common' he was and to further destroy her and take revenge on behalf of all the men she 'tricked.' Her good looks were icing on the cake but he would have raped her regardless of what she looked like.
shareDont agree....had Blanche been an old, coarse, unattractive woman I dont think he would have raped her. Of course the rape was primarily about power as it usually is, but the physical attraction did play some part in it.
"When life presents you with lemons, squeeze out the juice and squirt it in your enemies eyes."
I think it was also definitely a power trip for Stanley. He wanted to assert his dominance over Blanche. So I don't think he was necessarily attracted to Blanche. He just wanted to dominate, control and destroy Blanche's delicate psyche.
shareWhether he was attracted to her or not there was a very strong sexual tension between the two actors.
shareHe was, of course, but it was an attraction more based on their power dynamic. Blanche is the epitome of the feminine, Stanley of the masculine. You have this woman in his house that, while fading, is still uber feminine, attractive, soft, cultured, and with her nose in the air looking down on him. All those things attract him towards her..both because they are the exact things he lacks, and because he wants to take her down a peg.
Also, if you read the stage directions of the play of the scene where they meet, he's pretty much eyeing her up before they even start speaking. Hell, in the movie Stanley's pretty blatantly staring at her boobs, lol...dont know how that passed the censors.
"When life presents you with lemons, squeeze out the juice and squirt it in your enemies eyes."