Recount your impression of the relationship that exists between Stella and Blanche at the end of Scene Four; also, discuss how one might characterize the relationship between Stella and Stanley.
At the end of Scene Four, it is more apparent that Blanche is trying to control Stella's life. She keeps telling Stella how she needs to get out of the situation that she is in, but Blanche isn't taking into effect if Stella really wants to get out of the situation in which she is in. Blanche forces upon Stella the rude words about her husband, calling him "sub-human","ape-like", and an "animal", just because Stanley Kowalski comes from a different class and area than Blanche Dubois. At the end of Scene Four, Stella finally makes her decision--she chooses Stanley over Blanche. Part of the reason that Stella, I think, left Belle Reve in the first place was to discover who she was for herself, apart from the lavishness, riches, and grandiose of Belle Reve. She found herself and her new life in Stanley Kowalski, and even though Blanche may not approve of him that isn't going to change the way that Stella feels about him. The relationship between Stella and Stanley is like a defective grenade. The grenade can go off at any time; Stanley's drinking, Stanley's violence, and his hot temper, but if you don't off-set the grenade or tamper with it to trigger it in any way then you have nothing to worry about. When Stanley isn't drunk or angry with Blanche it is evident how much he truly cares about Stella and how he wants to protect her. Stella is the pawn, along with Mitch, in the game between Stanley and Blanche; the end of Scene Four relays that message exceptionally, Stanley hears the whole conversation between Blanche and Stella where Blanche calls him an animal, he walks in, and Stella rushes over to Stanley and embraces him. Stanley then grins and smiles at Blanche, almost to indicate "if you wan't to mess with me, go ahead mess with me, but beware."
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