Stanley appears and calls for Stella, his wife, to catch a package of meat. He then goes bowling and Stella follows. Almost immediately, Blanche appears trying to find a certain street number. Eunice, the neighbor, sees that Blanche is confused and assures her that this is the place where Stella lives. Eunice lets Blanche into the apartment and goes after Stella. Immediately, Blanche finds a bottle of whiskey and gulps down a big swig.
When Stella arrives, Blanche blurts out how awful the apartment is but then tries to laugh off her comment. She asks for a drink in order to restore her nerves. Blanche then returns to the subject of the apartment, wondering how Stella could live in such a place. Stella tries to explain that New Orleans is different and that the apartment is not so bad. Blanche promises to say no more about it.
Blanche explains to Stella that she had to resign from her high school teaching position because of her nerves. It was so sudden that she wasn’t able to let Stella know about it. Blanche notices that the apartment has only two rooms and she wonders where she will sleep. Stella shows her the folding bed and explains that Stanley won’t mind the lack of privacy because he is Polish. And Stella warns Blanche that Stanley’s friends are not the type Blanche is accustomed to.
Blanche emphasizes that she must stay for a while because she can’t stand to be alone. This leads Blanche to tell Stella that Belle Reve, the ancestral home, has been lost. When Stella asks how it happened, Blanche reminds Stella how there has been a long line of deaths in the family and that she had to stay there and fight while Stella was “in bed with your—Polack.” When Stella begins crying and goes to the bathroom, Blanche hears Stanley outside. Blanche introduces herself to him. Stanley takes off his shirt so as to be comfortable and offers Blanche a drink but Blanche says that she rarely touches it. Stanley asks Blanche if she wasn’t once married. Blanche tells him yes, but the boy died; then, she leaves thinking that she is going to be sick.
