A Streetcar Named Desire 읽기 17

[yum]

STELLA:

Yes, Blanche. [She crosses in a dazed way from the kitchen to the bathroom door with a towel.]

BLANCHE:

What’s the matter, honey?

STELLA:

Matter? Why?

BLANCHE:

You have such a strange expression‎ on your face!

STELLA:

Oh—[She tries to laugh] I guess I’m a little tired!

BLANCHE:

Why don’t you bathe, too, soon as I get out?

STANLEY [calling from the kitchen]:

How soon is that going to be?

BLANCHE:

Not so terribly long! Possess your soul in patience!

- Possess your soul in patience! : 누가복음 21장 19절의 킹 제임스 성경(KJV) 버전인 "In your patience possess ye your souls“ 너희의 인내로 너희 영혼을 얻으리라 Stand firm, and you will win life.(NIV)

STANLEY:

It’s not my soul, it’s my kidneys I’m worried about!

[Blanche slams the door. Stanley laughs harshly. Stella comes slowly back into the kitchen.]

STANLEY:

Well, what do you think of it?

STELLA:

I don’t believe all of those stories and I think your supply-man was mean and rotten to tell them. It’s possible that some of the things he said are partly true. There are things about my sister I don’t approve of—things that caused sorrow at home. She was always—flighty!

STANLEY:

Flighty!

STELLA:

But when she was young, very young, she married a boy who wrote poetry. . . . He was extremely good-looking. I think Blanche didn’t just love him but worshipped the ground he walked on! Adored him and thought him almost too fine to be human! But then she found out—

STANLEY:

What?

STELLA:

This beautiful and talented young man was a degenerate. Didn’t your supply-man give you that information?

STANLEY:

All we discussed was recent history. That must have been a pretty long time ago.

STELLA:

Yes, it was—a pretty long time ago . . .

[Stanley comes up and takes her by the shoulders rather gently. She gently withdraws from him. Automatically she starts sticking little pink candles in the birthday cake.]

STANLEY:

How many candles you putting in that cake?

STELLA:

I’ll stop at twenty-five.

STANLEY:

Is company expected?

STELLA:

We asked Mitch to come over for cake and ice-cream.

[Stanley looks a little uncomfortable. He lights a cigarette from the one he has just finished.]

STANLEY:

I wouldn’t be expecting Mitch over tonight.

[Stella pauses in her occupation with candles and looks slowly around at Stanley.]

STELLA:

Why?

STANLEY:

Mitch is a buddy of mine. We were in the same outfit together—Two-forty-first Engineers. We work in the same plant and now on the same bowling team. You think I could face him if—

STELLA:

Stanley Kowalski, did you—did you repeat what that—?

STANLEY:

You’re goddam right I told him! I’d have that on my conscience the rest of my life if I knew all that stuff and let my best friend get caught!

- get caught : 스탠리 자신의 말이 있었다: So I been told. And told and told and told! You know she’s been feeding us a pack of lies here?

STELLA:

Is Mitch through with her?

STANLEY:

Wouldn’t you be if—?

STELLA:

I said, Is Mitch through with her?

[Blanche’s voice is lifted again, serenely as a bell. She sings “But it wouldn’t be make believe if you believed in me.”]

STANLEY:

No, I don’t think he’s necessarily through with her—just wised up!

STELLA:

Stanley, she thought Mitch was—going to—going to marry her. I was hoping so, too.

STANLEY:

Well, he’s not going to marry her. Maybe he was, but he’s not going to jump in a tank with a school of sharks—now! [He rises] Blanche! Oh, Blanche! Can I please get in my bathroom? [There is a pause.]

BLANCHE:

Yes, indeed, sir! Can you wait one second while I dry?

STANLEY:

Having waited one hour I guess one second ought to pass in a hurry.

STELLA:

And she hasn’t got her job? Well, what will she do!

STANLEY:

She’s not stayin’ here after Tuesday. You know that, don’t you? Just to make sure I bought her ticket myself. A bus-ticket!

STELLA:

In the first place, Blanche wouldn’t go on a bus.

STANLEY:

She’ll go on a bus and like it.

STELLA:

No, she won’t, no, she won’t, Stanley!

STANLEY:

She’ll go! Period. P.S. She’ll go Tuesday!

STELLA [slowly]:

What’ll—she—do? What on earth will she—do!

STANLEY:

Her future is mapped out for her.

STELLA:

What do you mean?

[Blanche sings.]

STANLEY:

Hey, canary bird! Toots! Get OUT of the BATHROOM!

[The bathroom door flies open and Blanche emerges with a gay peal of laughter, but as Stanley crosses past her, a frightened look appears in her face, almost a look of panic. He doesn’t look at her but slams the bathroom door shut as he goes in.]

BLANCHE [snatching up a hair-brush]:

Oh, I feel so good after my long, hot bath, I feel so good and cool and— rested!

STELLA [sadly and doubtfully from the kitchen]:

Do you, Blanche?

BLANCHE [brushing her hair vigorously]:

Yes, I do, so refreshed! [She tinkles her highball glass.] A hot bath and a long, cold drink always give me a brand new outlook on life! [She looks through the portieres at Stella, standing between them, and slowly stops brushing] Something has happened!—What is it?

STELLA [turning away quickly]:

Why, nothing has happened, Blanche.

BLANCHE:

You’re lying! Something has!

[She stares fearfully at Stella, who pretends to be busy at the table.

The distant piano goes into a hectic breakdown.]

SCENE EIGHT

Three-quarters of an hour later.

The view through the big windows is fading gradually into a still-golden dusk. A torch of sunlight blazes on the side of a big water-tank or oil-drum across the empty lot toward the business district which is now pierced by pin-points of lighted windows or windows reflecting the sunset.

The three people are completing a dismal birthday supper. Stanley looks sullen. Stella is embarrassed and sad.

Blanche has a tight, artificial smile on her drawn face. There is a fourth place at the table which is left vacant.

- sullen : used to describe an angry or unhappy person who does not want to talk, smile, etc.

- drawn : looking very thin and tired especially from worry, pain, or illness

BLANCHE [suddenly]:

Stanley, tell us a joke, tell us a funny story to make us all laugh. I don’t know what’s the matter, we’re all so solemn. Is it because I’ve been stood up by my beau?

[Stella laughs feebly.] It’s the first time in my entire experience with men, and I’ve had a good deal of all sorts, that I’ve actually been stood up by anybody! Ha-ha! I don’t know how to take it. . . . Tell us a funny little story, Stanley!

Something to help us out.

STANLEY:

I didn’t think you liked my stories, Blanche.

BLANCHE:

I like them when they’re amusing but not indecent.

STANLEY:

I don’t know any refined enough for your taste.

BLANCHE:

Then let me tell one.

STELLA:

Yes, you tell one, Blanche. You used to know lots of good stories.

[The music fades.]

BLANCHE:

Let me see, now. . . . I must run through my repertoire! Oh, yes—I love parrot stories! Do you all like parrot stories? Well, this one’s about the old maid and the parrot. This old maid, she had a parrot that cursed a blue streak and knew more vulgar expressions than Mr. Kowalski!

- blue streak : [구어] 번갯불(같이 빠른 것), 길게 이어지는 것

STANLEY:

Huh.

BLANCHE:

And the only way to hush the parrot up was to put the cover back on its cage so it would think it was night and go back to sleep. Well, one morning the old maid had just uncovered the parrot for the day—when who should she see coming up the front walk but the preacher! Well, she rushed back to the parrot and slipped the cover back on the cage and then she let in the preacher. And the parrot was perfectly still, just as quiet as a mouse, but just as she was asking the preacher how much sugar he wanted in his coffee—the parrot broke the silence with a loud—[She whistles]—and said—“God damn, but that was a short day!”

1. 민담적 유래와 전형적 구조

외설적인 앵무새(The Profane Parrot): 이 농담은 특정 작가가 창작한 것이라기보다, 영미권에서 오래전부터 전해 내려온 전형적인 '상스러운 동물을 키우는 신심 깊은 주인' 모티프의 민담(Folktale)에 기반한다.

유머의 원리: 거친 환경(선원, 하층민 등)에서 자란 동물이 고결한 장소(교회, 숙녀의 거실)에 놓였을 때 발생하는 부조화가 핵심이다.

2. 테네시 윌리엄스의 의도적 배치

계급적 충돌의 시각화: 블랑쉬는 이 농담을 통해 '상스러운 말'이 얼마나 부적절한 것인지를 우회적으로 비판하며, 자신을 농담 속 '노처녀(Old maid)'와 동일시하여 고결한 위치에 두려 한다.

스탠리에 대한 투사: 블랑쉬의 관점에서 앵무새는 곧 스탠리 코왈스키(Stanley Kowalski)를 상징한다. 앵무새가 목사 앞에서 욕설을 내뱉듯, 스탠리가 자신의 우아한 세계를 파괴하고 있음을 풍자하는 것이다.

3. "God damn, but that was a short day!"의 의미

언어적 유희: 앵무새는 낮과 밤의 기준을 새장 덮개로 판단한다. 주인이 목사에게 들키지 않으려고 덮개를 바로 씌웠다가 다시 열자, 앵무새는 '낮이 순식간에 지나갔다'고 착각하여 욕설을 내뱉는다.

비극적 역설: 블랑쉬는 이 농담으로 분위기를 띄우려 하지만, 정작 그녀의 '화려했던 시절(낮)'이 저물고 파멸의 '밤'이 오고 있다는 사실을 암시하는 복선으로 작용한다.

4. 텍스트 내에서의 지위

인위적 방어 기제: 블랑쉬는 수척해진 얼굴에 인위적인 미소를 띤 채 이 이야기를 늘어놓는다. 이는 미치(Mitch)가 나타나지 않은 절망적인 상황을 회피하려는 처절한 시도이며, 결국 이어지는 스탠리의 폭발을 유도하는 촉매제가 된다.

[She throws back her head and laughs. Stella also makes an ineffectual effort to seem amused. Stanley pays no attention to the story but reaches way over the table to spear his fork into the remaining chop which he eats with his fingers.]

BLANCHE:

Apparently Mr. Kowalski was not amused.

STELLA:

Mr. Kowalski is too busy making a pig of himself to think of anything else!

STANLEY:

That’s right, baby.

STELLA:

Your face and your fingers are disgustingly greasy. Go and wash up and then help me clear the table.

[He hurls a plate to the floor.]

STANLEY:

That’s how I’ll clear the table! [He seizes her arm] Don’t ever talk that way to me! “Pig—Polack—disgusting—vulgar—greasy!”—them kind of words have been on your tongue and your sister’s too much around here!

What do you two think you are? A pair of queens? Remember what Huey Long said—“Every Man is a King!” And I am the king around here, so don’t forget it! [He hurls a cup and saucer to the floor] My place is cleared! You want me to clear your places?

- Huey Long said—“Every Man is a King!”

Huey Long(1893-1935) : 1930년대 대공황 시기 루이지애나주의 주지사와 상원의원을 지낸 인물이다. "모든 이가 왕, 그러나 누구도 왕관을 쓰지 않는다(Every man a king, but no one wears a crown)"라는 슬로건을 내걸고 부의 재분배를 주장하는 '부의 공유(Share Our Wealth)' 운동을 이끌었다. 강력한 카리스마로 도로, 교량, 학교 건설 등 공공사업을 추진하여 빈곤층의 전폭적인 지지를 얻었으나, 동시에 독재적인 권력 행사로 '킹피쉬(Kingfish)'라는 별명을 얻기도 했다. 1935년 루이지애나 주 의사당에서 암살당하며 생을 마감했다.

스탠리가 휴이 롱의 슬로건인 "Every man a king"을 인용하면서 뒷구절인 "but no one wears a crown"을 생략한 채 자신을 '왕'이라 칭하는 지점은, 그의 심리적 열등감과 권력 의지를 동시에 보여주는 매우 역설적인 대목이다.

1. "No one wears a crown"의 생략과 반어적 의미

휴이 롱의 원래 의도는 '특권 계층이 없는 평등한 사회'를 강조하는 것이었으나, 스탠리는 이를 자기 식대로 해석하여 적용한다.

스탠리의 왕권: 스탠리에게 이 구절은 "평등하니까 누구도 왕이 아니다"라는 뜻이 아니라, "외부에서 아무리 나를 노동계급이라 무시해도, 내 집이라는 영토 안에서만큼은 내가 절대적인 주권을 가진 왕이다"라는 선언이다.

생략된 함의: 그가 뒷부분을 생략한 이유는, 역설적으로 그가 블랑쉬와 스텔라에게 '왕관을 쓴 존재(특권층)'로서의 대접을 요구하고 있기 때문이다. 그는 평등을 말하면서도 집안 내의 서열에서는 최정점에 서고자 한다.

2. 블랑쉬와 스텔라에 대한 비난: "누가 왕관을 썼는가?"

스탠리의 관점에서 블랑쉬와 그녀의 영향력을 받은 스텔라는 존재하지도 않는 '왕관'을 머리에 쓰고 자신을 내려다보는 침입자들이다.

블랑쉬의 '가짜 왕관': 블랑쉬는 몰락한 귀족 가문 '벨리브(Belle Reve)'의 환상과 상류층의 교양, 예법이라는 눈에 보이지 않는 왕관을 쓰고 있다. 스탠리는 그녀가 자신을 '돼지(Pig)', '저속한 폴란드인(Polack)'이라 부르며 상전 노릇을 하는 것에 극도의 분노를 느낀다.

스텔라의 동조: 스탠리는 스텔라 역시 블랑쉬와 함께 있을 때면 자신들의 출신 성분을 내세워 자신을 '지저분하고 무식한 존재'로 소외시킨다고 믿는다. 즉, 두 여자가 합심하여 자신을 '왕관 없는 평민'으로 취급하는 상황에 대한 반발이다.

3. "왕관을 벗겨내기" 위한 폭력

스탠리가 식탁을 쓸어버리고 집안의 권위를 재확인하는 행위는 두 여자가 머리에 쓰고 있는 '귀족적 우월감이라는 왕관'을 강제로 벗겨내려는 시도다.

현실 자각 강요: "누구도 왕관을 쓰지 않는다"는 휴이 롱의 원칙을 빌려와, 블랑쉬에게 "너 역시 나와 다를 바 없는 처지 혹은 그 이하"라는 사실을 일깨우려 한다.

권력의 전복: 결국 스탠리는 "모든 이가 왕"이라는 민주적인 구호를 사용하여, 실제로는 자신이 그들을 지배하는 '유일한 왕'임을 입증하려 하는 독재적 남성성을 드러낸다.

따라서 스탠리가 이 말을 던지는 것은 "너희가 뭔데 내 집에서 왕관을 쓴 채 나를 멸시하느냐? 여기선 내가 유일한 왕이고, 너희의 가짜 왕관은 인정하지 않겠다"라는 처절하고도 공격적인 선언이라고 볼 수 있다.

[Stella begins to cry weakly. Stanley stalks out on the porch and lights a cigarette.