The “gentleman” of Stanley’s poker-playing friends. Much more genteel and mannered than the animalistic Stanley, though still a man with physical desires. He and Blanche develop a relationship, but Blanche pretends to be much more naïve and innocent than she actually is, and Mitch is ultimately driven away when he learns of her sordid recent past.
Harold Mitchell (Mitch) Quotes in A Streetcar Named Desire
The A Streetcar Named Desire quotes below are all either spoken by Harold Mitchell (Mitch) or refer to Harold Mitchell (Mitch). For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Scene 9
Quotes
I told you already I don’t want none of his liquor and I mean it. You ought to lay off his liquor. He says you’ve been lapping it up all summer like a wild-cat!
Related Characters:
Harold Mitchell (Mitch) (speaker), Blanche DuBois, Stanley Kowalski
Related Symbols:
Alcohol and Drunkenness
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
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Harold Mitchell (Mitch) Character Timeline in A Streetcar Named Desire
The timeline below shows where the character Harold Mitchell (Mitch) appears in A Streetcar Named Desire. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Scene 1
Eunice and a Negro Woman are sitting on the front stoop when Stanley and Mitch come around the corner. Stanley bellows for Stella, and when she comes out on the...
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Scene 3
...are eating watermelon and drinking whiskey. The men deal out yet another hand of poker. Mitch worries that he should get home to his sick mother, and he rises and goes...
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Blanche is about to take a bath when Mitch emerges from the bathroom. Mitch is sheepish and awkward, and Blanche looks at him with...
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...turns on the radio, but Stanley turns it off and stalks back to the game. Mitch skips the next hand to go to the bathroom again, but Stella is in there,...
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Blanche and Mitch discuss his sick mother, and as they smoke Mitch’s cigarettes, Blanche reads the inscription on...
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...Stella comes out of the bathroom, Blanche turns the radio back on, and she and Mitch clumsily begin to dance. Stanley leaps from the table and throws the radio out the...
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Blanche rushes downstairs, confused and frantic. Mitch appears and tells her not to worry, that this is just the nature of Stanley...
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Scene 5
...overreacted to the stain, and Blanche claims that she is nervous about her relationship with Mitch––they are going on another date tonight. She has not been honest with him about her...
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As Blanche waits for Mitch, a Young Man arrives, collecting subscriptions for the Evening Star newspaper. Blanche flirts with the...
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Scene 6
It is two o’clock in the morning. Blanche and Mitch have just returned from an amusement park. Blanche is clearly exhausted, and both are strained....
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Blanche invites Mitch in for a night-cap. She lights candles and suggests that they pretend to be Bohemians...
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Mitch lifts Blanche up, declaring her “light as a feather,” and, while his hands are around...
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When Mitch asks where Stanley and Stella are, Blanche explains that they are out with Eunice and...
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Blanche launches into a somewhat hysterical rant against Stanley, and also bemoans her impoverished state. Mitch interrupts to ask how old she is. Blanche asks why he wants to know, and...
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Blanche says she understands about being lonely. She tells Mitch about her first husband: she married him while they were both very young, and though...
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Mitch approaches her and embraces her, saying that they both need someone. As they kiss, Blanche...
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Scene 7
...Stella begins poking candles into the birthday cake, saying that she will stop at twenty-five. Mitch has been invited, she says, but Stanley tells her not to expect Mitch, claiming that...
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Scene 8
...the dismal birthday supper. There is an empty fourth place at the table, meant for Mitch who did not show. Blanche tells a lame joke about a parrot and a priest,...
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Blanche rushes to the phone to call Mitch, even though Stella tells her not to. Stella goes out to Stanley on the porch,...
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...candles on Blanche’s birthday cake. Blanche and Stanley join her. Blanche reproaches herself for calling Mitch. Stanley complains about the heat from Blanche’s bath, and she retorts that a “healthy Polack”...
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The telephone rings, and Blanche expects that it is Mitch, but it is one of Stanley’s friends. When Stanley returns, he tells Blanche that he...
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Scene 9
Mitch, unshaven and disheveled, rings the doorbell. The polka stops. Blanche hurriedly puts on powder and...
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Mitch asks Blanche to turn off the fan. She offers him a drink. Mitch says that...
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...liquor bottle in the closet and pretends that she doesn’t know what Southern Comfort is. Mitch again refuses a drink, saying that Stanley says she has been drinking his liquor all...
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Blanche asks Mitch what’s on his mind. Mitch says that he’s never seen Blanche in the daytime or...
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Mitch stares Blanche in the face. He says that he doesn’t mind her being older than...
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...that she didn’t know what she was doing and that she acted out of panic. Mitch, she says, was the first man who gave her hope. After a pause, Mitch says...
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Mitch begins to embrace Blanche, but Blanche insists that he marry her first. Mitch drops his...
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Scene 10
It is still later that night. Blanche has been drinking steadily since Mitch left. She has dressed herself in a white satin gown and her rhinestone tiara. She...
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Blanche claims that Mitch had arrived that night with roses to beg her forgiveness. Stanley asks if Mitch came...
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Scene 11
Upon hearing Blanche’s voice, Mitch’s face and arms sag, and he lapses into a daydream. Stanley yells at him to...
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...poker game, but Stella goes with her. As Blanche crosses through and the men (except Mitch) stand awkwardly, Blanche says, “Please don’t get up. I’m only passing through.”
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While Stella and Eunice are speaking on the porch, Mitch has started toward the bedroom, but Stanley blocks him from entering, shoving him away. Mitch...
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