BLANCHE: I’m not going to let you hurt me, Nora. I’m not going to let you tell me that I don’t love you or that I haven’t tried to give you as much as I gave Laurie . . . God knows I’m not perfect because enough angry people in this house told me so tonight . . . But I am not going to be a doormat for all the frustrations and unhappiness that you or Aunt Kate or anyone else wants to lay at my feet . . . I did not create this Universe. I do not decide who lives and dies, or who’s rich or poor or who feels loved and who feels deprived. If you feel cheated that Laurie gets more than you, than I feel cheated that my husband died at thirty-six.
And if you keep on feeling that way, you’ll end up like me . . . with something much worse than loneliness or helplessness and that’s self-pity. Believe me, there is nothing worse than human being who thrives on his own misfortunes .. . I am sorry, Nora, that you feel unloved and I will do everything I can to change it but I will not go back to being that frightened, helpless woman that I created! . . . I’ve already buried someone I love. Now it’s time to bury someone I hate.
