Just water, baby, to chase it! Now don’t get worried, your sister hasn’t turned into a drunkard, she’s just all shaken up and hot and tired and dirty!
– Tennessee Williams
A Streetcar Named Desire, Scene 1. One of the first things Blanche reaches for when she shows up at her sister’s home is the whiskey bottle, treating herself to a large helping from it. When Stella returns home, Blanche has another glass. But she attempts to conceal her alcoholism from her sister by playing down her drinking. The audience already knows about Blanche’s over-fondness for drink, an example of dramatic irony.