Blanche as a Southern Belle represents all that is dead and decaying about the Old South
“Blanche as a Southern Belle represents all that is dead and decaying about the Old South, whereas Stanley stands for the dynamic, vibrant future.” To what extent do you agree?
From the early stages of the play it is clear that Blanche and Stanley are polar opposites in terms of their personality, upbringing, and social outlooks. Stanley interprets Blanche to be a threat to his wife and home, although she sees herself as the protectionist and sees Stanley as an “ape” who has dragged her dear sister down into squalid living conditions. At the time the play was written, the notion of a Southern Bells had faded, and the Old American South had lost allot of its old grandeur through the war and was not only reeling from it but also having to deal with a wave of civil rights campaigners. The world has moved on around it, including mass European immigration that catalysed a new era for America. The immigration levels peaked in 1907 when well over a million people entered the country. The characters of Blanche and Stanley not only are significant in terms of the plot but also display a microcosm between the clash of the old and new America.
When the play begins, Blanche is already a fallen woman in society’s eyes. Her family fortune and estate are gone, she lost her young husband to suicide years earlier, and she is a social pariah due to her indiscrete sexual behavior. She also has a bad drinking problem, which she covers up poorly. Behind her veneer of social snobbery and sexual propriety, Blanche is an insecure, dislocated individual. She is an aging Southern belle who lives in a state of perpetual panic about her fading beauty. Her manner is dainty and frail, and she sports a wardrobe of showy but cheap evening clothes. Stanley quickly sees through Blanche’s act and seeks out information about her past. The notion of death is apparent through Blanches maiden name, Grey, which suggests bleakness and unhappiness. Indeed we are introduced to the fact that behind
From the early stages of the play it is clear that Blanche and Stanley are polar opposites in terms of their personality, upbringing, and social outlooks. Stanley interprets Blanche to be a threat to his wife and home, although she sees herself as the protectionist and sees Stanley as an “ape” who has dragged her dear sister down into squalid living conditions. At the time the play was written, the notion of a Southern Bells had faded, and the Old American South had lost allot of its old grandeur through the war and was not only reeling from it but also having to deal with a wave of civil rights campaigners. The world has moved on around it, including mass European immigration that catalysed a new era for America. The immigration levels peaked in 1907 when well over a million people entered the country. The characters of Blanche and Stanley not only are significant in terms of the plot but also display a microcosm between the clash of the old and new America.
When the play begins, Blanche is already a fallen woman in society’s eyes. Her family fortune and estate are gone, she lost her young husband to suicide years earlier, and she is a social pariah due to her indiscrete sexual behavior. She also has a bad drinking problem, which she covers up poorly. Behind her veneer of social snobbery and sexual propriety, Blanche is an insecure, dislocated individual. She is an aging Southern belle who lives in a state of perpetual panic about her fading beauty. Her manner is dainty and frail, and she sports a wardrobe of showy but cheap evening clothes. Stanley quickly sees through Blanche’s act and seeks out information about her past. The notion of death is apparent through Blanches maiden name, Grey, which suggests bleakness and unhappiness. Indeed we are introduced to the fact that behind