How Does Blanche Dubois Represent The Old South

The Old South is the period in southern America pre civil war and refers to their culture. It is characterized by tradition, social status, and luxurious living conditions. The New South refers to the post civil war time period and marks the coming of the industrial revolution. In A Streetcar named Desire by William Faulkner, Blanche Dubois represents the "old" South because of her origins, mindset and values. Contrary to Blanche, Stanley Kowalski is a factory worker of polish origins who Faulkner uses to represent the New South. Blanche and Stanley both serve as symbols of the Old South and the New South to highlight the decay of the Aristocratic south and that Old South ideals cannot thrive in a New South era.
Blanche DuBois is a typical

example of a woman from the Old South era. As she comes from superior origins, she possesses has all the characteristics of people of high social standards. When first introduced to Blanche her physical appearance is portrayed as very glamorous typical of a southern socialite, “She is daintily dressed in a white suit with a fluffy bodice, necklace and earrings of pearl, white gloves and hat, looking as if she were arriving at a summer tea or cocktail party in the garden district” (Faulkner 15). Physical presentation is very central to Blanche’s identity as it is a sign of social standings. To further demonstrate her social superiority, Blanche makes belittling comments Stella's house, “Why didn't you let me know that you had to live in these conditions!”(Faulkner 24). As Blanche tries to exude the image of high social standings, the extravagant lifestyle she inherited, is starting to decay, “There are thousands of papers, stretching back over hundreds of years, affecting Belle Reve as, piece by piece, our improvident grandfathers and father and uncles and brothers exchanged the land for their epic fornications—to put it plainly! . . . The four-letter word deprived us of our plantation, till finally all that was left—and Stella can verify that!—was the house itself and about twenty acres of ground, including a graveyard, to which now all but Stella and I have retreated”(Faulkner 120). The decay of Blanche’s social standing and image is a representative of the decay of the Old South’s social and economic hierarchy.
Blanche’s inability to face reality is also linked to the inevitable downfall of the antebellum south.

Preserving the illusion that she will continue to live luxuriously Blanche tells Stella, “The rest of my time I'm going to spend on the sea. And when I die, I'm going to die on the sea”(Faulkner 140). At the End of the play, as Blanche expects a gentleman to arrive for her, physchatrist arrives at her doorstep. Unable to face the reality of her deterioration of her mental status she comments, “Whoever you are—I have always depended on the kindness of strangers”(Faulkner 142) . This event highlights the disinclination of people from the Old South as they are unwilling to adapt to the reality of change. As John Gassner states “Blanche tried to stand firm on quick-sand and was declassed right into a house of ill-fame. The substructure of the story has some resemblance to The cherry Orchard, whose aristocrats were also unable to adjust to reality and were crushed by it.” (Gassner 8). As the doctor makes his entrance in the play, the downfall of Blanche and in part, the downfall of the Old South became

inevitable.
In contrast to Blanche Stanley Kowalski embodies the representation of the New South.

As Stanley is first introduced in the play, he appears in blue denim work clothes. As part of the working class, Stanley’s financial and social statuses are not portrayed in a favorable light, which leads him to make the declaration that “I am not a Polack. People from Poland are Poles, not Polacks. But what I am is a one hundred percent American, born and raised in the greatest country on earth and proud as hell of it, so don’t ever call me a Polack” (Faulkner 132). As revealed in the play, Stanley is of polish origins and it can be inferred that Stanley comes from a generation of immigrants who migrated to the South post civil war. As an immigrant Stanley represents a new idea of successes. Unlike Blanche who inherited her wealth, Stanley represents the idea that with hard work and determination one can hopefully achieve the dream of success. In the presence of Stanley Blanche is reduced to being pre civil war relic. The idea of aristocratic success that she represented no longer has a place in the new southern era. As C. Vann Woodward says, “ In racial policy, political institutions and industrial philosophy, there was a break with the founding fathers of the New South” (Wright

1).
The constant disagreement between Blanche and Stanley in the play displays that Old South ideals and New South ideals cannot coexist with each other. The ridiculous and absurd features of the Old South to the people of the modern South is shown through Blanche’s behavior which is found as upsetting to the other members of the play. In referencing Blanche Stanley recalls, the trouble with Dame Blanche was that she couldn't put on her act any more in Laurel! They got wised up after two or three dates with her and then they quit, and she goes on to another, the same old line, same old act, same old hooey! But the town was too small for this to go on forever! And as time went by she became a town character. Regarded as not just different but downright loco--nuts" (Page 121). Unable to sympathize or understand Blanche’s behavior, Stanley embodies the hostility the new southern world shares towards Blanche; “Nostalgia for the Old South appears to be declining, but it is still possible to express regional identity without harkening