Context

Question 1

The Old South

Answer 1

• Blanche allegorical of Old Southern values
• DuBois’ wealth built on exploitation of slavery vs New Orleans as a microcosm for merging cultures
• Decline of Old South romanticised in ‘Gone With the Wind’: “You can tell your grandchildren how you watched the Old South fall one night.”

Question 2

Tennessee Williams

Answer 2

• Father was an alcoholic
• Sister Rose experienced severe mental illness
• Williams was a closeted homosexual
• Williams was an effeminate adolescent

Question 3

New American taste for realism

Answer 3

• Blanche’s deceit goes against societal and audience’s viewing preference
• Old South presented as outdated
• “I don’t want realism”