Mrs. Campbell
Honors English III
26 April 2014
(Thesis) Blanche and Stanley represent two different social classes in the 1940’s. Those two classes also represent the Old and New South and it is clear that Williams favors the New South.
(Topic Sentence 1) Blanche‟s and Stanley‟s confrontation symbolizes the collision between two worlds, the old world and the new world. It further shows a conflict between the values of the old world and the new. Blanche, the Southern belle represents the bourgeoisie element in the early American south that made their living exploiting the labor of African American slaves in plantations.
(Evidence) Blanche considers class and social status to be vital. She states about her ancestry, and says, “We are French by extraction. Our first American ancestors were French Huguenots” (Williams 60). Without a proper upbringing a person cannot achieve economic success or intelligence or otherwise is what Blanche believes and her derogatory remarks serve to highlight her bourgeois pretentions as well as her insecurity in New Orleans surroundings where a social transition was taking place. A society where class status, ancestry or inheritances are less significant is emerging and therefore Blanche is facing a crisis of belonging as she lives in her class-conscious bourgeois past.
(Topic Sentence) Stanley Kowalski represents the American Dream of the new America which stands up for a society where all men are born equal and can succeed