A streetcar named desire

Question 1

context on William’s own life

Answer 1

• In 1931 William’s had a nervous breakdown, and in 1937 his sister rose was sent to a mental institution like Blanche.
• suffering from heavy depression, he resorted to heavy drinking (like blanche) and drugs
• mother was abused by alcoholic father

Question 2

context on the south

Answer 2

• the DuBois family’s wealth would probably been built on slavery, abolished in the south in 1865
• after the southern confederate states lost the civil war, the south became poor and families like the Dubois declined
• blanche refined taste including her dislike of vulgarity reflect the values of the old south