The Southern Belle

Question 1

Blanche’s clothing

Answer 1

Blanche’s diminished wealth is represented through cheap clothes designed to imitate upper class evening clothes. Outward display of dignity in a meticulously cultivated image.

Question 2

Contrasting styles of dialogue

Answer 2

Straightforward and naturalistic (from NA perspective) and the more poetic (from Blanche). Reflects corresponding views and backgrounds, and the social climate of the time.

Question 3

‘Machinal’- Sophie Treadwell

Answer 3

• expressionist play hovering topics of female oppression and the role women play in society, topics debated through the characterisation of Blanche DuBois.
• despite female protagonist, the male voice proliferates, constantly coercing female decision, ultimately leading the protagonist to fall under conviction at the end of the play. Relative to the male reliance and saviourisms Blanche sees in the men that surround her, and how this ultimately leads to her exploitation.

Question 4

Perception of Southern Belle archetype

Answer 4

• epitomised through media of the time, such as ‘Gone With The Wind’ (1939)
• extravagant costume as a display of wealth and femininity, with the female form being a focal point
• ‘auctioning of women’ through debutante (first appearance of a young woman in fashionable society)- excitable reaction roots identity in archaic tradition.
• romanticised scenes/ celebrations of classical, traditional music and dancing (contrast to music used in Streetcar)
• patriotic emblem of this way of living- decorated with colours of American flag- somewhat continued into the future.

Question 5

Unmarried women

Answer 5

-social convention in the Old South diminished unmarried women, leaving them vulnerable to destruction by men
- underpins Blanche’s inevitable fate due to her failed relationship with Mitch- it is only destructive masculine convention which translates into her reality.

Question 6

French heritage

Answer 6

• the diminished family plantation, a souvenir of their ‘French by extraction’ heritage that she ensures Mitch is aware of.
• use of French language performs an amplification of her position of an attempted debutante.