Literature of the South revived gradually and began to thrive on the nostalgia for the past, on regional rather than national patriotism, and on the romantic appeal of a lost cause and a lost way of life.
Blanche represents the lost way of life since she is part of a decaying culture.
She does not want to adapt to the New Orleans way of life yet knows that her prestigious background is dying.
The romanticising of the South continued into the twentieth century, with the Magaret Mitchell's 1936 novel, 'Gone with the Wind'.
The fascination with the past merged gradually with an awareness of the South whose economic decay was symbolised by the fading beauty of the planters' mansion.
Like William's Belle Reve.
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Southern Gothic
Often borders on the bizarre and grotesque
Its inspiration lay perhaps on the awareness of belonging to a dying culture - dashing, romantic, but at the same time, living in an economy based on deep injustice and cruelty.
Blanche belongs to a dying culture of the prestigious South.
His dislike of his mother had an adverse affect on his attitude to the romanticised South, but the South as a broken damaged society with the ripe charms of decay fired his imagination.
The South seemed to him to stand for the cultural values ignored by the money-grabbing, prosperous North of the carpetbaggers.
Thus, Stanley and Blanche are seen as representing the two opposing sides.
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European influences
The Cherry Orchard (1904) by Anton Chekhov.
A parallel is drawn between the plantation culture of Belle Reve and the household of Madame Ranevskaya.
Their extravagant existence was based on the labour of others.
Downfall of an entire culture represented through the loss of Madame's household, and Blanche's mental downfall.
The old vs. the new.
The butler is forgotten, representing the death of the old culture, much like how Blanche is forgotten after she is sent away.
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Modern Influences
Ken Kesey's 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' (1975)
In this novel, set in a men's mental hostipal, the working-class protagonist, McMurphy, is locked into a battle of wills with the controlling and manipulative Nurce Ratched.
In some ways, this battle could be compared with the conflict of Stanley and Blanche.
The rebellious McMurphy disrupts the controlled calm of the mental hospital.
Blanche disrupts the status quo in the Kowalskis' household
McMurphy is eventually given a brain-deadening electric shock treatment.
Blanche suffers a mental breakdown, mainly because she was ***** by Stanley.
Maggie O' Farrel's 'The Vanishing ct of Esme Lennox' (2006).
In this, a teenage girl who refuses to conform has an apparent mental breakdown as a result of being ***** by her sister's suitor.
She then spends most of her life in a mental hospital, which seems to be convenient for her family.
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The American Dream
The belief that everyone in the US has the chance to be successful and happy if they work hard.
Who can it relate to?
Stanley.
Stella.
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Genre Context: Tragedy
It produces a profound emotional effect on the audience.
It is centred on a tragic hero who is neither wholly good or wholly bad.
Blanche.
The tragic hero makes an error of judgement which brings down the wrath of the nemesis causing the downfall of the hero.
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