Blanche, like most upper-class Southern belles, is like a hothouse flower. She needs protection. She never learned about the real world because she had the protected childhood of an elite Southern girl. That protection was destroyed by the Civil War. Stella likes a real he-man who gives her real sexual pleasure and satisfaction, while Blanche lives in a world of illusion and likes young boys who are only good-looking and potentially romantic. She was married to that type of boy, she said, and he died young. Notice how she talks to that young boy who comes to collect for the newspaper in Scene Five: “Young man! Young, young, young man! Has anyone ever told you that you look like a young Prince out of the Arabian Nights? Well, you do, honey lamb! Come here. I want to kiss you, just once, softly and sweetly on your mouth! Now run along, now, quickly! It would be nice to keep you, but I’ve got to be good—and keep my hands off children.”
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