But you are the one that abandoned Belle Reve, not I! I stayed and fought for it, bled for it, almost died for it!
– Tennessee Williams
A Streetcar Named Desire, Scene 1. Blanche struggles with the loss of her ancestral home Belle Reve. She is jealous and resentful of Stella’s life with Stanley, despite thinking of herself as a class above him. She admonishes her sister for having abandoned her and the family home. Moments before this Blanche criticized Stella for taking off to New Orleans to look out for herself, while Blanche had to remain at Belle Reve to try to hold it all together.