When considering the character of Blanche, she is marked more so by what she does not reveal about herself than by what she reveals. Her false modesty and Southern charm are tools that she uses to obscure who she really is. Part of what annoys her brother-in-law, Stanley, about her, aside from her education and higher-class status, is her pretension.
The only information that Blanche willingly reveals is that Belle Reve, the family plantation, has been lost. Belle Reve stands, not only for the DuBois family's former prestige, but is an emblem of the Old South. During the postwar period, in which the play takes place, the Old South had collapsed: the plantation system (in which slaves were replaced by sharecroppers) eroded, and black people achieved civil rights -- albeit slowly and with much resistance.
To save Belle Reve and, perhaps also to hold on to her senses of youth and desirability, Blanche frequents a hotel called The Flamingo where she hires herself out as an escort. This information, uncovered by Stanley, stands in stark contrast to the self-image she presents. Her name, Blanche DuBois, is of French origin and translates as "white woods," or even "the white woman of the woods," due to "blanche" being the feminine form of "blanc" and "du" translating to English as "from the." The name signifies purity and innocence (white), but also obscurity (the woods). Hence, Blanche's senses of purity and innocence rely mostly on what she hides from others and from herself.
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