What makes Blanche Dubois and Stanley Kowalski different from each other in A Streetcar Named Desire?

There are
a number of major differences between between Blanche and Stanley that generate a good deal of
animosity. Blanche's arrival disrupts the rhythm of Stanley's home life. He's used to being
number one, master in his own house. But now that Blanche has arrived, he's no longer the center
of Stella's attention, and he's insanely jealous of Blanche for taking away that attention from
him.

Blanche is a tad too refined for the hulking, brutish Stanley. Although
she's not quite the paragon of Southern refinement and respectability she'd have us believe, her
superior demeanor and ladylike mannerisms drive Stanley up the wall. Stanley's an uncomplicated
man; he certainly hasn't much in the brains department. But what he lacks in formal education,
he makes up for with street smarts, and this allows him to see right through Blanche's delicate
facade.

The two characters are like chalk and cheese. There was never the
remotest chance that they'd get along. Though a thoroughly disreputable character, Blanche still
clings to her rarefied social background as the one thing in life that gives her pride and a
sense of who she is. She looks down on Stanley, contemptuously describing him with ancommonly
used against Polish-Americans. She's better-educated and more book-smart, in stark contrast to
the unlettered Stanley, and this further adds to her sense of superiority. Stanley hates being
patronized, so he doesn't take Blanche's airs and graces too well. With him, what you see is
what you get, and he doesn't have time for anyone who isn't the same. Blanche isn't like that at
all; to Stanley, she comes across as artificial, affected, and phony. This evaluation of
Blanche's character inspires Stanley to find out the truth about her past and destroy her
credibility in the eyes of Stella.