Critique the personalities of Blair and Serena. Then based on this information compare and contrast them, while explaning the effects of the Upper East Side environment.

Gossip Girl Cast

In the book, Gossip Girl by Cecily von Ziegesar, Blair is selfish, insecure, anal and a perfectionist; while Serena is careless, wild, self-centered, and intruding. The Upper East side contributes to the selfishness personalities of these rich kids because every one who grew up here is affected by the wealthy and perfect neighborhood. These personalities result in common themes of betrayal and appearence. Blair and Serena need to grow out of their immature behaviour in order to be friends again. They are both selfish, except Serena is care free and Blair is uptight and careful. Serena and Blair see each other the first time in a year at a party and their personalities immediately are shown. Serena has just returned from a crazy year at boarding school and comes home to her old best friend's house, Blair, expecting everything to be the same as when she left. Serena does not recognize Blair's unhappiness and continues to talk about her life and how she has done so much in the past year. Blair immediately feels annoyed and tries to avoid Serena and her stories. When they are alone and talking,"The corners of Blair's mouth curled up. Serena obviously wanted her to ask her why, why was she tired of boys? But Blair wasn't going to give her that satisfaction. She tugged her sweater down and glanced at her reflection one more time" (36).

Upper East Side in Manhattan

 Every detail of this simple conversation perfectly shows and enhances the personalities of the girls. Serena has so many stories about her crazy life away that she does not recognize Blair's feelings of hurt and betrayal. Serena is so wrapped up in her own world, she is not accepting the reality of her friendship. She needs to be more aware and considerate of others before she starts talking about herself. She is very careless and is not easily worried, unlike Blair who is constantly stressed with her appearence. Blair is insecure and probably the character who is most obsessed with keeping up her "perfect" life. She is always judging her looks in the mirror. She cares more about her outside appearance than her inside feelings. These actions are making her stressed and extremely insecure. She needs to focus in on her emotions, which should matter more. She; however, is also very hardworking and will never show weakness, which is very impressive. Even though it seems as if Serena is always careless, she can also be very loving. She truly does miss Blair, but she has trouble expressing her feelings.

Blair and Serena

The Upper East Side creates an environment where the teens feel the need to be perfect and better than everyone around them. This leads to harmful consequences and feelings the people share with each other. Blair and Serena are perfect examples of how a simple environment can be so effective. Blair is troubled because she feels the need to be the best all the time. Serena has always been handed everything which leads her to be selfish. The two girls need to accept reality and grow up in order to finally find peace between them.