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The Glass Menagerie
During the 1930s, the US went through a rough period in their history. Due to a major stock
market crash, the US fell into the Great Depression. Many people were forced to live with little or
no money. The play, The Glass Menagerie, by Tennessee Williams is set in St. Louis, Missouri
during this period of time. Amanda, the mother of the family, lives in an apartment in the city with
her two children, Tom and Laura. Tom's job at the warehouse and the small pay from Amanda's
telemarketer job help to provide for the three of them. They did not have much money but were a
typical family for the time they were living in. Wearing typical clothes, experiencing difficulties, and
living in a common home are all characteristics of the cast in this play....show more content...
The audience learns early on that the father of the family has left. In Tom's opening statement, he
refers to his dad as, "a fifth character in the play who doesn't appear except in this larger–than–life
photograph" (scene 1). As times worsened during the depression, a father leaving a family would
not be too uncommon. Pressures of supporting for a family could be difficult, and it could lead
fathers to leaving their families which adds more of a real feeling to the play. Tom is seen to be
an alcoholic throughout the play. Afraid her son is an alcoholic, Amanda tends to question Tom
and ask where he is going and what he's doing but Tom simply responds with, "I'm going to the
movies" (scene 3). This of course is a cover for what he is actually doing. Again, this is common
during a stressful time like the characters are in. His drinking problem is realistic and the
audience can feel what he's going through. The play is meant to seem as if the situations and
conversations they have are real, and the play Williams writes does that well. Tom and his father
are adding realism to the play from the beginning, but the other main characters also can be used
to provide some realistic characteristics. Amanda is a stay at home mom who tries to give the best
life possible for her children. She is extremely protective of them, and this can be relatable to many
people. Laura is used as the disabled or lazy one of the
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The Glass Menagerie Essay
The Glass Menagerie–Journal Entry #1
If you could change the outcome of the story, what change would you make?
If I could change the outcome of the story, I would have allowed Laura and Jim O'Connor to get
married. I would have made this change because then Amanda's problem would have been solved,
and Laura would have had financial support in the future. Another reason I would have made this
change is because Jim O'Connor would have been the ideal man for Laura because he connected
with her. He saw past her awkward fondness of a glass animal set. He also got Laura to take pride in
herself.
Another thing I would change is the early department of Tom. I understand that he was longing for
adventure outside of the warehouse. I also...show more content...
Tom's memories also prohibited him from finding happiness and moving forward, but it also led
to the creation of the play. All of the characters have ways to deal with their cruel memories,
except Tom. Amanda has her happy days from her youth and Laura has her glass collection. Tom
has no sufficient way of escape. He has tried escaping to the movies, but he came to realize that it
was not a real way out. I dislike how Tennessee William's uses both past and present tenses in the
play because it is a bit puzzling. As you know, Tom is both a narrator and a character in the play.
Younger Tom is the character and older Tom is the narrator. Older Tom speaks in past tense since he
is telling his recollections. Younger Tom is speaking inpresent tense.
The Sun Also Rises– Journal #4
Are you sympathetic or unsympathetic towards a character's dilemma or difficult decision?
I am sympathetic towards Jake Barnes's problem. Jake Barnes was a soldier who fought in the
World War I. During the war, he was wounded. Due to his injury, he is unable to have sex, which
can cause problems, both mental and physical. For Jake, his injury causes two major problems
which I feel are very unfortunate. These problems both hinder Jake from moving forward and
progressing in his general life, as well as his love life.
The first reason I feel sorry for Jake is because his injury prevents the love of his life from entering
into a relationship with him. Brett Ashley is a woman

The Glass Menagerie Essay examples
Research Paper
"The Glass Menagerie"
English 102
Spring 2010
Outline
I. Introduction
a. Thesis statement– Playwright Williams uses symbolism throughout "The Glass
Menagerie" to illustrate the struggle for happiness that each character faces.
II. Symbolism
a. The Glass Menagerie
b. Escape
c. The Unicorn
d. Darkness
III. Conclusion
The purpose of this paper is to introduce and analyze the play "The Glass Menagerie" by
Tennessee Williams. Specifically it will discuss the symbolism and imagery in this play. "The
Glass Menagerie" is a tragic story of the Wingfield family, a dysfunctional family of dreamers
who never seem to actually achieve their dreams. Amanda,...show more content...
To
escape the raw facts of her lonely life, her dysfunctional family, and her own lack of motivation,
she retreats into the past. She continuously looks back on her girlhood and the "gentlemen
callers" who filled her home and admired her. In some pathetic part of her mind, she remains

that young, tantalizing flirt, and as long as she immerses herself in those dreams, she can escape
the very dull reality of her present life. She is poor; her husband abandoned the family, her son
does not respect her, and her daughter is disabled. Escape is the only thing she has that brings
her any joy or satisfaction in her life. Another critic notes, "Amanda represents the ideals of the
Old South, the Puritan tradition, and a kind of meaningless conformity that destroys the
individual without the consequence of enriching the world" (Crandle 12). Each member of the
family uses escape in some way to cope with their unhappiness, but Tom is the only one to make
a permanent escape. Critic Harold Bloom writes, "Thus, while the father still personifies love to
the romantic memory of the middle–aged Amanda, he symbolizes another kind of romance to his
son–the romance of escape and adventure" (Bloom 34). Escape is in Tom's blood, and that is
clear throughout the play–his major goal is always to leave, symbolizing his father's role in his
life and his need to

Glass Menagerie Essay
In the play The Glass Menagerie, written by Tennessee Williams, a realism style drama is still
being performed 50 years after its debut in New York. The plotline and title both center on Laura
Wingfield's glass menagerie collection. William's used glass as a tool to represent fragility, both of
individuals and of the Wingfield family. The evidence regarding importance of the glass menagerie is
found in the fact that Tennessee Williamsnames the play after it. Through the title, individual
characterization, and family dynamic, Williams intertwines the theme of fragility to tell the tale of
the Wingfield family equating them to glass, which is both beautiful and fragile like all people.
The play is introduced to the audience breaking the 4th wall by Tom, who is the narrator and
protagonist. There Tom details that the play is based on his...show more content...
This world is similar to the glass in that it is "colorful, but based on fragile illusions" (Palmer).
Laura uses this world as a way to shield herself from her unhappy realities of an overbearing mother
named Amanda, and her brother Tom who is clearly burdened by Laura. "The collection embodies
Laura's imaginative world, her haven from society. The old–fashioned, somewhat childlike, timeless
nature of the menagerie further highlights Tom's depiction of Laura as a figure who exists outside
the traditional confines of time and space" (Oppenheimer).
In her collection Laura has a favorite figure, the glass unicorn. Her choice in the unicorn and the
item of the unicorn represents Amanda's uniqueness. Even Amanda's own mother Laura
recognizes how unique her daughter is as she describes her to her guest as, "She is like a piece of
her own glass collection, too exquisitely fragile..." (Williams 14). Amanda's choice to favor
something out of the order shows the value she places on being unique and is a telling feature of her

The Glass Menagerie Essay
The Glass Menagerie Symbolism is a major aspect in Tennessee William's famous play, "The
Glass Menagerie." On the surface, the short slice of life story seems to be simple. However, if the
reader digs deeper they will find that there are several symbols that give the play a deeper meaning.
Each character defines each symbol in a different way. There are some very noticeable symbols that
can be analyzed when studying "The Glass Menagerie." The first is the actual glass menagerie that
represents the fragility of the Wingfield's dreamlike existence. The second is the fire escape, which
reflects each character's tendency to escape from reality in their own ways. The third is the yellow
dress, which represents youth and the past....show more content...
Now it is like all of the other horses. The unicorn losing its horn is a symbol. The unicorn in its
original state symbolizes something different. It is delicate, beautiful, and precious in it's own
unique way. This could symbolize Laura has natural beauty in an "unearthly way" that is hidden by
her shyness and limp. When Laura starts to talk to Jim, she gets more confidence in herself and
realizes that she is not that different from everyone else in the world. The horn symbolizes a
difference, an obstacle to be overcome and admired.
The fire escape is a major symbol in this play. It represents a different symbol for each character.
For Amanda, the fire escape is a way for her to be protected from the outside world, or reality. She
cannot live in the present, and the lack of a front door makes it easy for her to avoid real life. She
convinces herself that she isn't capable of leaving the safe haven she has created by locking
herself inside the strange apartment. She has become trapped by her memories. Laura uses the
fire escape as a symbol in a similar way. She, too, is protected from the outside world by the fire
escape, and she is also limited by it because of her handicap. It will require an extra effort for
Laura to overcome her limp and get out into the world using the fire escape, symbolizing how her
life is more difficult because of her handicap and her delusional mother. Tom

Essay On The Glass Menagerie
Tennessee Williams, an American playwright, his famous works are "The Glass Menagerie" and
"A Streetcar Named Desire" Tennessee Williams creation of drama is directly related to own
personal life and experience. He has a sister Rose Williams she is diagnosed with schizophrenic.
In The Glass Menagerie it is talking about a memory play in the 1940s talking about Tom
Wingfield in the 1930s, Tom is the narrator and the major character in the book. The other three
characters are Amanda the mother, Laura sister of Tom, and Jim the gentleman caller. Laura in the
book is like a reflection of Rose; they both are disabled in some parts of their body. In The Glass
Menagerie's, Laura is crippled and in real– life Rose has schizophrenic. As the book has been a
classical collection of Tennessee Williamsa lot of people have read it from around the world by
westerners and also easterners. The context of the book is talking about the United States classic
low class families. For easterners, they might not be well...show more content...
In The Glass Menagerie, Amanda has an aggressive characterization, she is holding on to her son
and daughter. "Oh! I felt so weak I could barely keep on my feet! ...Just gone up the spout like that"
(Williams 13). From this quote we can see that Amanda is making Laura do something that she didn't
want to do and when the command is not done she turns upset. Back in the 1940s mom being
aggressive is a very common thing that happens, the adults take control over the family. But now
days, in the modern world children have more of their own opinions of what to do. Readers who
are reading back in the 1940s will think that Amanda is being a normal mom that is teaching their
own children what to do, for readers in the modern world Amanda would become a mom that cares
too much for their own children which will make them feel

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The Glass Menagerie Essay