Role of the Characters in The Glass Menagerie Essay

In terms of Laura herself, the glass menagerie in the central symbol to the play and represents, not only the different aspects of Laura, that is delicate and fragile, but also how Laura is trapped within a cabinet - within the fantasy world of glass figures. This links into the phrase ‘left on the shelf’, the idea that Laura, being part of the glass collections, has been left away from leading the normal life of romance which she fantasises about with Jim, showing how she has trapped herself on the shelf by being out of touch with reality, trapped within the cabinet. Linking on from the glass figures being symbolic of Laura, the delicacy could be seen as symbolic of her disability, something Laura also believes traps her from being ‘normal’. However, this links onto the next aspect of exploring relationships, and in many ways Amanda is responsible for Laura’s belief that her disability entraps her.

Amanda is obsessed with her past, and uses it to escape reality, as she constantly reminds Tom and Laura of the time she received seventeen gentlemen callers. The reader cannot even be sure that this actually happened. However, it is clear despite its possible falseness, Amanda has come to believe it. She refuses to acknowledge that her daughter is crippled and refers to her handicap as "a little defect - hardly noticeable" (Williams 1648). Only for brief moments does she ever admit that her daughter is "crippled" and then resorts back to denial. Amanda doesn't perceive anything realistically. She believes that this gentleman caller, Jim is going to be the man to rescue Laura and she hasn't even met him yet. When Jim arrives, Amanda is dressed in a "girlish frock" she wore on the day that she met their father and she regresses to the childish, giddy days of entertaining gentleman callers. Amanda uses her past as a means to escape the reality she does not want to face.

   Tennessee Williams' play, The Glass Menagerie, describes three separate characters, their dreams, and the harsh realities they face in a modern world.  The Glass Menagerie exposes the lost dreams of a southern family and their desperate struggle to escape reality. Williams' use of symbols adds depth to the play. The glass menagerie itself is a symbol Williams uses to represent the broken lives of Amanda, Laura and Tom Wingfield and their inability to live in the present.

Laura's glass menagerie seems to be the play's central symbol. "Laura's collection of glass animal figurines represents a number of facets of her personality. Like the figurines, Laura is

In The Glass Menagerie, Tennessee Williams presents us with four characters whose lives seem to consist in avoiding reality more than facing it. Amanda lives her life through her children and clings to her lost youthfulness. Tom retreats into movie theaters and into his dream of joining the merchant seamen and some day becoming a published poet. Laura resorts to her Victrola and collection of glass ornaments to help sustain her world of fantasy. Finally, Jim is only able to find some relief in his glorified old memories. This essay will examine how Amanda, Tom, Laura and Jim attempt to escape from the real world through their dreams.

Tennessee Williams', The Glass Menagerie, is a play that evokes great sympathy and in some cases, empathy for a protagonist who struggles to overcome two opposing forces; his responsibilities and his desires. There are many symbols and non-liner references that contribute to the development of characterization, dramatic tensions and the narrative. This essay will examine in detail, the aspects of the play that contribute to the development of the above mentioned elements.

The Glass Menagerie is arguably the most symbolic and deep plays ever written. The Glass Menagerie isn’t just a story of Laura’s disability, it has a deeper meaning behind it, and it can be easily overlooked by mediocre minds. Although the story revolves around the Wingfield family, Tennessee Williams throws in symbolism that corresponds with his childhood. In a way, he found closure for the loss of his sister Rose through writing The Glass Menagerie. One of the symbols is the play that holds a different meaning for each of the characters is the fire escape. As the play evolves the fire escape brings out Laura’s, Tom’s, and Amanda’s true desires.

The Glass Menagerie is a memory play that is, in a way, a partial autobiography of the life of its author Tennessee Williams. Williams, like Tom, worked in a factory and lived with his mother and sister. With this in mind, it’s no wonder why Tom is so fond of his sister Laura, and always more than happy to do what his mother says when it comes to her. For example Amanda, Tom’s mother, has requested Tom to bring home a gentleman caller for Laura to which he responds:

Laura’s glass menagerie represents her own emotional spirit. Laura had a minor physical impairment. Because of her physical appearance, she had a fragile and delicate inner appearance as well, like her glass pieces. Appearing weak to herself, outsiders were not able to see her true inner self and who she really was as an individual. The glass menagerie is a good comparative to Laura’s feelings about herself and how those around her also feel.

Particularly, Laura informs Amanda about why she could not go back to school: “It was the lesser of two evils, Mother. I couldn’t go back up. I – threw up – on the floor!” (2.76-78). Here, Williams uncovers Laura’s dread to go back to school. By Laura getting sick in class, it made her feel uncomfortable. Not only did Laura feel out of place but… Relating this to people in the world today, if someone were to throw up in class they would not just stop going to school, they might be a little embarrassed though. Laura’s incident at school reveals that Laura is a person who is extremely shy, which is where the lack of confidence comes

The most important symbol in this play is the title itself, The Glass Menagerie. A menagerie is a collection of wild animals kept in captivity for exhibition; in this case it was Laura’s collection of glass animal figurines. The little figurines, especially the unicorn, represent a number of elements about Laura and the entire play itself. The glass is a symbol of fragility, which is also a key facet to the overall symbolism in this memory play. Like the Menagerie, Laura is unique, delicate, and somewhat childish.

Throughout the play, “The Glass Menagerie” by Tennessee Williams, Laura’s glass collection, especially the tiny unicorn, can be used as a symbol to help us understand each of the characters individual viewpoints. The glass unicorn holds the most significance for Laura, but it, but the glass menagerie is symbolic of each and every one of the characters’ lives and attitudes. All of the characters can be better understood by relating them to the glass menagerie.

The play The Glass Menagerie, written by Tennessee Williams illustrates the life of a 1930’s living in St. Louis. Most of the play depicts the family miserable and in constant disagreement. Objects in the play including the fire escape, the picture of Tom’s father, and the unicorn from the glass menagerie all symbolize the central theme of hope for each character in the play. Hope remains a central theme of the play from the opening lines until the final scene. For each character, an object in the house represents their hopes or as Tom describes it, “the long delayed but always expected something that we live for” (Williams 5).

Having lost her husband and being left alone to raise her two children Tom and Laura, Amanda finds herself in a very undesirable situation. This situation is only made worse through Amanda's

Though Amanda may seem cruel at times, she really wants what's best for her children. She constantly nags Laura on looking nice for when the gentlemen callers arrive: "Stay fresh and pretty!-It's almost time for our gentlemen callers to start arriving" (William 28). When Amanda says "our" gentlemen callers, including herself in the wait, she has returned to her days in Blue Mountain. Laura tells her mother that she doesn't think that any callers will come and Amanda cannot believe that there will be no gentlemen callers for her daughter. To Amanda, it is a disgrace to not have gentlemen callers (Knorr). Laura tells Tom about the situation: "Mother's afraid I'm going to be an old maid" (Williams 28). Amanda begins her plan to help Laura by asking Tom to ask a nice young man from the