Summary Of Tennessee William's The Glass Menagerie

The Glass Menagerie lures the audience into taking a voyeuristic glimpse into the private lives of the Wingfield family, which consist of Amanda, the domineering mother of two adult children, Tom and Laura, and who welcomes Jim, a “gentleman caller” hosting him to a gay evening in the grandest Antebellum tradition. The contrasts in William’s play are manifested through the character traits of Tom and Jim (the dreamer and the doer), Amanda, dwelling in the past, while colliding with the present, the mother and children, seeking escape into fantasy, denying reality, failing to come to terms with, or acknowledge that psychological and

In Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie, surroundings have molded each character. This fact is especially evident in the character of Mrs. Amanda Wingfield, an aged mother from a traditional southern family, who is constantly controlling the lives of her children. Amanda is crippled with a fear of abandonment and an obsession with finding a man for her daughter since her own husband left the family. Mrs. Wingfield’s overbearing inclinations lead to the overall degeneration of the family.

In Tennessee William’s work “The Glass Menagerie”, a theme that is well developed is feeling trapped. Williams and Tom, both share similarities. This theme fits well with Tom, Laura, and Amanda. They each have a feeling in which they are trapped. The family overcomes many obstacles from their past.

Set in the memory of narrator Tom Wingfield, an aspiring writer who works in a shoe factory yet longs to travel beyond the city of Chicago where he provides for his mother Amanda and sister Laura as his father left them in , the Glass Menagerie explores multiple themes through in depth instruction for actors and casual dialogue which follows a simple plot filled with complex ideas and characters. While the mother Amanda expresses concern about their future and worries Tom will follow in his father’s footsteps, foreshadowing the finale of the play, Laura lives isolated in a dream work separate from reality where she faces overwhelming anxiety that she distracts herself from with old records that belonged to her father and now serve her in drowning

In the play, The Glass Menagerie, Tennessee Williams addresses the hardships of a small, lower-middle class family in St. Louis. The family's future is controlled by the Amanda but, Tom will accept that no longer as he strives for independence. With their absent father, Amanda is placing the weight of the world on her children’s shoulders as she continuously comes up with ways her and her family could potentially get ahead in life. Tom feels the pressure of being the man of the house, as he’s responsible for the family’s income and works daily to provide for his mother and sister. After analyzing the characters, one might say that Tennessee Williams has used the title The Glass Menagerie to directly relate to the children being held captive

In a 1965 interview, Tennessee Williams said, “I have always been more interested in creating a character that contains something crippled. I think nearly all of us have some kind of defect, anyway, and I suppose I have found it easier to identify with the characters who verge upon hysteria, who were frightened of life, who were desperate to reach out to another person” (Stang, 1965). The Glass Menagerie takes place at the apartment of the Wingfield family in the 1930s. Each character finds the need to escape reality due to their individual personal desires and motivations. The main characters Laura, Amanda, Tom Jim and Father each have various weakness and strength that develop their character. Tom is the narrator and the protagonist of the story. He desires to escape his overbearing life for a life full of adventure and excitement.

  Tom Wingfield is the narrator and a major character in Tennessee William’s timeless play, The Glass Menagerie. Through the eyes of Tom, the viewer gets a glance into the life of his family in the pre-war depression era; his mother, a Southern belle desperately clinging to the past; his sister, a woman too fragile to function in society; and himself, a struggling, young poet working at a warehouse to pay the bills. Williams has managed to create a momentous play using a combination of different elements, including symbolism. Three noteworthy examples of symbolism are the fire escape, a sense of hope and an escape both to the outside world and from it; the glass menagerie itself,

The Glass Menagerie is a play written by Tennessee Williams. It is mainly about three characters: Tom Wingfield, the narrator; Amanda Wingfield, Tom’s mother; and Laura Wingfield, Tom’s sister. The family is supported by both Tom and Amanda, working at a shoemaking warehouse and selling magazine subscriptions respectively. However, with some things unable to work, Amanda wants Laura to have a man to support both of them, but there are some things that are restraining her from doing so, such as Laura’s disposition. Tom brings a man named Jim O’Connor to satisfy Amanda’s wants, but this, too, does not work out. The Wingfields are all stuck in their own illusions in some way, and Jim is the only escape, coming from the real world. The Glass Menagerie explores many things in the aspects of a dysfunctional family, using contrasts between fantasy and reality.

Amanda, Laura and Tom Wingfield use different methods of escaping their reality. Throughout the play there are different symbols which represent escape. Each on of them has different ways but for all them the reason is they are unhappy with their life’s circumstances. There are many ways in which to escape reality today. Movies, dancing, video games and books to name a few. Many people use this in order to escape from everyday problems. In “The Glass Menagerie” the Wingfield family uses fantasy to escape from their unsatisfied lives.

The play called “The Glass Menagerie” by Tennessee Williams didn’t end the why I predicted it to. I thought Laura, a girl who suffers man medical conditions, would marry Jim, an old time friend and crush of hers, and she’ll live a happy and normal rest of her life with him. Instead, I was disappointed to see that this “gentleman caller” was actually engaged with another woman named Betty after he has already made Laura think he loves her. Now, Laura will stay with her mother and menagerie glass collection never meeting other people because of how shy she it. Also, I was sure that Tom, her brother, would follow his dream when he decided to follow his father’s footsteps and leave his mother and sister. His dream was to travel the world

When Amanda finds out this new information she is furious at Tom and in Newman’s movie version she is visibly shook up when she says to Tom, [That’s right, now that you’ve had us make such fools of ourselves. To entertain some other girl’s fiancé! Don’t think about us, a mother deserted, an unmarried sister who’s crippled and has no job! Just go, go, go!].

The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams is a drama that involves four main characters; Amanda, Tom, Laura, and Jim. Amanda is the mother and Tom and Laura are her two children. Their father left them years ago, leaving them responsible for the things he once took care of. When the father was still living there, he was the breadwinner of the family and provided for their needs. It seems that ever since he has been gone, they have not transitioned into their life without him, emotionally as well as financially. Their interactions with one another clearly display the scars left due to their father 's departure. Amanda and Laura have a constant communication about Laura not having any “gentleman callers” throughout her life. The main concern about this situation stems from Amanda and less from Laura. Amanda often talks to Laura about her personal memories when she herself had many men pursuing her. Amanda talks to Laura in a belittling manner and often makes Laura feel insecure about her shy and introverted personality, which is vastly different from her boisterous mother. Amanda and her other child, Tom, clearly have a dysfunctional relationship as well, but in a different way. Multiple times within the drama, they argue with one another intensely. These arguments often leave Tom so frustrated with his mother that he storms out of the house. The ending of the drama actually involves this exact situation, Tom leaving the house and eventually not coming back. The theme that

The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams is a play that represents the revelation of truth, the struggle of accepting reality, and the realization of possession. We focus in on the Wingfield family consisting of the mother, Amanda, her daughter, Laura, her son, Tom, and her absent husband that ran off years ago, but still holds a presence in the household despite his absence. Considering that this play was set in the 40’s and deals with issues that the present society does not face, it seems that this play has become “irrelevant” to us. Although, it is more relevant than ever before due to today’s society’s suppression of inner struggles just as the Wingfield family does. In 2014 modern day, the world is suffocating with laptops, games, phones, and other little distractions that cripple us from properly communicating with other people and with ourselves. This is a direct parallel to Laura’s life and her precious glass menagerie’s that she holds dear to heart, which forms as the true crippling crutch in her life, not her brace. I began my dramaturgical approach to this conclusion by first, reading the play, researching the core themes about the play and characters lives, and thus correlating it to our modern day lives.

Tennessee Williams is considered to be one of the most distinguished American playwrights of the twentieth century. As a Southern writer, Williams used his personal life and experiences as subject matter for many of his stories. Williams? turbulent early life was the basis for many of his plays. As an autobiographical play, The Glass Menagerie depicts individuals not only fleeing from reality, but also escaping from their desperate situations. Escape is defined ?as a means of obtaining temporary freedom from worry, care, or unpleasantness.? 1 Although the Wingfield family fails to accept reality, the characters have their own reasons and methods to escape their hopeless circumstances.

In Tennessee Williams, “The Glass Menagerie” all four characters consist in avoiding reality more than facing it, Amanda, Laura, Tom, and Jim. Amanda lives her life through her children 's and clings to her past. Tom constantly stays in movie theatres and into his dream of joining the merchant seamen and someday becoming a published poet. Laura resorts to her victrolla and collection of glass ornaments to help sustain her world of fantasy. Finally, Jim is only able to find some relief in his praised old memories. Amanda, Tom, Laura and Jim attempt to escape from the real world through their dreams of a fantasy life they desire.