The Theme of Escape in The Glass Menagerie Essay

When Tom cannot actually bring himself to leave he uses many escape mechanisms to escape from his life. For instance, he escaped from their apartment onto the fire escape, and he sneaks away from the warehouse to write poetry. Tom also uses going to the movies every night and getting drunk to escape from his reality. In scene four Tom and Laura are having a conversation because he has been out for a very long time. Laura says “Where have you been all this time?” (1257.) Then Tom replies with “I have been at the movies.” (1257.) It also says in scene four that Amanda says “–well you had been drinking the night you were in that- terrifying condition! Laura says that you hate the apartment and that you go out nights o get away from it!” (1260.) This just shows that Tom is trying to escape from the life he is living, that he wants adventure. While his escape mechanisms do offer him a promise of freedom, it also traps him. At the end of scene III, Tom shouts at Amanda “I’m leading a double life,” (1256.) He wants to break free of the power Amanda has on him, but he cannot escape the love he has for his

Another means of Tom’s escape are his outings to the movie, which are aided by the fire escape. Tom goes to the movies for several reasons; to satisfy his need for alcohol, to escape his home life, and to experience some adventure. Walter is a black man in the 1950’s supporting himself, his wife, son, sister and mother in a small apartment in Chicago. He and Tom are both treated less than what a human is worth.

Williams’s play is a tragedy, and one of quietude. He once expressed that “Glass Menagerie is my first quiet play, and perhaps my last.” It is a play of profound sadness, and through relationships between characters, portrays the “cries of the heart.” There is no cry more powerful that the cry and inner desperation of the heart. Williams’s has very little social context, but rather focuses on the conflicts within a domestic family. Such a focus is powerful, and the playwright expresses this power and importance implicitly through the estranged relationship between Amanda and Tom Wingfield.

Wingfield's Absent Father in The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams Mr. Wingfield plays a relatively prominent throughout the play. His decision to leave the Wingfield household has left lasting effects on the rest of his family. This has helped in establishing certain themes and issues in the play. The mentioning of his character in almost every scene throughout the play suggests its role in the action of the play.

She was forcibly drawn into the adult world without anyway of escaping it or anyone to help her, it was as if she was in her own personal hell whe n Arnold Friend showed up at her housing wanting to take her out for a ride with him (“ Where Are You Going Where Have You Been 862”). Connie was so shocked she didn’t expect reality to hit so hard. When Arnold showed up he came for the mature woman he saw last night and wasn’t leaving until her got her to go with him. He even said to her that “ I’m your lover. You don’t know what that is but you will” and “ The place where you come from ain’t there anymore, and where you had in mind to go is cancelled out (“ Where Are You Going Where Have You Been 868 and 871”). All she wanted to do at the moment was be in her parents arms but it was too late for her because the monster had came and got her .

   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.

    Tennessee Williams has a gift for character. Not many playwrights do, and even fewer possess the unique ability to craft a character as paradoxical and complex as Amanda Wingfield. In The Glass Menagerie, Amanda is a very difficult character to understand because of her psychological disposition. Williams realizes this and provides the reader with a character description in hopes of making the character more accessible to meticulous analysis.

The reader can see from this that Amanda is definitely living in the past. Another way that Amanda hides from reality is that she tries to deny anything that she does not want to accept. She denies that Laura is crippled, saying ‘Nonsense! Laura, I’ve told you never, never to use that word.’ (p 247). Amanda believes that if she denies something so much, that it will not be true. This also occurs when Laura thinks that the gentleman caller will be her high school crush, and Amanda denies that it could be, ‘It won’t be him! It isn’t the least bit likely.’ (p 278). It is in these ways that Amanda Wingfield hides from reality.

In The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams, the theme of abandonment is salient throughout the play. Tom contemplates whether he should stay with his family doing something he hates or leave them and follow his dream. His yen to be happy and fulfill his American dream controls his final decision. Through Tom's actions, thoughts, and the negative imagery of his father, Williams proves that abandonment is a viable solution in escaping challenges and reality, if it is tenable.

In the Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams, Tom Wingfield is living the disadvantageous life of the 1930s. At this time, the Great Depression has begun and WWII is on the way.

Amanda Wingfield was a complex character that encompassed many facets of her personality. She longed to have the life she had as a girl and young woman with gentleman callers and being the center of attention; her reality though, was a much more dismal existence with a son who worked at a factory making little money at a job he despised and a daughter that was as emotionally and physically

It also showed that her character had the hardest time accepting reality because her shyness sheltered and kept her from exploring the world outside of her home. This was emphasized by Amanda’s lack of concern for her children as she was blinded by her own needs.

We all want to disappear at times… escape even. In the end we all know that we cannot run from our problems, no matter where you run they are always there lurking in the shadows. Tennessee William’s 1944 play “The Glass Menagerie” is a remembrance of time long ago and wanting to escape the unhappy, confining lives of Tom, Amanda, Laura and Jim. Although they are unhappy with their lives they choose to hide from the reality. Amanda is stuck in a lifetime ago- her youth back in St. Louis in the 1930s. She tries to relive her youth through Laura. Laura is pretty much terrified of life in general and uses her disability to hide. Tom on the other hand just exists through life and spends a lot of time writing poetry, drinking and living vicariously through movies he watches every night at the theater. Jim is a coworker of Tom’s and went to high school with Tom and Laura. He knows that there is more to life than what he lives. His plan of escape come via continuing his education, but often relives the past of his glory days. Each character in the play has their own method of escape which they use to hide from the real world.

Even if she did, she loses touch with reality by refusing to let go of her early adulthood.  She has repeated these stories so much that she finds them to be completely true.  Its almost like she refused to grow up with the times, especially once things got harder.       Although Amanda appears to often be stuck in the past, without any idea of reality, she bounces back and forth.  She first says to Laura, "I know so well what becomes of unmarried women who aren't prepared to occupy a position.  I've seen such pitiful cases in the South-- barely tolerated spinsters living upon the grudging patronage of sister's husband or brother's wife. . . encouraged by one in-law to visit another"  (1871).  When discussing the future, she seems to be very inept, clear, and very much realistic.  However, next she completely falls back into illusion when talking about Laura's gentleman caller.  She unrealistically reminds Laura that her 'defect' can overshadowed by simple charm.  She refuses to let Laura refer to herself as crippled (1872).  Not only is Amanda refusing to live in the reality, she is denying Laura the opportunity to be realistic about her disability.

Through Amanda’s inability to separate the real from the fantasy, William’s proves that Amanda’s main coping mechanism is to retreat from reality. Amanda’s role as the forgotten southern belle also impacts her relationship with her daughter Laura, who suffers from crippling social anxiety and an inferiority complex as a result of her disability.