the glass menagerie by. tennessee williams
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“ The Glass Menagerie”
Tennessee Williams, 1944
Tennessee Williams
was named Thomas Lanier
Williams III when he was
born in Columbus,
Mississippi on March 26,1911.
The Glass Menagerie was
the first successful play. And since this
work of his was performed all
over the world.
Introduction
The Glass Menagerie
is a play first produced in 1944.
The author, Tennessee
Williams, was launched into fame and made victim to
the forties’ equivalent of literary paparazzi because of
it.
The play revolves around a young man
begrudgingly supporting the
family his father has abandoned. It also features a painfully
shy and slightly crippled sister
character, whose preoccupation with a
collection of glass animals draws her away from reality.
Set against the backdrop of
the Depression, the family struggles
together with the past, the future, and
one another.
Characters
TOM WINGFIELDAMANDA
WINGFIELDLAURA
WINGFIELDTHE FATHER
JIM O’CONNOR
SUMMARY
The play begins with a current-day (1940s at the time) Tom
explaining to us that the play is
his memory (1930s) being
re-told, and has lots of funky
memory elements in it
like weird lighting and
music.
Tom’s POV
We are also introduced to a
large screen that Williams
uses to project images and
pictures on as the play
progresses. Tom explains
that his father happily
abandoned those years
ago.
We see Tom having dinner
with his mother,
Amanda, and his sister
Laura. Amanda expresses a desire for
Laura to have “gentlemen
callers” (a.k.a. dates) as she used
to, back when she was a Southern
Belle.
Laura’s POV
Laura describes a
boy named Jim she used to have a thing for in high
school, and we see her glass
menagerie obsession.
Amanda gets angry at Laura for dropping
out of a typing class due to her painfully shy nature.
CONFLICT WITH TOMThe conflict with
Tom is quickly established; he is at odds with his mother because he hates his job
and wants to leave, but has a duty to support the family. His
mother calls him selfish for his
constant reading, dancing, drinking, and escaping to
the movies. Laura encourages them to make up, which
they do – ostensibly. But the
issue is unresolved.
Amanda’s POV
Amanda asks Tom to get a gentleman
caller for his sister, which he does – one of
his friends from work that turns
out to be the Jim that Laura had spoken of.
Amanda gets all excited and prepares the
house.
Amanda’s POV
Amanda gets all excited and prepares the
house.
Laura’s POV
When Laura finds out that it’s Jim coming
to visit, she hides in the living room.
Jim’s POVJim, however, talks to her and gets her to open up.
Laura’s POV
They bond; they kiss; Jim is engaged to someone else. He takes off, Laura gets
sad.
Amanda’s POV
Amanda yells at her
son and then
comforts Laura during Tom’s
closing speech to
the audience..
Tom’s POVTom reveals to
us that he abandoned his family
shortly after that night,
but has been haunted by Laura, the sister he
abandoned, ever since..
-END-
What’s Up With the Title?
The Glass Menagerie is a collection of
small glass animals that Laura Wingfield obsesses over. She
spends her time polishing and, well, obsessing, using the
menagerie as a retreat from the real
world. The importance of the
glass lies in the way Laura mirrors its
delicate beauty and fragility.
THEME
Freedom and
Confinement
Duty Family
Memory and the
Past Weakness Deception
and Lies
Dreams, Hopes,
and Plans Abandon
ment Marriage Gender Love
Drugs and Alcohol
CONCLUSION“In life we struggle different kind of hardships , rejection, abandonment, deception, lies,
and even in our family we experience those .. But always
remember that there’s no perfect family unless LOVE is the center of
it, and no matter what happen when trouble comes, it's your
family that supports you always. So, it is us who can decide where
we should go to forgive and to forget? To accept things ! And even Tom, didn't see the beauty of his
family and still Laura is like a fragile glass menagerie, there still one thing stand in the end is that the Love of their Mother. Because, there’s no perfect mother but they
LOVE perfectly!”
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