“ 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!”