THE GLASS MENAGERIE

TENNESSEE WILLIAMS

BACKGROUND

• Tennessee Williams born Thomas Lanier Williams in 1911, Mississippi

• Very close to his sister Rose who suffered from mental illness and had a lobotomy which altered her psychology permanently

• He wrote to escape from his mundane existence as a clerk with a shoe company

• There are autobiographical parallels in the play The Glass Menagerie

CHARACTERS• Laura Wingfield - She is the crippled and very shy daughter

of Amanda who keeps her hard pressed to finding a husband.

• Tom Wingfield - As Laura’s sister, he is also pressed by his mother to find his sister a gentleman caller, and to keep the job at the shoe factory to support the family.

• Amanda Wingfield - She is the mother of Tom and Laura and often digresses back to memories of her former days on the southern plantation farm and her night with 17 gentleman callers.

• Jim O’Conner - He is a friend of Tom from the factory who Tom invites to dinner and Amanda treats as Laura’s first gentleman caller.

MINOR CHARACTERS

• Mr. Wingfield - He is Amanda’s husband who deserted the family about 16 years ago and is only seen in the play as a large photograph hung on the wall, but he is often referred to.

SETTING

• 1930 St Louis (Great Depression)• The Wingfield house - This takes up most of

the stage and the different room are separated by curtains. There is the living and the kitchen.

• The fire escape - This is on the side of the stage and is what the characters use to get into and out of the apartment.

SYMBOLS

• victrola - the escape and the private world of Laura. • jonquils - a reminder of Amanda’s glorious past. • magic show - the escape so desired by Tom. • glass menagerie - Laura’s private world, and the

breaking of it. • fire escape - simply the escape from Amanda’s world.

Tom seeks to leave it, but Laura stumbles whenever she does.

• unicorn - Laura’s singularity, her return to reality, and her return to her retreat back into her world.

SYMBOLS• candelabrum - Tom’s relationship (or lack

thereof) with his family. • scarf - Tom’s attempt to share his magic and

desire for escape with Laura. • gentleman caller - the real world as opposed to

Amanda’s imagined one. • father’s portrait - reminder of his abandonment

of his family and Tom’s desire to follow in his path.

• blue roses – Laura’s unique, unusual quality, her fragility.

Religious Symbolism• Christians hope for the Second Coming of Christ• Tom’s photo in The Torch-light of the world• Jim (Irish Catholic origin)-that means fish, symbol

of Christianity• Jim’s speech to Laura about self-help echoes

Christ’s Sermon on the Mount• Unicorn-Christian symbol of purity• Laura blows out her candles-the service is over• References to ‘martyr’ remind us that Christ

martyred himself to save our souls

THEMES

• Escapism/Imprisonment• Dreams and reality• Time• Family relationships

Method of Narration• Tom is narrator and a

main character. He tells the story as memory.

1. What does this technique contribute to the play?

2. How does this technique help to convey Williams’ message and ideas?

• Describe his character in the play.

• Describe his ‘traps’.• What are his means of

escape?• Describe his relationship

with Amanda.• Describe his relationship

with Laura.• Respond to how the play

ends in relation to Tom.