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.
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