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Glass House

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Glass House
A Look into Glass Homes Themes throughout literature have similar ideas, in this essay I will discuss the theme of gender and how gender roles play a part in the ultimate plot of a play or story. We know gender as the definition of sex, male or female. But what we often forget is that gender has a major influence in our roles in society. Both The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant and The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams have similar themes in gender. Besides gender both pieces of literature are based on characters that are unhappy with their lives. These characters will do anything to make their lives better even if it means they have to hurt others, or push their family along to do so. The Glass Menagerie is the story of a family living in the 1940’s recovering from the abandonment of the father figure in their lives. One of the main ideas of the play is the way in which gender influences the personalities and behavior of the characters. The female characters in The Glass Menagerie seem to be helpless. Laura is somewhat disabled which causes her to be very shy and introverted. Amanda refuses to accept the family’s circumstances. On the other hand, Tom is presented to the reader as the character who is expected to provide for the family as a father figure. The last male character, Jim is presented as a good man who would be able to care for Laura and relieve Amanda from her duties as a mother. Throughout the story Amanda will bring down her children. She is extremely insecure and still has not recovered from her husband leaving her and she takes it out on her children. Even though she feels that she is doing what is best for them. Amanda will often talk about her past when she would be visited by “gentleman callers” every day, making Laura feel insecure about the lack of men that come to see her. Amanda will fix Laura up and stand her in front of the mirror telling her that “This is the prettiest you will ever be” (Williams926). Imply that if Laura


Citations: Levy, Eric P. “Through Soundproof Glass: The Prison of Self-Consciousness in The Glass Menagerie.” Modern Drama. 1993 Maupassant, Guy De. “The Necklace” 1884 UCOR 102 Class handout 1-7 print. Pierce, Jason. "An overview of 'The Necklace '." Gale Online Encyclopedia. Detroit: Gale, 2013. Literature Resource Center. Web. 3 Apr. 2013. Williams, Tennessee. “The Glass Menagerie”. Literature, A Portable Anthology. 921-975
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