Glass Menagerie Essay
In the Glass Menagerie, a play by Tennessee Williams, the Wingfield family, the subject of the play, lives in a world where illusion is regarded as reality. The Wingfield family consists of three members; Amanda, Laura, and Tom. Tom, who is 22, works in a shoe factory and dreams of escaping the confines of his current life. He feels suppressed by Amanda,his mother, her watchful eye criticizing his every move, but he feels a responsibility to Laura, his sister who he loves. At the end of the play, he leaves home, too unsatisfied with his current life to stay any longer. Laura, who is 24, has a crippled leg because of a childhood illness. She is fragile, made of glass, and has fits of anxiety when faced with stressful situations. Her life is
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depressing; she dropped out of high school because she was ashamed of her leg. She dropped out of business college because she threw up during a typing exam. She has no friends outside of her family, and she stays at home, occupied solely with her record collection and her collection of glass animals, her glass menagerie. Jim, a boy who she knew in high school and the only boy she has ever loved, is an average man who comes to dinner one night at the Wingfields. He works with Tom, who invited Jim to dinner to serve as a gentleman-caller for Laura. Jim is the only character in the play who doesn’t live in an illusion, a stark contrast between the other three characters, whose lives are all dispirited. In the Glass Menagerie, Williams illustrates that living in illusions creates a destructive reality; this is shown by Laura’s illusion of her crippled leg, Laura’s misconception of Jim’s feelings for her, and Tom’s obsession with the movies.
Laura’s reality was made distressing because of her illusion that her crippled leg was more noticeable than it truly was.
When Jim, a boy who she loved in high school, comes to dinner at the Wingfields, she discusses her leg with him. Laura says, “I had that brace on my leg-it clumped so loud!... I-I never have had much luck at-making friends... Well-I started out badly...Yes it sort of-stood between me-” (777). Her perception of her leg being disfiguring and embarrassingly conspicuous caused her to ostracize herself from the rest of her classmates. These perceptions made her lonelier, making her life more depressing than it already was. Jim goes on to say “You dropped out of school, you gave up an education because of a clump, which as far as I know was practically non existent.. Hardly noticeable even! Magnified thousands of times by imagination!” (779). Jim, who went to high school with Laura, barely noticed the seemingly “clumping” sound, an illusion Laura created. He tells Laura that if she understood the reality that it wasn’t so pronounced, she wouldn’t have felt the need to drop out of high school, allowing her to achieve more in her life. Laura felt as though her crippled leg was so ignominious because it was unique. To Laura, being different was infelicitous. Had Laura realized the actuality of her crippled leg and abandoned the illusion, her reality would have been less psychologically
destructive.
Another illusion of Laura’s is that Jim has feelings for her, and this illusion destroys Laura when she realizes this is not the case. Jim, while at the Wingfields’, speaks to Laura, complimenting her. He says to her, “Has anyone ever told you that you were pretty?...Well, you are! In a very different way from anyone else. And all the nicer because of the difference too”(781). As an outcast with a deformity, Laura had never been told she was pretty. Hearing this, among other compliments, as well a receiving a kiss from Jim, puts her under the impression that he has feelings for her. She is consumed with joy, naturally, as she thinks the only boy who she has ever loved reciprocates the same emotions for her. When this illusion disappears, and Jim reveals that he has no feelings for her, Laura is devastated. Williams writes “Laura struggles visibly with her storm... There is a look of almost infinite desolation” (782). For the brief moment that Laura lived in this illusion, the illusion that Tom loved her, she was content. When she returned to reality, her life seemed more devastating than before. Her life becomes even more disconsolate with the realization that her feelings for Jim are still, and will always be, unrequited. The movies Tom sees serve as an illusion for Tom, distracting him from the reality of his life, and destructing his life when he returns from his illusion. Amanda,Tom’s mother, is in an argument with Tom one day about his ignorance of reality and indulgence in illusion. When Tom goes to leave, Amanda says to Tom, “Go to the movies, go! Don’t think about us, a mother deserted, an unmarried sister who’s crippled and has no job! Don’t let anything interfere with your selfish pleasure! Just go, go, go-to the movies!”(784). Amanda is putting forth her best effort to bring Tom into the real world. The movies provide an escape from the reality of his life, making him despise his life all the more when he returns to reality from the illusions he experiences vicariously while watching the movies. He ignores the grave truth of Laura’s situation, selfishly neglecting to empathise with her because of his cinematic illusions. During a conversation with Amanda about his nightly outings to the movies, Tom says “I go to the movies because-I like adventure. Adventure is something I don’t have much of at work, so I go to the movies” (763). The movies, in the moment he is there, provide the illusion that his life is invigorating with adventure, more exciting and pleasant than it truly is. However, when he goes to work, he has to confront the reality of his life, and the stark contrast between the two make his life seem drabber than before. Tom can’t accept this reality because of the adventure he seeks in his illusions, and this leads to his permanent departure and abandonment of his family and all he knows. Illusion is a powerful force, one that can change not just a person’s perception of reality but their interactions with the world around them. Illusion can take over people’s lives, affecting the decisions they make and how they regard their reality. For Tom, illusion led him to develop an aversion to his life, leading him to abandon his family and his home, leaving all he knew. For Laura, it drove her to a shyer nature, causing her to dissipate her life in the apartment. Williams warns readers, through these characters and their lives, of the consequences of living in illusions. Through illusion, reality is destroyed.
depressing; she dropped out of high school because she was ashamed of her leg. She dropped out of business college because she threw up during a typing exam. She has no friends outside of her family, and she stays at home, occupied solely with her record collection and her collection of glass animals, her glass menagerie. Jim, a boy who she knew in high school and the only boy she has ever loved, is an average man who comes to dinner one night at the Wingfields. He works with Tom, who invited Jim to dinner to serve as a gentleman-caller for Laura. Jim is the only character in the play who doesn’t live in an illusion, a stark contrast between the other three characters, whose lives are all dispirited. In the Glass Menagerie, Williams illustrates that living in illusions creates a destructive reality; this is shown by Laura’s illusion of her crippled leg, Laura’s misconception of Jim’s feelings for her, and Tom’s obsession with the movies.
Laura’s reality was made distressing because of her illusion that her crippled leg was more noticeable than it truly was.
When Jim, a boy who she loved in high school, comes to dinner at the Wingfields, she discusses her leg with him. Laura says, “I had that brace on my leg-it clumped so loud!... I-I never have had much luck at-making friends... Well-I started out badly...Yes it sort of-stood between me-” (777). Her perception of her leg being disfiguring and embarrassingly conspicuous caused her to ostracize herself from the rest of her classmates. These perceptions made her lonelier, making her life more depressing than it already was. Jim goes on to say “You dropped out of school, you gave up an education because of a clump, which as far as I know was practically non existent.. Hardly noticeable even! Magnified thousands of times by imagination!” (779). Jim, who went to high school with Laura, barely noticed the seemingly “clumping” sound, an illusion Laura created. He tells Laura that if she understood the reality that it wasn’t so pronounced, she wouldn’t have felt the need to drop out of high school, allowing her to achieve more in her life. Laura felt as though her crippled leg was so ignominious because it was unique. To Laura, being different was infelicitous. Had Laura realized the actuality of her crippled leg and abandoned the illusion, her reality would have been less psychologically
destructive.
Another illusion of Laura’s is that Jim has feelings for her, and this illusion destroys Laura when she realizes this is not the case. Jim, while at the Wingfields’, speaks to Laura, complimenting her. He says to her, “Has anyone ever told you that you were pretty?...Well, you are! In a very different way from anyone else. And all the nicer because of the difference too”(781). As an outcast with a deformity, Laura had never been told she was pretty. Hearing this, among other compliments, as well a receiving a kiss from Jim, puts her under the impression that he has feelings for her. She is consumed with joy, naturally, as she thinks the only boy who she has ever loved reciprocates the same emotions for her. When this illusion disappears, and Jim reveals that he has no feelings for her, Laura is devastated. Williams writes “Laura struggles visibly with her storm... There is a look of almost infinite desolation” (782). For the brief moment that Laura lived in this illusion, the illusion that Tom loved her, she was content. When she returned to reality, her life seemed more devastating than before. Her life becomes even more disconsolate with the realization that her feelings for Jim are still, and will always be, unrequited. The movies Tom sees serve as an illusion for Tom, distracting him from the reality of his life, and destructing his life when he returns from his illusion. Amanda,Tom’s mother, is in an argument with Tom one day about his ignorance of reality and indulgence in illusion. When Tom goes to leave, Amanda says to Tom, “Go to the movies, go! Don’t think about us, a mother deserted, an unmarried sister who’s crippled and has no job! Don’t let anything interfere with your selfish pleasure! Just go, go, go-to the movies!”(784). Amanda is putting forth her best effort to bring Tom into the real world. The movies provide an escape from the reality of his life, making him despise his life all the more when he returns to reality from the illusions he experiences vicariously while watching the movies. He ignores the grave truth of Laura’s situation, selfishly neglecting to empathise with her because of his cinematic illusions. During a conversation with Amanda about his nightly outings to the movies, Tom says “I go to the movies because-I like adventure. Adventure is something I don’t have much of at work, so I go to the movies” (763). The movies, in the moment he is there, provide the illusion that his life is invigorating with adventure, more exciting and pleasant than it truly is. However, when he goes to work, he has to confront the reality of his life, and the stark contrast between the two make his life seem drabber than before. Tom can’t accept this reality because of the adventure he seeks in his illusions, and this leads to his permanent departure and abandonment of his family and all he knows. Illusion is a powerful force, one that can change not just a person’s perception of reality but their interactions with the world around them. Illusion can take over people’s lives, affecting the decisions they make and how they regard their reality. For Tom, illusion led him to develop an aversion to his life, leading him to abandon his family and his home, leaving all he knew. For Laura, it drove her to a shyer nature, causing her to dissipate her life in the apartment. Williams warns readers, through these characters and their lives, of the consequences of living in illusions. Through illusion, reality is destroyed.