Oh Laura! ( The Glass Menagerie)
Oh Laura!
What symbolizes fragility better than someone who is crippled, and extremely shy? In his drama, The Glass Menagerie, Tennessee Williams uses Laura’s character flaws, such as her disability and shyness to communicate the drama’s theme that fragility hides you from the world. Laura’s physical defect causes her to hides from the life outside her tenement. A comment from Jim, about the unicorn figurine, describes Laura’s life exactly. “Poor little fellow, he must feel sort of lonesome.” (83) Laura presents Jim with her favorite glass piece, the unicorn, and describes how the unique figurine is her favorite. Jim notices the horn on the figurine makes the piece different from the rest of the horses. The horn symbolizes Laura limp, which makes her different from most of the world. Later, Laura hands Jim the glass unicorn but he rejects it, afraid of harming the fragile figurine. Laura advises him, “Glass breaks so easily. No matter how careful you are.”(86) Laura foreshadows the interaction between her and Jim. Jim tries to be careful with how he communicates with Laura, but because of how fragile and socially inexperienced she is, he ends up crushing her only hope. Laura often plays the Victrola to deal with change or something from the outside. “Darts to the victrola, winds frantically and turn it on.” (57) The victrola seems to be a mechanism to calm Laura. When Jim comes to the door Laura scurries in the living room and takes cover behind the victrola. The victrola comforts Laura when she is feeling shy or out of place. Due to staying coped up inside the tenement all day, Laura doesn’t know how to deal with new adjustments; instead she is symbolized by a fragile glass unicorn figurine. Laura being physically fragile relates to her mental fragility. At the beginning of the play Amanda finds out Laura has been ditching typing class, “The first time we gave a speed test she broke down
What symbolizes fragility better than someone who is crippled, and extremely shy? In his drama, The Glass Menagerie, Tennessee Williams uses Laura’s character flaws, such as her disability and shyness to communicate the drama’s theme that fragility hides you from the world. Laura’s physical defect causes her to hides from the life outside her tenement. A comment from Jim, about the unicorn figurine, describes Laura’s life exactly. “Poor little fellow, he must feel sort of lonesome.” (83) Laura presents Jim with her favorite glass piece, the unicorn, and describes how the unique figurine is her favorite. Jim notices the horn on the figurine makes the piece different from the rest of the horses. The horn symbolizes Laura limp, which makes her different from most of the world. Later, Laura hands Jim the glass unicorn but he rejects it, afraid of harming the fragile figurine. Laura advises him, “Glass breaks so easily. No matter how careful you are.”(86) Laura foreshadows the interaction between her and Jim. Jim tries to be careful with how he communicates with Laura, but because of how fragile and socially inexperienced she is, he ends up crushing her only hope. Laura often plays the Victrola to deal with change or something from the outside. “Darts to the victrola, winds frantically and turn it on.” (57) The victrola seems to be a mechanism to calm Laura. When Jim comes to the door Laura scurries in the living room and takes cover behind the victrola. The victrola comforts Laura when she is feeling shy or out of place. Due to staying coped up inside the tenement all day, Laura doesn’t know how to deal with new adjustments; instead she is symbolized by a fragile glass unicorn figurine. Laura being physically fragile relates to her mental fragility. At the beginning of the play Amanda finds out Laura has been ditching typing class, “The first time we gave a speed test she broke down