Paper Analysis of the People in Tennesse Williams Life: the Glass Menagerie

Paper analysis of the people in Tennesse williams Life: The Glass Menagerie

In Tennessee Williams “The Glass Menagerie”, the characters play an important part in the play as well as symbolize Williams’ real family. In the play you have Tom Wingfield the son in the story, who has big ambitions and dreams, but instead works in a job he dislikes, just as Tennessee Williams did. Laura Wingfield, who is the sister of Tom and is terribly shy just like Rose Williams, Tennessee’s sister. Also, Amanda Wingfield, the mother of Tom and Laura. Just like Williams’s real mother she came from a family of Southern blue bloods(Tennessee Williams 1612). Lastly, Jim O’Connor, he is known to be the most realistic character in the story. His character appears towards the end of the play (Tennessee Williams 1615). There is also one other character, although in reality he isn’t a character but more of a symbol in the story. I believe this symbolism plays an important part in Tom’s character and will act as a catalyst. This character or symbol is a picture of Tom’s and Laura’s father, whom has deserted the family. Which is almost the resemblence of Williams’s real father. The setting of the play takes place in the apartment building of the Wingfield’s in St. Louis. As the play continues, the characters insight shows how closely related there are to Williams’ real family. In the play “The Glass Menagerie”, Tom Wingfield, is a warehouse worker for a shoe factory. His character to me is the one who sheds the most light on the play. He has dreams and ambitions that any young male could relate too. He plays a double role in the play. A character whose recollections the play documents and as a character who acts within those recollections (sparknotes.com). Tom Wingfield’s role is much like the life of Tennessee Williams. Like Tom, Williams lived his youth in St. Louis, with an unstable mother and sister and his father absent for much of his youth. We can apply that there may be a connection to Williams writing to his memory of his youth (sparknotes.com). And Tom is in reality the character of Williams in the play. Also, by Jim, Tom is referred to as Shakespeare because Tom likes to read literature and write poetry. As a youth Williams wrote poetry and read literary works. His mother was the one to introduce this art to him. Also the fact that Tom, worked in a shoe factory plays a significant role because as a young man, Williams’ father didn’t approve him to be an author and made his son work in the shoe factory with him (http://library.thinkquest.org/CR0215102/tennesseewilliams.htm). This is another aspect of how Williams’s life is played through the character of Tom. Amanda Wingfield in the story grew up as a southern belle, who fell in love and moved to St. Louis with her husband. In the play she is the mother of both Tom and Laura. She wants both to have a bright future and wishes the best for them. At times she can be nagging and annoying but she means well. Just like in Williams’s real life, his mother also grew up as a southern belle and moved to St. Louis with Cornelius Williams, Tennessee’s father (http://www.gradesaver.com/author/tennessee-williams/). If there is a signature character type that marks Tennessee Williams’s dramatic work, it is undeniably that of the faded southern belle. Amanda is a clear representative of this type (sparknote.com). Williams’s mother was an aggressive woman, obsessed by her fantasies of genteel Southern living (http://www.floridiannature.com/TennesseeWilliams.htm). Just as in the story Amanda fantasizes and loves telling her story of being a southern belle with many gentlemen callers (Tennessee Williams 1616-1617). This can be tied to the reality of Williams’s real mother. Laura Wingfield, the sister of Tom Wingfield in the play symbolizes Williams’s real sister Rose. In the play, Laura is crippled and terribly shy. She fails business school due to her shyness. She values a glass menagerie she has and just like the glass, she too is fragile. In the play Jim O’Connor use to call Laura, “Blue Roses”, in high school (Tennessee Williams 1647). The similarity in names could symbolize the closeness of Williams and his sister, using the nickname Blue Roses and his sister’s real name Rose. Also, in life Rose was schizophrenic, and she underwent a prefrontal lobotomy and was institutionalized for the rest of her life (nytimes.com). You can say she was very delicate just like Laura in the play. Laura has a physical defect of her leg that makes her limp a little. Also, Rose was terribly shy just like Laura was in the play (Tennessee Williams 1612). In the play, Laura symbolizes Rose in a sense that they both have something in common that in the play, Tom, even though he doesn’t show it, cares a lot for Laura. As for Williams, he cared a lot for Rose and they were the best of friends (http://www.floridiannature.com/TennesseeWilliams.htm). In the last scenes of the play Tom says ' 'Oh, Laura, Laura, I tried to leave you behind me, but I am more faithful than I intended to be! ' ' He finds that he has been pursued by his memory of her. ' 'Blow out your candles, Laura, ' ' he says, and in the background Laura blows out the candles. The stage goes dark, and Tom says, ' 'And so -- goodbye! ' ' (Tennessee Williams 1658). I believe in these last scenes Williams maybe tried to get away from his sister but he couldn’t. His love for her was too strong for him to just let go. From my analysis on Jim O’Connor, he symbolizes the life of what’s going on in the world outside of the Wingfields home and lives. To me Jim is another character that symbolizes another personality of Tennessee Williams. Williams had a rough childhood; his father became more abusive as he grew older (http://www.gradesaver.com/author/tennessee-williams/). Jim is an easy going and kind man, who tries to help build Laura’s confidence up. In a sense I feel as if this is the kind of man Williams could have grown to be. Or, maybe this is his way of saying how much he loved his sister Rose. There is a scene where Jim says to Laura “You make me feel sort of- I don’t know how to put it! I’m usually good at expressing things…” (Tennessee Williams 1653). I believe that line shows how much Tennessee Williams loves his sister Rose and that he would go the extra mile for her. In my opinion Rose was Williams’s true love. In conclusion, I believe that the characters are closely related to Tennessee Williams and his life. Each character was symbolic and had their own unique style of symbolism. Even, the picture of the dad hanging from the wall was symbolic because he deserted the family just as Williams’s real father did for a couple of years. The play shows how closely related each character is towards Williams’s real family and life.

Citations
“Biography of Tennessee Williams (1911-1983)” http://www.gradesaver.com/author/tennessee-williams/., 1999-2011.web. 19 April 2011
“Florida Artists” “Tennessee Williams- Playwright 1911-1983”, http://www.floridiannature.com/TennesseeWilliams.htm., 19 April 2011
Gussow, Mel. “Rose Williams, 86, Sister And the Muse of Playwright.” http://www.nytimes.com/1996/09/07/arts/rose-williams-86-sister-and-the-muse-of-playwright.html Biography., 7 September 1996 web. 19 April 2011

“Tennessee Williams” http://library.thinkquest.org/CR0215102/tennesseewilliams.htm Biography. web. 19 April 2011
“The Glass Menagerie” sparknotes.com., 2011.web. 19 April 2011
Williams, Tennessee. “The Glass Menagerie” Literature An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, And Writing. 1945. 25 April 2011

Citations: “Biography of Tennessee Williams (1911-1983)” http://www.gradesaver.com/author/tennessee-williams/., 1999-2011.web. 19 April 2011 “Florida Artists” “Tennessee Williams- Playwright 1911-1983”, http://www.floridiannature.com/TennesseeWilliams.htm., 19 April 2011 Gussow, Mel. “Rose Williams, 86, Sister And the Muse of Playwright.” http://www.nytimes.com/1996/09/07/arts/rose-williams-86-sister-and-the-muse-of-playwright.html Biography., 7 September 1996 web. 19 April 2011 “Tennessee Williams” http://library.thinkquest.org/CR0215102/tennesseewilliams.htm Biography. web. 19 April 2011 “The Glass Menagerie” sparknotes.com., 2011.web. 19 April 2011 Williams, Tennessee. “The Glass Menagerie” Literature An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, And Writing. 1945. 25 April 2011