Questions About the Glass Menagerie and Answers

The Glass Menagerie – Tennessee Williams
Describe the character of Amanda… How does she behave and how has her life changed (present/past)?
Amanda Wingfield is Laura’s and Tom’s mother. When she was young, she lived in the South of America where there were lots of plantations. In the past, South America was the aristocratic environment per excellence and Amanda comes from an aristocratic background. She has great memories of her youth. She really liked living there and she can’t stop talking about her great moments there. She completely idealizes her past. It seems as if the Old South is a lost Paradise.
Her current life is quite a disappointment for her. She doesn’t live in a rich neighborhood. She lives in a building in Saint Louis. Her husband left her and she has to raise her two children on her own. Her family life is quite complicated: Laura is crippled and lives in a world of her own. She found a refuge with her glass menagerie. She is very shy and lacks self-confidence. Tom is bohemian and quarrels a lot with his mother. Amanda is very authoritarian, bossy and rigid and he doesn’t want to let her control his life. She is also very conservative. She can’t eat until they say grace. She comes from a Christian background. She can’t remain silent. She does all the talking. In the first scene, when they are eating together, she tells her son how to eat, that he should chew. She is also always talking about a specific episode: Blue Moutain. It’s the place in the South where she met her gentleman callers. She is so proud that she received 17 gentlemen callers, some of them who became great men, but she chose their father who left. And she idealizes that moment with the gentlemen callers. She lives in a world of illusion. She thinks that several gentlemen callers will come to see Laura. Actually, she acts like a mother. She wants their children happiness. When Laura tells her that she shouldn’t expect gentlemen callers, Amanda doesn’t understand. She says to her: You must be joking! There must have been a flood, a hurricane… When Tom tells her she shouldn’t expect too much of Laura because she’s crippled, Amanda doesn’t agree. She forbids the use of the word crippled. She doesn’t want to face the facts. She feels that Laura is different but that’s all in her advantage. She even adds that the gentleman caller who comes will thank his lucky stars after having met her daughter. When Tom announces her that a colleague of his will come to dinner, Amanda is so happy. She makes Laura beautiful and when Jim arrives, Amanda makes such a fuss. She hosts him like she used to in the South. She puts on her old yellow dress she wore at the time in Blue Mountain. She practically sells Laura to Jim. She tells him that she is very domestic and embellish the truth.
Obviously her character and her reactions are linked with the change she went through in her life. Sometimes she is rigid. She sounds foolish and cruel at times. For instance, she tells her son that he’s eloquent as an oyster. When Laura tells her that she is sick and that she cannot go to the door in order to host Tom and his friend Jim, her mother says to her “I am sick too - of your nonsense! Why can’t you and your brother be normal people? Fantastic whims and behavior!”. Nevertheless, She can be tender. Her husband left. She worries for the the future of the family. She worries about her son. She is afraid that he leaves the house like his father. She also worries about Laura. She doesn’t want her to repeat the same mistake as hers, marrying a handsome guy coming from a different social class and who tends to drink.

Explain Tom inside and outside the play…
Tom Wingfield is at the same time the narrator of the play and a character in it. Outside the play, he’s the narrator. What he narrates is what is happening inside the play. Everything he narrates comes from his memory. He insists on the fact that it is a memory play. There is something novelistic about this play. As a narrator, Tom directly speaks like an artist performing on stage: ‘Yes, I have tricks in my pocket. I have things up my sleeve. But I am the opposite of a stage magician. He gives you illusion that has the appearance of truth. I give you truth in the pleasant disguise of illusion. To begin with, I turn back time…’ He introduces the historical background. He repeats the idea that America is undergoing a spiritual crisis. Then he introduces himself as the narrator as well as a character in the play. Furthermore, he introduces the other characters: his mother, Amanda, , his sister, Laura, the gentleman caller and his father even if he doesn’t appear except in a large photograph in the living room. What he narrates is then his souvenirs, his feelings, which undoubtedly affect the reality. Everything he narrates is not always very objective.
Inside the play, he’s a character, Laura’s brother, Amanda’s son. He’s a man who lives with his family, who works at a warehouse to make them living. He works at a warehouse but he actually is much of an artist. He writes poems. That’s certainly why Jim, his colleague at the warehouse and gentleman caller at the end of the story, calls him Shakespeare. Every character in the play nourishes some illusions. Amanda is always remembering her glory days of her youth. South America is seen as a lost Paradise. She doesn’t face the facts. She still wants to live in the past. Laura isn’t coping with the reality of society. She is crippled and very shy. Her glass menagerie is a refuge for her. Jim has success illusions. He was popular at high school, very talented, very athletic. He’s studying public speaking and radio engineering in the hope of reaching success one day. Tom is also seeking for relief in illusions. He thinks that the grass is greener somewhere else and that he will be a great adventurer. He’s not satisfied with the materialism in American society. He likes going to the movies because all actions take place there. It allows him to escape the realities of his life. At some point, he doesn’t want to watch movie, he wants to move himself… The problem is his sister Laura. He adores her and feels he has to look for her. We can here find autobiographical elements. Tennessee Williams also had a sister he had to look for. Thus, Jim and Tom are opposed characters. Jim is looking for progress and modernity, whereas Tom is longing for adventure. At the very end, Tom goes away. He leaves Laura and his mother alone. He follows his father’s footstep in a way but he still thinks about his lovely sister Laura.

Describe the character of Laura and her interaction with her glass menagerie
Laura Wingfield is Tom’s sister and Amanda’s daughter. They live together in a building in Saint Louis. A childhood illness has left her crippled, one leg slightly shorter than the other, and held in a brace. With this disability, Laura lacks self-confidence and is extremely shy. It is very difficult for her to cope with the reality. She didn’t go to her business school because she felt so ashamed the first time she typed at the machine. She collects small animal-shaped glass figurines. Her collection has come to such an extent that it is called ‘glass menagerie’. Her glass menagerie is a refuge for her. She feels at ease with her figurines. She lives in her illusions. There is a passage in scene two where Laura is particularly living a moment of intimacy with her glass collection. “Laura is seated in the delicate ivory chair at the small claw-foot table. She wears a dress of soft violet material for a kimono – her hair is tied black from her forehead with a ribbon. She is washing and polishing her collection of glass.” Throughout the play, glass is described as fragile, translucent. Glass is actually the main symbol of the play. It is extremely precious, beautiful but definitely delicate. Properties of glass are exactly the way Laura is represented all along the play: fragile, but precious and delicate. In some scenes, she could be compared to a saint, pure, innocent… Lightning and music emphasizes this. Lightning is very important in the play. It recalls us the way churches are lightened. And circus music used evokes the world of children that Laura didn’t really quit. It also evokes sadness. Her interaction with the glass menagerie is very present. She has even a favorite unicorn. This unicorn is very symbolic. She shows it to Jim, her gentleman caller. She has also horse figurines but the unicorn one has something special, something unique. It has the horn which the other horses don’t have. She is like the unicorn, delicately different. Unfortunately, Jim accidently breaks the unicorn figurine. The horn is not attached to the body of the horse anymore but she isn’t upset. She tells Jim that she’ll just imagine that it has been operated. In a way, she is relieved because the previous unicorn has become like the other horses and there is then a chance that she becomes like the other girls too.
Describe the last scene and explain the religious connotations
The play is furnished with religious connotations. Amanda Wingfield undoubtedly comes from a Christian background. She says grace before eating. She seems to have faith. Even if her daughter is different, she doesn’t doubt that gentleman callers will come.
A particular scene is representative of the religious connotations. This is the last one: the scene 7. It is half an hour after the gentleman caller arrived at Amanda’s place. Dinner is just being finished. Laura hasn’t eaten with them. She is still huddled upon the sofa. Suddenly the lights in both rooms flicker and go out. Amanda tells a joke where we can already find religious connotation (Where was Moses when the lights went out?). Moses is a Biblical character. They lit candles. The candlelight is a softer kind of light that we can actually find in churches. Jim goes to check the fuse-box but he doesn’t see any problem. Amanda guesses that his son hasn’t paid the electricity bill. Amanda gives Jim a candelabrum so that he keeps Laura a company. Candelabrums are the kind of light instruments used in churches too. She also thinks that Laura should drink a bit of wine. Wine is also an important symbol in Christian religion. Wine is the blood of Christ. Jim comes in the dining room and joins Laura. They sit together comfortably and Jim engages the conversation. He asks her if she wants a gum. Gum is also symbolic. At the beginning of the scene, we see Jim as a savior. Laura is seen as a saint. Actually, Laura knows Jim since high school. She has been in the same singing chorus class as him and she was quite fascinated by his voice. Chorus is also the type of singing recurrent within churches. Laura recalls him that he called her Blue Roses because he misunderstood when she told him she had Pleurosis. Blue Roses is an interesting name because it doesn’t exist. It implies that it is unique, just like Laura. She confesses to him that she was always late and that she was ashamed of all the noise she provoked because of her brace holding her leg. It sounded like thunder. He confesses to her that she shouldn’t think like that, that it was hardly noticeable and that she should have more self-confidence. He also confesses that practically everybody has got some problems and that he also have problems. He thought he would have come much further after his popular time at high school. This seems like confessions done in church. She tells him she really liked him and had always wanted him to autograph her program. He signs it even if it isn’t much worth value and adds that he’s disappointed with his life but still not discouraged. He has hope, which is an important value for Christian religion. Furthermore, he asks her about her life, what she did after high school. She answers that she dropped out of school and that she attended some business class afterwards but she dropped out too. She shows him her pride regarding her glass collection and insists on the fact that you have to take great care of glass. Jim really appears as a savior. He tells her that everyone excels in something. She shows him her favorite and oldest piece of glass: a unicorn and share with him her world of illusions. The rain has stopped and Jim opens the fire-escape door and the background music changes to a dance tune. It’s a Waltz music: La Golondrina. They dance together even if Laura tells him that she can’t. He convinces her. Suddenly they bump into the table and the glass piece falls on the floor. The unicorn has lost its horn. Jim apologizes but Laura is not upset. She says to him that ‘Maybe this is a blessing in disguise’. Blessing is a Christian term. She tells him she’ll just imagine that he has been operated and that the horn was removed to make him feel less freakish. He tells her that she is unique and pretty in a different way than the others. He wants to build up her confidence and finally kisses her. He appears to be the savior. But he is a false savior. Just after the kiss, he regrets, lightens a cigarette and tells Laura he’s going steady with someone named Betty. Laura doesn’t say a word but gives him the broken unicorn glass as a souvenir. At this very moment, Amanda comes back. They find them in a very serious atmosphere and spills lemonade on her. She says petrified ‘Oh! I’m baptizing myself..’ . Baptizing is also a Christian reference but here there is no sense. He announces them that he is going to marry Betty. Even if she is surprised, Amanda wishes him luck, happiness and success. But afterwards, she has a big argument with Tom who didn’t deliver this information and caused so much expense for someone’s fiancé.
Describe the last scene between Tom and Laura and explain the symbolism
The last scene is the scene 7. At the end of this scene, Tom and his mother have a strong argument. He invited a gentleman caller who already was engaged to someone. He let her mother purchase a new floor lamp, a rug, new clothes for Laura and she is furious because he did tell her that Jim was a good friend of his. He should have known that he was already going steady on with some girl. She tells him: ‘You live in a dream. You are manufacturing illusions!’ She insults him. She tells that he is selfish, not thinking about their future. A legend screen appears: “And so goodbye…” Tom’s closing speech is timed with what is happening inside the house. Amanda is trying to comfort her daughter. At the close of Tom’s speech, Laura blows out the candles, ending the play. In his speech, Tom explains that he left Saint Louis, that he followed his father’s footsteps by leaving the nest. He explains that he is wandering. He can’t really settle anywhere because something is pursuing him. Everywhere he goes he hears some familiar music or sees some translucent and delicate piece of glass. This is a memory play and he can’t stop thinking about Laura. He misses her and feels guilty that he abandoned her. He says goodbye and at the same time Laura blows the candles out.
What role does religious symbolism play in The Glass Menagerie?
Religious symbols and allusions hover in the background of the play and contribute to its meaning. Amanda regards herself as a Christian. When she sympathizes with the women she talks to about her subscription drive, she calls them "Christian martyrs," which may give a clue to how Amanda sees herself. Laura tells her that when she is disappointed she gets that "awful suffering look on [her] face, like the picture of Jesus' mother in the museum." All Christians, especially suffering ones, await the coming of the savior, and this is the role in which Amanda casts Jim O'Connor. Scene 5, in which Tom breaks the news that Jim is coming for dinner, begins with the legend "Annunciation," a term which refers to the message brought by the angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary. The person to be redeemed is of course Laura. She is also described in religious terms. According to Williams's production notes, the light that shines on her during the play should have "a peculiar pristine clarity, such as light used in the early religious portraits of female saints and madonnas." But Jim O'Connor is unable to live up to the status that Amanda ascribes to him. When he and Laura are alone together he offers her not the wine and bread of the holy sacraments, but wine and chewing gum. And he preaches only a secular gospel of self-help rather than salvation through divine grace. Whereas Christ the savior is presented in Christian scriptures as the light of the world, in The Glass Menagerie, the lights are always going out. When it transpires that Jim is unavailable for Laura, the "holy candles in the altar of Laura's face have been snuffed out." The lights go out at the dinner table too, a foreshadowing of how the world will soon be plunged into the darkness of World War II. Tom's final speech ends with candles being blown out. The only light now in the world is that of lightning, not the divine light. The religious symbols and allusions therefore serve to give only false hope. They enhance the pessimism of the play. (Source : facebook)
What are the main similarities and differences between The Glass Menagerie and Dancing at Lughnasa?
Similarities:
• Both plays are narrated. Dancing at Lughnasa is narrated by Michael whereas The Glass Menagerie is narrated by Tom. • The general mood of the plays is similar. Both are tragedies and end in a tragic way. • The historical and political backgrounds are also similar. Both plays are dealing with a period of transition. Furthermore, there is an allusion of the war in The Glass Menagerie as well as in Dancing at Lughnasa. • The relationships within a family are emphasized in both plays. The Wingfield family and the Mundy family are falling apart in both cases. In the Glass Menagerie, Tom leaves his mother and sister alone. In Dancing at Lughnasa, two of the five sisters go away. There is also a similitude that can be pointed out on the familial level: the absence of the father. Tom’s father left his mother and children. He’s only present in the play due to a photograph of him smiling place in the living room. In dancing at Lughnasa, Gerry is not very present for his son Michael. • Michael and Tom have poetic skills. • Lots of religious connotations are present in both plays. • Kate is rigid like Amanda. They are the bossy characters. • Rose is simple and Laura is crippled and extremely shy. Both are disabled in a way. • Music is important in both plays. • Souvenirs, memory are two important aspects in both plays. Sentimentalizing of the past is very present. • In both plays, there is an allusion to the unicorn symbol. In Dancing at Lughnasa, there is a cow with a horn. • There is something melancholic, elegiac about the setting • Darkness at the very beginning of both plays • Focus on psychological evolution : not much action
Differences
• There are no paganism connotations in The Glass Menagerie. No opposition between Christianity and paganism.
What are the recurrent themes of the play? • Marriage • Religion : Christianity • Disintegration of family • Memory : glamour of the past • The Old South as a gracious living • Illusions