The Glass Menagerie Character Analysis
The Glass Menagerie is a wonderful autobiographical play written by Tennessee Williams. The play is placed in the 1930s in St. Louis. The play is a memory from Tennessee Williams; he explains that since its from memory there may be some unreliable information given. Throughout the story there is several uses of symbolism, including the glass menagerie, the Wingfield’s fire escape, and pleurosis.
The animals in the glass menagerie are a symbol for Laura’s personality traits. For example, the glass unicorn represents how different and unique she is. In scene 7, Jim tells expresses his adoration for Laura and explains to her how the glass unicorn represents her: “You know-you’re-well- different” “surprisingly different from anyone else I know!” …show more content…
In scene four, Laura is being rushed out of the house to go to the store and she slips and falls. This symbolizes how she is unable to escape her family. Laura would like to leave her family and be in alone like how she is when she wonders the city but is tied to her overbearing mother, Amanda. Tom also uses the fire escape as an escape from his family, but is successful at the attempt. He is often out on the fire escape to smoke, which foreshadows his abandonment from the family and how he left to pursue his dreams. Laura had the disease Pleurosis as a child. The condition left her crippled and as a child Jim mispronounced the condition as “blue roses” which led to be an accurate nickname for her. The nickname was another symbol for her beautiful uniqueness. Since blue roses are different but beautiful Laura is much like a blue rose. Jim’s nickname for Laura became a positive connotation and she was able to look at her condition differently. Laura also liked the idea of someone giving her the nickname because “I wasn’t aquatinted with many people.” It made her feel like she at least had one friend and wasn’t so alone in the world. In conclusion, the literary element of symbolism is constantly presented in The Glass Menagerie. Tennessee William’s uses the fire escape, Laura’s pleurosis, and the actual glass assortment of animals to represent
The animals in the glass menagerie are a symbol for Laura’s personality traits. For example, the glass unicorn represents how different and unique she is. In scene 7, Jim tells expresses his adoration for Laura and explains to her how the glass unicorn represents her: “You know-you’re-well- different” “surprisingly different from anyone else I know!” …show more content…
In scene four, Laura is being rushed out of the house to go to the store and she slips and falls. This symbolizes how she is unable to escape her family. Laura would like to leave her family and be in alone like how she is when she wonders the city but is tied to her overbearing mother, Amanda. Tom also uses the fire escape as an escape from his family, but is successful at the attempt. He is often out on the fire escape to smoke, which foreshadows his abandonment from the family and how he left to pursue his dreams. Laura had the disease Pleurosis as a child. The condition left her crippled and as a child Jim mispronounced the condition as “blue roses” which led to be an accurate nickname for her. The nickname was another symbol for her beautiful uniqueness. Since blue roses are different but beautiful Laura is much like a blue rose. Jim’s nickname for Laura became a positive connotation and she was able to look at her condition differently. Laura also liked the idea of someone giving her the nickname because “I wasn’t aquatinted with many people.” It made her feel like she at least had one friend and wasn’t so alone in the world. In conclusion, the literary element of symbolism is constantly presented in The Glass Menagerie. Tennessee William’s uses the fire escape, Laura’s pleurosis, and the actual glass assortment of animals to represent