The Glass Menagerie Compare And Contrast Essay

Have you ever read the book The Glass Menagerie and seen the movie? There are more similarities between the book and the movie version than there are differences. The movie does have some small differences but the movie script is almost identical to the script of the play. They both have the same setting and all the scenes take place in the apartment of the Wingfields. All the characters also remain the same consisting of only Amanda Wingfield, her children Tom and Laura, and Jim O’Connor (the gentleman caller). There were many technological aspects of the play and the movie that were different. Some things that were done in the movie could not be done in the play. For example, in the movie, you can see the scene from different views and different frames. Also, in the movie, the actor’s backs could be towards the audience, but actors can’t do that on stage in a play. Lastly, in the movie, music was played in the background during the scenes, which is something that wasn’t done in the play.
Some of Laura’s features that are in the play are also different in the movie.
Laura had a brace on her leg during high school because of a disability but the brace was no longer on during the movie. In the movie, Laura seemed like a normal person and you would probably not even be able to tell there was anything wrong with her if her family didn’t show such and exaggeration of her being a cripple. Amanda also acts like she was still young expecting gentleman callers at any moment and in the movie the actress that plays Amanda seems way to old, I would have used someone a bit younger. When Jim comes over, Amanda flirts with him like she is the one trying to marry him instead of Laura. Tom also seems different in the movie. In the movie he is kind of creepy and it seems like he does not care much for his family and is just waiting for the chance to leave. In the play he seems like a good person who wants to do the best for his family but wants to get
out. Similarities are more common between the play and movie. As I mentioned before, the scripts are almost identical to one another and there are only a few sections in which the movie strays from what is written in the book. Most of the characters, with the exception of Amanda, follow the personalities that are described in the play. The apartment is also set up the same way as it was in the play. Even outside the apartment was the same with the dance hall in the alley and the fire escape. The story lines of both the play and movie were also the same. The movie differs little from the book with the exception of the differences above. In comparing the play, The Glass Menagerie, to the movie, they are very similar in most ways. The differences lie in the personalities of the characters themselves and how they are portrayed. It seems like when creating the movie they chose to stick as close to the play as possible.