ENC 1102-70C
April 7, 2014
“The Glass Menagerie” Formal Analysis Throughout “The Glass Menagerie” Tennessee Williams creates an intricate dynamic between the three main characters, as well as symbols and symbolic language in order to exemplify the fragility of livelihood. Without a single one of the members of the Wingfield family the other’s lives would be dramatically different. Much as the collection of glass menagerie would not be the same collection without one of its pieces. As many collectors know the presence or absence of one item can drastically change the value of the whole collection. So also is a family unit, as one member affects the others, they form an identity they become accustomed to and often cling to. Amanda exemplifies how vital it is that a family unit stay loyal. After Mr. Wingfield disappeared her life has become a constant struggle in order to survive, a far cry from the Blue Mountain setting she idolizes in her past. Amanda symbolizes a downfall, but she also symbolizes drive for her children, encouraging Laura to blossom into something that they can both be proud of and encouraging Tom to keep his job and support his family until they can fend for themselves at least. Laura symbolizes fear and instability through the first five acts. She failed out of her class, that was a hope for a better future, because of her fear and doesn’t let herself actually try to engage in social interactions for fear that she will be inadequate in another’s eyes. Without Laura to feel sorry for and take care of Tom most likely would have left Amanda on her own in Mr. Wingfield’s footsteps a long time ago. Tom represents unrest and boredom, but he also provides the money and stability for the family to keep living in its present state. Though Tom is uneasy he still gets up in the morning and performs his duties knowing that he is a key member of their family unit, or the most valuable piece in the collection. When Tom and Amanda’s fight breaks some of the pieces of the Glass menagerie it symbolizes the breaking of a family unit, making it less valuable. As the pieces are easy to break so is the bond that holds the family together as Mr. Wingfield showed how easy it was to separate this bond. As Tom distances himself the strength of the bond becomes less and less strong and it is only a matter of time before it breaks if it is not mended.
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
In The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls, you see the different roles of a dysfunctional family being played out throughout the book.…
- 555 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
The Wingfields and Westons are both inimitable families who carry distinctive traits and characteristics. In the play, The Glass Menagerie, Tennessee Williams portrays a southern family in the 1930 's trying to deal with life 's pressures, and their own fears after their husband and father deserts them. In the play, August: Osage County, Tracy Letts depicts a large eccentric family who come together after the death of the patriarch, Beverly, and try to triumph over the obstacles in life. Unhealthy and detrimental relationships among family members are ample between the two families. The Wingfield and Weston families are both trapped by their own dysfunctions, which force them to be confined in their own homes, ultimately causing the abandoned matriarchs to either face the truth or continue to run from it.…
- 1199 Words
- 5 Pages
Better Essays -
The Glass Menagerie, by Williams, Tennessee is set in 1937 in the city of St Louis. The narrator is Tom Wingfield who supports his sister, Laura, and mother, Amanda. Tom acknowledges that he is the only man in the family and he strives to take care of the two women. Laura is a shy girl who drops out of school due to the challenges that she faces because of her shyness. The relevance of the narrative is deeply engraved in the use of the symbolism of the unicorn whose horn was later broken to resemble a normal horse due to its association with the conversion of the disillusioned Laura into a normal minded woman. Laura keeps the unicorn and other glass animals to be distracted from the normal daily activities that provoke her painful shyness. This paper analyses the use of symbolism in the play The Glass Menagerie.…
- 1088 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays -
In the play The Glass Menagerie Laura is a character that many young women across the nation can easily relate to. Although she was crippled at a young age, Laura’s insecurities often times run her life. Like Laura, many women find their insecurities at the forefront of their minds. Laura is a shy, quiet and often times invisible character throughout the play. However, she is a strong, unique, and lovable character as well. Often times we see our flaws as a disadvantage and something that can only do a disservice. Flaws and imperfections make us all unique and that is what sets us apart from the other people in the world. Laura’s imperfections are often pointed out by her mother and she cannot help but see them in a dismal way.…
- 964 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
Everyone wants to escape what is the reality they live in, but are not always successful. One main escape theme is the fire escape in the play. The fire escape is a symbol of a future escape and since of imprisonment, but everyone in the play uses it differently. Tom uses the fire escape to have the opportunity to get away. His mother is constantly bothering him and on his case about certain things that he sometimes just needs to step out and get away. Amanda Wingfield uses the fire escape as a way in for her gentlemen callers to enter her and Laura’s lives. Laura on the other hand does not have the best of luck on the fire escape as she slipped on the fire escape when she was on which could be a symbolism as to how hard it is for her to escape her situation, but instead of using the fire escape as some type of escape from reality, Laura tends to escape reality by staying in the apartment hiding instead of trying to get out. Laura sees the fire escape as something that can be safe yet dangerous. The safe part for her knows what is beyond the fire escape, but at the same time of the dangerous part of not…
- 835 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
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.…
- 491 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
While reading the play The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams, the reader quickly learns of a, sadly, typical tale of family strife. In this play a family struggles to find the way out of their secluded, seemingly solitary life. Amanda Wingfield, the mother of Tom and Laura, only craves for the best for her kids. However, this ostensibly adoring mother puts Toms needs at the bottom of list. As a family without a father figure Tom, being the only boy, steps up to help his mother and sister. Striving to live up to his father’s memory, Tom helps by paying for the rent while putting his personal goals on hold. The Wingfield family goes through much trouble and strife portraying the sad truth of what goes on in the everyday family and home.…
- 892 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
Dissatisfied, Tom wishes to escape from his lifestyle and enter the poetry business and move forward from there. He wants to peruse a life where his family are not in the picture, he feels as if they are shattering his dreams. Ultimately, Tom wants to escape his reality, become a writer and leave his own family behind "Oh, I can see the handwriting on the wall as plain as I can see the nose in front of my face! It's terrifying! More and more you remind me of your father! He was out all hours without explanation!-Then left! Goodbye! And me with the bag to hold. I saw that letter you got from the Merchant Marine. I know what you're dreaming of. I'm not standing here blindfolded. Very well, then. Then do it! But not till there's somebody to take your place." (Williams, 91) At The end of the story, Tom leaves his family, abandoning Amanda and Laura to pursue an independent future. Tom is not living out the American dream because all that he does for his family he does not feel good about it, expressing the amount of virtue he lacks. The fact that he abandoned his own families emphasizes the point that he is not an ideal citizen because he is not a virtuous person who is seeking moral…
- 501 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
The Glass Menagerie and A Doll House have connections, with how the writers utilized the characters, and the symbolism to illustrate key ideas of the female characters, and the direct connection that each character has with the symbols.…
- 413 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
“The Glass Menagerie” by the famous American playwright Tennessee Williams is well-known for its lyrical tone and poetic power. The play is about love and understanding, inner isolation and desire to escape, when the main characters have their own paths to follow. Tennessee Williams depicts a true-to-life picture of the family survival with their mutual care and tenderness, but at the same time pressure and home violence. The events are presented by one of the main characters, Tom Wingfield, who lives with his mother and a crippled sister, and because of their father’s financial problems it is Tom who has to take care of others. In fact, he dreams to quit his tiring job at a shoe warehouse and become a poet, but being unable to do it, he starts…
- 369 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
The Glass Menagerie is a production that relates to the issue of abandonment within the Wingfield’s family. Since the father of the household has deserted his family his son, Tom, is forced to fill his shoes as the man of the house. Tom’s mother, Amanda, is the primary reason behind Tom’s obligations. He must work to take care of sister, Laura, as well. Since she is casted as a disabled individual all of the pressure is on Tom to financially assist his family. In order to get away from the reality he deems desirable, he escapes into a world of alcohol and movies.…
- 3985 Words
- 16 Pages
Better Essays -
Amanda Wingfield is one of the main characters and plays a great role in the readers understanding of the play as a whole. She behaves in a very obsessive manner throughout the play and this creates conflict between the other characters. In Scene one, we are introduced to Amanda's obsessive and controlling behaviour. As Tom eats at the dinner table, Amanda continuously pesters him, telling him how to eat his food. "Don't push with your fingers. If you have to push something, the thing to push with is the crust of bread…So chew your food and give your salivary glands a chance to function!" Amanda treats Tom like a child which frustrates him. He is very short tempered and easily irritated by Amanda's over controlling and obsessive personality. She also obsesses over Toms bad habits, proclaiming that; "you smoke too much." Amanda is constantly complaining about Tom and criticising him, this is due to her infatuation and constant desire for perfection in all aspects of her life. She is like this as she cares for them but does not realise that she is smothering her children.…
- 1131 Words
- 4 Pages
Better Essays -
I. Amanda begins the play with the first impression of being overprotective and critical of her children…
- 1519 Words
- 7 Pages
Powerful Essays -
Tennessee Williams’ play The Glass Menagerie gives readers a look into a truly dysfunctional family. At first it could seem as if their lives are anything but normal, but Amanda’s “impulse to preserve her single-parent family seems as familiar as the morning newspaper” (Presley 53). The Wingfields are a typical family just struggling to get by. Their problems, however, stem from their inability to effectively communicate with each other. Instead of talking out their differences, they resort to desperate acts. The desperation that the Wingfields embrace has led them to create illusions in their minds and in turn become deceptive. Amanda, Tom, and Laura are caught up in a web of desperation, denial, and deception, and it is this entrapment that prevents them, as it would any family, from living productive and emotionally fulfilling lives together.…
- 3127 Words
- 13 Pages
Better Essays -
The play, "The Glass Menagerie", birthed Tennessee Williams into the world of the successful. This was a life of luxuries, vanities, and a sense of dependency on the worlds "unsuccessful" to clean all of life's dirty diapers. To some this may sound ideal, but Williams found that this life was numb to reality and did not bring the happiness and fulfillment ever so advertised as a product of success. He discovered that abrupt success did not lead to "happily ever after" like Cinderella convinced us all to believe. Williams writes of his dealings with success in his essay, The Catastrophe of Success.…
- 528 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays