The Glass Menagerie Symbolism

A person’s path to enlightenment and understanding can be tumultuous and challenging. In the play, The Glass Menagerie, by Tennessee Williams, each character has difficulty accepting reality. This makes them withdraw into their own little world of illusion to find a sense comfort and peace. In The Glass Menagerie, the author presents The Glass Menagerie as a metaphor for the Wingfield family along with other families during the Great Depression. In the setting of the Wingfield, family homeland might be a literal interpretation of the sufferings that happened in the 1930’s, in which the story shows details of what was ahead of them from recovering from the great depression. It takes place in St. Louis, Missouri in an apartment. The buildings
are stacked up like beehives. The fire escape is a way of escape from the arguments that happens. In the play, you can see the living room and dining room. On the wall in the house is a large photograph of the family's absent father. The picture symbolizes that he oversees the events of the apartment and watches over them day and night. The Glass Menagerie starts with Amanda calling Tom to the dinner table so they could say grace. The tension in the family starts immediately when the mother yells at Tom stating that animals have sections in their stomach, which enables them to digest food without margination, but humans need to chew their food. This shift in tone to this sensation of suffering amongst the main characters is an overwhelming theme throughout this play. Laura, the daughter, wants to leave the dinner table, but the mother says, “She cannot and she needs to be fresh for the gentlemen callers.” Then Amanda starts telling them stories from her past about all the men that used to call daily. Laura says no men counts on her like that and then Tom starts fighting with the mother about the stories. This portrayal gives us a look into how desperately she wants her daughter to find someone to marry. William uses many ways to show the dramatic irony throughout the play. During the play Amanda, seeks attention in many forms an example is tom and the mother have heated discussions for no reason at all. Laura’s inability to socialize is a form of irony. The mother exhibits selfishness and she wants her way all the time. She tries to control the destinies of her child. Tom leaving his family is an example of irony. The author describes many forms of symbolism relating to the abandonment of the father.
Laura’s glass menagerie collection is a symbol of her; it exemplifies the battle within her, living in denial and rejection. Throughout the play, Laura is just as emotionally fragile as the glass is. She feels broken and wants to be like everyone else. “Glass breaks so easily, no matter how careful you are” (Williams 1694). “Oh, I can see the handwriting on the wall as plain as I can see the nose in front of my face! It is terrifying! More and more you remind me of your father. He was out all hours without explanation. Then left without saying goodbye and left the entire bag to hold (Williams)”. The people go to the movies instead of moving. Hollywood characters are supposed to have all the adventure while American sits in the dark room and watches the play or movie. This is like going on an adventure and it is what Tom is seeking in the play. Even though Williams used many different symbols, they all revolve around the idea of the family trying to hide from
reality. In The Glass Menagerie William, it presents five main characters that participate in a role within the play.
Amanda is the mother of Tom and Laura and the wife of Mr. Wingfield. She likes to live in the past and pushes her daughter to be more like her. Laura is the older child in the family that has a bad leg. She is extremely shy and lacks withdraws from the outside world. She finds herself with holding on to the glass collection. It makes her fell as she a caretaker. Laura is emotional unstable and has pleurisies. Tom is an open-minded man who has to provide for his family and take the role of the dad that abended them. He work in a shoe warehouse and strongly dislike his job and want some adventure like his father. He knew he did not have a future working there all his life. Tom liked to seek the mother attention and was very dramatic. He does not really take charge and spend the extra money he saved for escaping the house on smoking or going out to the movies. Tom tries to show his mother that he is a lot different from Laura. He knows that his only way out and to travel is through the merchant marines. Mr. Wingfield was the husband of Amanda. He was a charming man who worked for a telephone company. He escaped the Wingfield family with no goodbye and disappeared in thin air. Mr. Wingfield has no contact with the family the only thing he sent them was a post card for New Mexico. Jim O’Connor was an old high school friend of Amanda and Tom. Jim was successful in high
with his academics and sports. He works at the same place Laura bother Jim works. He is not as successful as he wants to be and does not plan to stay at the factory. The following day mother visited business to check up and see how her daughter was doing and found out that she has not been going to class. Laura told her that she got physically sick in the class and was embarrassed. The mother begins to go off how she needs to start to find a person to marry. Laura tells her mother about a guy she liked in high school named Jim. She also told the mother that her used to call her blue rose because he thought said that but she really said she has pleurisies. Then Laura says that Jim engaged in the paper. She says she is crippled and the mother yells at her not speak like that. Then the mother asks Tom to look around for guys for Laura at work. Tom comes home from work and he tells his mother that his friend is coming over for dinner. He mentions that O'Connor does not know about Laura. Amanda then asks when he is coming and he says tomorrow then she begins to freak out because that does not give her much time to get the house ready. The mother goes to Laura and tells her we have a caller named O’Connor. Laura begins to ask the mother the first name and the mother does not know it. Then tells her that if it Jim she is not going out there to eat with them because that was the guy she told the mother about the other day. She later find out it is Jim from high school and says she not going to eat with them. The next day Jim is coming home with Tom, Amanda then tells Laura that she needs to open the door when they get back because Tom forgot his keys and said that she won’t be able to open it for them because she can’t due to her being sick from her shyness. The mother persuaded Laura to open the door. While Laura was out of the room, Jim asked, what was wrong with Laura, and then Tom said she was extremely shy. Jim begins to say there are not many girls out there that are like that anymore. After eating, Jim and Laura begin talking in the living room and Jim then leans in and kisses her to help boost her self-confident. Jim after that says he is sorry that should not have happened, he tells her he is going strong with someone. Through hardship and perseverance of accepting reality, Tom tells us about life. The Glass Menagerie, by Tennessee Williams, each character has difficulty accepting reality. This makes them withdraw into their own little world of illusion to find a sense comfort and peace. Tom tells us how their family escapes from everyday life. The author presents The Glass Menagerie as a metaphor for the Wingfield family along with other families during the Great Depression.