Where Have You Going Where Are You Been Character Analysis

As humans, we tend to suffer from some sort of flaw in our character that cripples us from being able to have a successful life, this flaw could lead people to make disastrous decisions that can lead to unfortunate outcomes. Two examples of such can be found in the characters Laura and Connie from the play The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams and “Where Have You Going, Where Are You Been?” by Carol Oates respectively. By psychoanalyzing both Laura and Connie, it becomes evident, through actions and dialogue, that both females display symptoms of having a fatal flaw, which in turn causes them to make decisions that lead to each one’s undesirable fates. In The Glass Menagerie, Laura is often characterized as a shy and nervous girl who
This story centers around a girl who has a lot of liberty to do what she wants. However, her flaw is simply that she is too naive towards the world’s dangers and has a difficulty creating any sort of intimate relationship with anyone. Much like Laura, she has a cold relationship with her mother. Connie sees her mother as a person who is difficult to please and who is also constantly comparing her with her older sister June. “June did this, June did that,, she saved money and helped clean the house and cooked…” (Oates 492). This constant comparison with her sister drives Connie to the point of anger and disgust, where Connie cannot stand being with her mom for extended periods of time. This will go on to play a crucial role in the development of the story. Connie’s frustration with her mother is also made evident by the way Connie believes that her mother prefers June over her, stating that “if June’s name was mentioned her mother’s tone was approving, and if Connie’s name was mentioned it was disapproving” (Oates 495). Connie feels as if she is not appreciated within her household, a factor that leads her to make questionable decisions once Arnold Friend makes his appearance later on in the story. Along with her shaky relationship with her mother, Connie also has difficulty creating relationships with other people.
How do they impact the story’s ending? Both Oates and Williams develop their characters in such a way that they are left in bad situations at the end of their respective stories as a result of their character flaws. For Laura in The Glass Menagerie, her dependency on her brother Tom, who has become weary of carrying the burden of supporting the family, forces him to abandon Laura and Amanda for his search of adventure and happiness. However, because of Laura’s lack of self-esteem, she felt forced to drop out of her business course at the college. This greatly affects her because now she has no way to support her and her mother, leaving them with no other option than to, as the stage directions say, “blow out the candles” (Oates Sc 7 1208). All hope of her family progressing has come to an abrupt and chilling halt as neither Amanda, who is driven emotionally incapable of grasping reality with her constant reminiscing of her times in Blue Mountain, nor Laura, whose inferiority complex keeps her from trying anything new, is able to find a way to support