Escaping Reality in The Glass Menagerie Essay - 584 Words

In Tennessee Williamss play, The Glass Menagerie, he reflects upon the economic status and desperation of an American family living in St. Louis during the 1930s. Williams portrays three characters: Amanda Wingfield, the disappointed mother; Tom, the narrator and trapped son; and Laura, the crippled daughter. Williams compares the Wingfield apartment to one of those vast hive-like conglomerations of cellular living-units... a reminder to each character of the harsh reality of their life (epilogue.1972). Although they strive for escape from the same situation, each character has a way of dealing with hardships that are symbolized throughout the play in various ways. Williams use of symbolism emphasizes one of the main themes;†¦show more content†¦There is a trick that would come in handy for me - get me out of this 2 by 4 situation! (1987.scene IV) Tom is trapped in a warehouse job with the obligation to pay rent and bills for his mother and sister, seemingly his coffin. The only way for Tom to escape without removing the nails; thus destroying the family as his father did, is to find a replacement for himself. Therefore, Tom is a bit willing to cooperate with his mothers notion of finding a gentleman caller for Laura. Amandas life is not what she had hoped for as a young southern belle who grew up in Blue Mountain. Her means of escape lies in her vivid memories of receiving seventeen! - gentleman callers in one day (1977.scene I). The sweet memories of what she could have had far exceed the reality of the path she chose. Out of fear of her own loneliness, Amanda strives to find a way for Laura to escape. When her attempt to educate Laura as a means to escape fails, she turns to marriage. Amandas revelation that Girls that arent cut out for business careers usually wind up married to some nice man turns into an obsession to find the missing link to Lauras escape from the shadow of her mothers life (1982. scene III). On the other hand, Lauras desire to interact with others is limited to her glass menagerie, which represents the private world that she escapes to throughout the play. Her disability and lackShow MoreRelated Essay on the Theme of Escape in The Glass Menagerie1045 Words   |  5 PagesThe Theme of Escape in The Glass Menagerie    The Glass Menagerie, a play by Tennessee Williams, is set in the apartment of the Wingfield family, housing Amanda Wingfield and her two children Tom and Laura. The father left many years ago, and is only represented by a picture on the living-room wall. The small, dingy apartment creates a desperate, monotonous feeling in the reader. None of the Wingfields has any desire to stay in the apartment, but their lack of finances makes it impossible toRead MoreThe Glass Menagerie By Tennessee Williams1637 Words   |  7 Pagesâ€Å"The Glass Menagerie† by Tennessee Williams is a play about desire to escape and this concept is conveyed through a variety of techniques and ideas shown in this play of exploration by the playwright, Tom Wingfield. First, Jim tries to escape his engagement by having a romantic night with Laura. Then, Tom’s father escapes for the same reasons Tom did. Thirdly, according to Roger Boxill from ‘The Glass Menagerie’ Amanda escapes by remin iscing â€Å"Blue Mountain ... And the seventeen gentleman callersRead More Symbolism in The Glass Menagerie Essay1022 Words   |  5 Pagesis an integral part of every play. The author uses symbolism in order to add more depth to the play. 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The title suggest that the characters are a hodgepodge of fragile, sensitive, opposite people striving toRead MoreSymbols in the Glass Menagerie1307 Words   |  6 PagesIn the play, The Glass Menagerie, by Tennessee Williams, Williams uses many symbols which represent many different things.?Many of the symbols used in the play try to symbolize some form of escape or difference between reality and illusion.?The first symbol, presented in the first scene, is the fire escape.?This represents the bridge between the illusory world of the Wingfields and the world of reality.?This bridge seems to be a one way excursion.?But the direction varies for each character.Read MoreThe Glass Menagerie By Tennessee Williams1114 Words   |  5 PagesIn the play by Tennessee Williams, â€Å"The Glass Menagerie,† Williams uses many symbols to help the audience be tter understand the Wingfield family. Many of the symbols used in the play portray some form of escape from reality. 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In â€Å"The Glass Menagerie† the Wingfield family uses fantasy to escape fromR ead More The Importance of Symbolism in The Glass Menagerie Essay1609 Words   |  7 PagesThe Importance of Symbolism in The Glass Menagerie  Ã‚      Tom Wingfield is the narrator and a major character in Tennessee William’s timeless play, The Glass Menagerie. Through the eyes of Tom, the viewer gets a glance into the life of his family in the pre-war depression era; his mother, a Southern belle desperately clinging to the past; his sister, a woman too fragile to function in society; and himself, a struggling, young poet working at a warehouse to pay the bills. Williams has managedRead MoreFacing Reality in The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams Essay1140 Words   |  5 PagesThe Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams was a confusing, astounding, and wonderful play that takes an in depth look at the complex relationships that develop between members of a family and then presents them for the audiences dissection. How did the characters in the play interact? What were the independent and dependent relationships between the characters? Perhaps most important, how did they cope with one another? That seemed to be th e key question when looking at The Glass Menagerie. EachRead More Essay on Stagnant Lives in Streetcar Named Desire and Glass Menagerie1196 Words   |  5 PagesStagnant Lives in Streetcar Named Desire and Glass Menagerie   Ã‚  Ã‚   The Stagnant Lives of Blanche DuBois and Amanda Wingfield  Ã‚  Ã‚   All of Williams significant characters are pathetic victims--of time, of their own passions, of immutable circumstance (Gantz 110). This assessment of Tennessee Williams plays proves true when one looks closely at the characters of Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire and Amanda Wingfield in The Glass Menagerie. Their lives run closely parallel to one another