An Analysis Of The Glass Menagerie
The Glass Menagerie is a play that is very important to modern
literature. Tennessee Williams describes four separate characters, their
dreams, and the harsh realities they faced in the modern world. His
setting is in St. Louis during the Depression-Era. The story is about a
loving family that is constantly in conflict. To convey his central theme,
Williams uses symbols. He also expresses his theme through the characters'
incapability of living in the present.
The apartment that Amanda, Laura, and Tom Wingfield share is in the
middle of the city and is among many dark alleys with fire escapes. Tom
and Laura do not like the dark atmosphere and their mother always tries to
make it ...
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idea, or character. One symbol that is used over and over is the
fire escape. This has different meanings to the characters. For Tom, it
is a place where he can escape to. It is where he goes to escape from his
mother's nagging. He is open to the outside world when he is on the fire
escape. It is his way out. For Laura, it is where the gentleman caller
enters and where the outside world is brought inside to her. But to
Amanda, the fire escape is not only where the gentleman caller enters, but
where he will come in and rescue her daughter from becoming a spinster.
Amanda feels that if the gentleman caller comes, then he will
rescue Laura. The problem is that Jim, the caller, has not even met either
of the two women yet. Amanda assumes that he will be the one for Laura.
She has a difficult time distinguishing between reality from illusion. The
same way she refuses to acknowledge Laura's handicap. She does not refer
to it as a handicap, but rather as a ³little ...
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this and takes advantage of it
by dancing with her, and, eventually, kissing her.
Part of the innocence Laura has lost is symbolized in the breaking
of the unicorn. When Jim tells Laura of his engagement she is heartbroken.
She no longer feels that uniqueness she once shared with the unicorn, but
becomes more common like Jim.
Therefore, when she gives the unicorn to Jim she is giving him her
broken heart. She gives him something of hers to take with him when he
leaves and, in a way, he has left something with her. He has only left her
with shattered hopes. It is clear, at this point, that Laura and her glass
menagerie break when they both become exposed to the outside ...
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An Analysis Of The Glass Menagerie. (2006, August 19). Retrieved November 23, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/An-Analysis-Of-The-Glass-Menagerie/51039
"An Analysis Of The Glass Menagerie." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 19 Aug. 2006. Web. 23 Nov. 2024. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/An-Analysis-Of-The-Glass-Menagerie/51039>
"An Analysis Of The Glass Menagerie." Essayworld.com. August 19, 2006. Accessed November 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/An-Analysis-Of-The-Glass-Menagerie/51039.
"An Analysis Of The Glass Menagerie." Essayworld.com. August 19, 2006. Accessed November 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/An-Analysis-Of-The-Glass-Menagerie/51039.
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