Glass Menagerie Symbolism
In his drama, The Glass Menagerie, Tennessee Williams uses symbolism in order to develop multi-faceted characters and to display the recurring themes of the play. These various symbols appear throughout the entire piece, and they are usually disguised as objects or imagery. They allow the reader to know the characters’ personalities, and their true inside characteristics. These symbols also add to the major themes, which develop as the play gains momentum. In the drama, symbols play the most important role.
One of the most recurring symbols is the glass menagerie itself. It consists of glass animals frozen in form and it is housed at the Wingfield’s apartment. The glass ...
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time had passed, so they do not know how to break free of that confinement. All the characters as a whole have tried to escape the harsh reality, but in every case they manage to fail, and in turn shatter their dreams like glass. This continuing struggle is a large part of the major theme of The Glass Menagerie.
Just as the glass menagerie represents all of the characters as a whole, it also represents each character individually. “Though the glass menagerie is most directly relevant to Laura, all four characters have sublimated their animal drives into esthetics. Laura has her glass animals, Tom his movies and poems, Amanda her jonquil-filled memories distorted into hopes, and Jim his baritone cliches of progress” (Cohn 101). Though Amanda blames her children alone for relying on false illusions, she too carries this fault. Although it is obvious that the glass menagerie represents Laura because of her frailty, Tom, Amanda, and even Jim are exemplified too. ...
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emotional development, and her inability to cope with the demands of a flesh-and-blood world” (Thompson 15). The menagerie also symbolizes the change, which takes place when Laura is exposed to Jim. Jim reveals a side of Laura that the reader is not familiar with at this time. He recharges her self-confidence and boasts her courage and trust, but this does not last. As described by Williams, “A fragile, unearthly prettiness has cone out in Laura,” when with Jim, “she is like a piece of translucent glass touched by light, given a momentary, not actual, not lasting” (Williams 69). It is obvious that Laura has changed, but this change does not become ...
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"Glass Menagerie Symbolism." Essayworld.com. May 5, 2007. Accessed April 20, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Glass-Menagerie-Symbolism/64398.
"Glass Menagerie Symbolism." Essayworld.com. May 5, 2007. Accessed April 20, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Glass-Menagerie-Symbolism/64398.
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