The Use of Symbolism in The Glass Menagerie

A detailed Summary of The Use of Symbolism in The Glass Menagerie

Symbolism is an aspect used in several novels of today's and yesterday's world. In the book, The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Willams, symbols are a major part of this play. As Tom, the narrator, is a poet, and admits he has a weakness for symbols. There are three

prominent symbols in this play that stick out more than anything.

One major symbol presented in the story is the fire escape, a symbol that has a different meaning and function for each character. For Tom, it is a way of escape from fire, not the normal type of fire that would need a fire truck, but "the slow and implacable fires of human desperation." This is especially true of Tom's apartment. His mother, devastated after her daughter Laura's failure to cope in business college, becomes obsessed with finding her a gentleman caller so that she can marry and be well supported. When this caller finally comes, and it seems like it was meant to be, as they dance and kiss, he announces he is engaged, and destroys their hopes. The ever-fragile Laura, temporarily drawn out of her dream-world shell of her glass collection and the victrola, draws further back into herself. Now a terrible desperation fills the apartment, and Tom decides he must escape the suffocating en

Tennessee Williams has managed to create a wonderful and powerful play using a combination of different elements, with one being symbolism; the fire escape, as a sense of hope, and an escape both to the outside world and from it; the glass menagerie, a symbol for Laura's fragility and uniqueness; and rainbows, as symbols of unrealized hopes and aspirations. Through these symbols a greater understanding of the theme is realized, and "The Glass Menagerie" is made into a powerful epic.

vironment to follow his own calling. The fire escape to him represents a path to the outside world. For Laura, the fire escape is exactly the opposite--a path to the safe world inside, a world in which she can hide. Especially symbolic is Laura's fall when descending the steps to do a chore for her mother, after leaving the security of the apartment. This fall symbolizes Laura's inability to function in society and the outside world. For Amanda, the fire escape is symbolic of her hopes and dreams--hopes and dreams that a gentleman caller will arrive to marry her daughter and leave her well supported. This is the way Jim comes into the apartment, at the time when Amanda's hopes have been peaked. It is symbolic that Laura does not want to open the door when Jim arrives. It shows her reluctance to let a messanger from the world of reality, symbolized by Jim, invade the comfortable non-existence of the apartment, and her insecurity in dealing with the outside

Another recurring symbol in the story is that of the gl

Some common words found in the essay are:
Tennessee Willams, Tom Amanda, Jim Jim, Tennessee Williams, Laura Laura, Similarly Jim, Jim Poor, Jim Laura, Laura Jim, , glass menagerie, fire escape, outside world, glass collection, outside world laura, symbol rainbows, laura glass, symbol story, world laura, dance jim, play tom,

Approximate Word count = 1015
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English