In most cases, appearance is not as it seems. Within the play The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams, appearance is viewed in contrast with reality; appearance representing illusion. The title of the play itself symbolizes the fragile world of dreams and illusions that the characters barricade themselves in. The characters' incapability to handle reality imprisons them in a life of illusions which instigates the breakdown of social values such as responsibility and family.
The main character in the play Amanda Wingfield, a deserted wife and lonely mother of Tom and Laura, exists in a world of illusion and dreams. Having preconceived ideas about what is right for her son and daughter, she tries to make her dreams for them come true; she wants desperately for Tom and Laura to bring her the happiness that her husband denied her when he left her. Throughout the play, Amanda shows that she is totally unrealistic by refusing the fact that Laura is different, not letting anybody refe
During the process of dreaming, Amanda ignores the responsibility of being a mother by neglecting the needs of her children and never really understanding them. Because of her lack of skills, she can never keep a job, relying on Tom to support the family although he was still a young child when he started sustaining his family economically. Tom tried to hold on to a sense of responsibility, not letting the temptation of adventure the army offers to get in his way for a long time, but he throws that all away in the end to join the marines because of Amanda's constant criticisms and nagging. Laura rejects responsibility; she quits business school, having no idea how to support herself in life later on.
r to Laura as crippled and by trying to pretend that Laura is not strange for spending all of her time with her glass menagerie. Amanda is destined to meet disappointment and failure. Her dreams and illusions defeat her in the end. She is forced to accept the fact she has lost her family. Her son abandoned
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