Summary of Glass Menagerie

A detailed Summary of Summary of Glass Menagerie

'The Glass Menagerie' is written by Tennessee Williams, and takes place just before the Second World War starts in Europe. USA has just got over the large depression in the thirties, but the threat of war is hanging as a dark cloud overhead. In the play we follow a lower middle-class family living somewhere in the middle of USA. This is a bit strange, as the play is somewhat southern in its style.

The play is set in the apartment of the Wingfield family, housing Amanda Wingfield and her two children Tom and Laura. The father in the house left many years ago, and is only represented by a large picture on the living-room wall. The apartment is placed in an apartment block, housing equal apartments, and the block is again in an area of considerably equal places. This creates a monotonous feeling in the reader. None of the Wingfields actually wants to stay in their apartment, but their lack of finances makes it impossible for the to move. Escaping from problems is the main theme throughout the play.

The different characters in 'The Glass Menagerie' have their own individual ways of escaping from their realities. Tom Wingfield, the main character and narrator, relates to his problems by escaping from the entire place in whic

Amanda, the mother, is constantly trying to have her children make up for her life, which she thinks has plunged off into the wrong direction. As she says it herself, she could have got anywhere, but her heart led her astray. Her husband abandoned her, and she was left with no money, and without anyone to love. This experience has made her bitter, and that bitterness is what drives her in her urge to make her children 'become something'. Amanda is trying to live her own life through her daughter Laura, and to be able to do this she needs to control Tom so that he can provide the money and the help that she needs to fulfill her dream. This is also Amanda's way of escaping. She wants to experience the life that she never got by seeing it through her daughter's eyes. This to be one of the main reasons that Laura is who she is. A child who has a 'task' to fulfill, and who has to live her life according to this, will never be free, nor will she be able to feel self-confident.

The last symbol that is important for the theme is the father of Tom and Laura, Mr. Wingfield. He is the ultimate symbol of escape, as he has actually managed to get away. The fact that Amanda still has his picture on the wall tells us something about another way that she is attempting to escape; by keeping hold of the past, as the picture is probably there to remind of the good old days.

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1279
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Novels