Throughout this play, there are different forms of music, movies, and legends. Laura tells Amanda about Jim, a boy that she had a crush on in high school. About The Glass Menagerie. The database is updated daily, so anyone can easily find a relevant essay example. 2020. We will write a custom Essay on The Glass Menagerie specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page. Throughout the play, thematic music underscores many of the key moments. Amanda on the other side is a complicated mother who regales her children in this moment and scolds them in the next. Tom, who feels stifled in both his job and his family life, writes poetry while at the warehouse. Tom holds this burning passion; he wants to get out there and explore the world. Laura slowly warms up and relaxes in Jim’s gently encouraging company. These adjectives come out clearly in the context of the play. July 7, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-glass-menagerie/. The Wingfields are seated at dinner. The curtain rises to reveal the dimly lit Wingfield apartment, located in a lower-class tenement building in St. Louis. To counter her fears, Amanda enrols Laura in a business school hoping that she would be stable; provide for her self and probably for the family. Are you sure you want to remove #bookConfirmation# Audience may respond to this statement by concurring to it. IvyPanda. As they dance, however, Jim knocks over the unicorn, breaking off its horn. We are also introduced to a large screen that Williams uses to project images and pictures on as the play progresses. She gives him the broken glass unicorn as a souvenir. Absence of Mr. Wingfield affects his children and wife greatly. The separate scenes, then, should be seen as part of Tom's memory of a crucial time in his life. For full functionality of this site it is necessary to enable JavaScript. The play begins with a current-day (1940s at the time) Tom explaining to us that the play is his memory (1930s) being re-told, and has lots of funky memory elements in it like weird lighting and music. And it is the Jim that she knew from high school. Instant downloads of all 1364 LitChart PDFs The play has strong autobiographical elements, featuring characters based on its author, his histrionic mother, and his mentally fragile sister Laura. Tom is the most crucial to the play’s dramatic action because everything revolves around him. Tennessee, Williams. The original text plus a side-by-side modern translation of. The Glass Menagerie is a memory play, and all the events are drawn from the memories of the play’s narrator, Tom Wingfield, who is also a character in the play.The curtain rises to reveal the dimly lit Wingfield apartment, located in a lower-class tenement building in St. Louis. The play ends with Tom some years in the future thinking back on his sister Laura whom he can never forget. (2020) 'The Glass Menagerie'. When Tom goes out to the movies that night, Amanda accuses him of doing something else rather than going to the movies every night. Amanda then tells Laura to practice her shorthand and typing. For instance, the music and lightning used make the audience connect with Laura’s shortcomings, Amanda’s indifference, and Tom’s struggles. About The Glass Menagerie. She asks him to find a potential suitor for Laura at the warehouse. Amanda decides that they must have a gentleman caller for Laura, and Laura tells her that she has liked only one boy in her whole life, a high school boy named Jim. At dinner she tells her daughter, Laura, to stay nice and pretty for her gentlemen callers even though Laura has never had any callers and expects none. These are uninformed decisions and she is to blame for Laura’s continued shyness. (including. Tom is the protagonist in this story. Amanda remembers the time that she had seventeen gentlemen callers all on one Sunday afternoon. When Amanda reappears, Jim explains to her also that he is engaged and must go. Teach your students to analyze literature like LitCharts does. Without him, the Wingfields would not be, Jim would be unknown, and the central theme of illusions would not be realized. If only Amanda were supportive, Laura would probably gain self-confidence and have high self-esteem. Williams’s mother, Evelina, had been a Southern belle, and his father was both tyrannical and frequently absent. This play suggests a repressed desire boiling under the surface. This essay on The Glass Menagerie was written and submitted by your fellow student. If only Mr. Wingfield were around, she would be financially secure. Due to his ‘ordinary’ nature, he manages to win Laura’s confidence, dances with her, and finally kisses her. Amanda is shocked and wonders what they will do with their lives since Laura refuses to try to help and spends all her time playing with her glass menagerie and her old phonograph records. They are too overstated to be true. Need a custom Essay sample written from scratch by Post navigation . Amanda has enrolled Laura in business college, but weeks later, Amanda discovers that Laura dropped out after the first few classes because of her debilitating social anxiety. His ‘niceness’ drives away Laura’s fears and low self-esteem and she opens up to him. 7 July. Later, Amanda sends Jim, the gentleman caller, into the living room to keep Laura company while she and Tom do the dishes. Detailed explanations, analysis, and citation info for every important quote on LitCharts. Our, “Would not have made it through AP Literature without the printable PDFs. "The Glass Menagerie." Perhaps she would gain self-confidence and self-esteem if she had her father around her. Amanda lights candles, and Jim joins Laura by candlelight in the living room. Laura is devastated but tries not to show it. After a few months, Tom brings home his colleague Jim O’Connor, whom he knew in high school and who calls Tom “Shakespeare.” Amanda is overjoyed and throws herself into a whirlwind of preparation, fixing up the lighting in the apartment and making a new dress for Laura. Copyright © 2020 - IvyPanda is a trading name of Edustream Technologies LLC, a company registered in Wyoming, USA. How can someone get seventeen callers in one afternoon? Tom sees the trick as symbolic of his life. Due to Laura’s pleading and gentle influence, Tom and Amanda eventually reconcile. July 7, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-glass-menagerie/. They unite in their concern for Laura. bookmarked pages associated with this title. He says, “I am tired…movies tranquilize people, making them content to watch other people’s adventures without having any of their own…plan to join the Merchant Seamen” (Tennessee 62). You can use them for inspiration, an insight into a particular topic, a handy source of reference, or even just as a template of a certain type of paper. Tom enters the apartment, and the action of the play begins. This is unrealistic; therefore, judged from this platform, Amanda’s reminiscences are treacherous. Amanda nags Tom about his table manners and his smoking. Some years later Tom is thinking about his sister Laura whom he will never forget. "The Glass Menagerie." “The Glass Menagerie.” Oxford; Heinemann Educational Publishers, 1968. Tom stands on the fire escape and addresses the audience to set the scene. "The Glass Menagerie." Your privacy is extremely important to us. If you continue, we will assume that you agree to our You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must, 1) 'The Glass Menagerie' is based on the writer's own life, 2) The original title of the play is 'The Gentleman Caller'. Retrieved from https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-glass-menagerie/. A wishful poet, brother to Laura, and son to Amanda and ever absent Mr. Wingfield; Tom works hard in a shoe store to provide for his mother and sister. He escapes the apartment night after night through movies, drinking, and literature. The object of Tom’s longing is to explore the world out there and this is why he plans to accompany Merchant Seamen to get out and explore the world. (2020, July 7). Amanda decides that they must have a gentleman caller for Laura, and Laura tells her that she has liked only one boy in her whole life, a high school boy named Jim. Laura shows Jim her glass collection and lets him hold the glass unicorn, her favorite. Williams’s real name is Thomas, or Tom: “Tennessee” comes from his father’s home state. Amanda is shocked and wonders what they will do with their lives since Laura refuses to try to help and spends all her time playing with her glass menagerie and her old phonograph records. A few days later, Tom tells Amanda that he has invited a young man named Jim O'Connor home for dinner. Amanda emerges in a gaudy, frilly, girlish dress from her youth and affects a thick Southern accent, as though she is the one receiving the gentleman caller. After dinner, the lights in the apartment go out because Tom has not paid the electricity bill––instead, as Tom and Jim know but Laura and Amanda don’t, Tom has paid his dues to join the merchant marines. These elements create emotional impact in the play. When she mentions the name of the gentleman caller, Laura realizes that it is possibly the same Jim on whom she had a crush in high school. Teachers and parents! IvyPanda. Jim O’Connor is a “nice, ordinary, young man” (Tennessee 5). We utilize security vendors that protect and ensure the integrity of our platform while keeping your private information safe. The play takes place in St. Louis in the nineteen-thirties. Tom has to work for the family whilst Laura knows only a nagging mother. However, no matter how far he goes, he cannot leave his emotional ties behind. Cookies Policy, This essay on The Glass Menagerie was written and submitted by your fellow student. Jim is attracted by Laura's quiet charms, but later after having kissed her, he must explain that he is already engaged. IvyPanda. Amanda re-enters the living room and learns about Jim’s fiancée. On the next night, Amanda oversees Laura's dress and adds some "gay deceivers" to the dress to make Laura more attractive. He coffin here represents Wingfield’s home. While she cannot be blamed for making her shy in the first place, she is to blame for making Laura’s continued shyness. Laura spends her days wandering alone around the park and the zoo. IvyPanda, 7 July 2020, ivypanda.com/essays/the-glass-menagerie/. IvyPanda. Amanda implores Tom not to abandon the family as her husband did. Laura reminds Jim that they knew each other in high school and that he had nicknamed her “Blue Roses,” a mispronunciation of her childhood attack of pleurosis. This burning desire explains why Tom visits a witchdoctor and finds a way of getting out of a coffin without the hustle of pulling any nail. Jim tells Laura that she must overcome her inferiority complex through confidence. This stems from the fact that she fears without a father; her family would be insecure. The play is his final act of catharsis to purge himself of the memories of his family. After he leaves, she accuses Tom of playing a trick on them. Amanda immediately begins to make rather elaborate plans for the gentleman caller. It contains thousands of paper examples on a wide variety of topics, all donated by helpful students. She is too concerned about her family’s financial security that she would not let Tom leave without getting Laura a suitor who would provide for her. This trip would finally quench Tom’s desire to explore the world. Struggling with distance learning? Laura is so overcome by the whole scene that she refuses to join the table, instead lying on the sofa in the living room. Amanda will have nothing to do with such foolishness, and even though Laura is sick when the gentleman caller arrives, Amanda forces her to open the door. All rights reserved. The Glass Menagerie. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. Amanda is frustrated but quickly changes course, deciding that Laura’s best hope is to find a suitable man to marry. Tom and Laura’s father abandoned the family many years ago, and except for a single postcard reading “Hello––Goodbye!” has not been heard from since.