Tennessee Williams’S, The Glass Menagerie, Is One Of The

Tennessee Williams’s, The Glass Menagerie, is one of the most popular plays of all times and the play that started his success as a playwright. This play explores a dysfunctional family who has been abandoned by the husband/father and struggles to progress in an economically stressed time. The play showcases three extremely complex characters who each have personal struggles in their own lives which furthermore create tensions between each other as a family unit. As a true lover of this play, I had to dig deep into the text and try to understand each of the characters of this play in order to figure out what was the cause to their unhappiness. There were many factors that played a huge role to the misery of their lives but the most†¦show more content†¦When talking to her son in scene four of the play, Amanda stated, â€Å"I mean that as soon as Laura has got somebody to take care of her, married, a home of her own, independent-why, then you will be free to go wherev er you please. But until that time you have to look out for your sister (pg.42)†. Once again, as the male of the household it was Tom’s responsibility to make sure that his sister had a steady future and was well taken care of before he could move on and start own his life. During that time period, women were seen as being weak and needing to have a male figure in their lives in order to succeed in life. It was very clear how these gender roles affected Tom’s life and how difficult it was for him to carry all that weight on his own. Having to face a physical disability was not the only struggle in Laura’s life. Having a disability destroyed Laura’s confidence which also negatively influenced her role as a women. In the late 1930’s women were supposed to marry at a young age, bear children, and take care of the household chores. It was also important for women to take care of their appearance and look â€Å"pretty† in order to increase their chances of finding a man to marry. This concept was clearly seen through Amanda’s dialogue towards her daughter Laura. In the first scene of the play, Amanda told Laura, â€Å"Resume your seat, little sister. I want you to stay fresh and pretty for gentlemen callers† (pg.8).Show MoreRelatedThe Glass Menagerie By Tennessee Williams985 Words   |  4 Pagesfor the one present moment that goes by you so quickly you hardly catch it going. ¨ This quote by the author of The Glass Menagerie, Tennessee Williams, describes both The Glass Me nagerie, a memory play, and the life of Tennessee Williams himself, for whom memories played a large role in his life. Within the play, many parallels can be drawn between the life of Williams and the life of Tom, the main character, such as a disdain for factory work. In addition, several characters in The Glass MenagerieRead More Essay on Stagnant Lives in Streetcar Named Desire and Glass Menagerie1196 Words   |  5 PagesStreetcar Named Desire and Glass Menagerie   Ã‚  Ã‚   The Stagnant Lives of Blanche DuBois and Amanda Wingfield  Ã‚  Ã‚   All of Williams significant characters are pathetic victims--of time, of their own passions, of immutable circumstance (Gantz 110). This assessment of Tennessee Williams plays proves true when one looks closely at the characters of Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire and Amanda Wingfield in The Glass Menagerie. Their lives run closely parallel to one another in their respectiveRead More Essay on Portrayal of Women in The Glass Menagerie and A Streetcar Named Desire1496 Words   |  6 Pagesof Women in The Glass Menagerie and A Streetcar Named Desire      Ã‚  Ã‚   The plays of Tennessee Williams are often controversial because of his preoccupation with sex and violence. 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Williams compares the Wingfield apartment to one of those vast hive-like conglomerations of cellular living-units... a reminder to each character of the harsh reality of their life (epilogueRead More Essay on The Glass Menagerie and the Life of Tennessee Williams957 Words   |  4 PagesThe Glass Menagerie and the Life of Tennessee Williams The Glass Menagerie closely parallels the life of the author. From the very job Tennessee held early in his life to the apartment he and his family lived in. Each of the characters presented, their actions taken and even the setting have been based on the past of Thomas Lanier Williams, better known as Tennessee Williams. Donald Spoto described the new apartment building that Williams and his family relocated to in St. Louis, MissouriRead MoreThe Glass Menagerie561 Words   |  2 PagesThe twentieth century was a century full of memorable events. These events influence most everything going on around them. 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First and foremost,Read MoreEssay about Williamss Use of Symbolic Reference in The Glass Menagerie851 Words   |  4 PagesWilliamss Use of Symbolic Reference in The Glass Menagerie Tennessee Williams wrote The Glass Menagerie basing it on himself and his life, although not always in detail. Tennessees life was not one of perfection. It had a lot of downs causing the play to be a very sentimental, dimly lighted and emotionally play. Although this play has a very basic story line Tennessee use of symbolism crates a much more meaningful story of the Wingfild family. Symbolism is used in