Tennessee Williams The Glass Menagerie is about a lasting struggle of people for the mental happiness and satisfaction. In this American memory play, first published in 1945, Amanda Wingfield hides from life and lives hers through separate illusions. Amanda lives in one of the apartments of Saint Louis with two of her children, son Tom (who narrates the story) and daughter Laura. This essay will examine the fates of the women in Glass Menagerie and focus on the characters of Amanda and Laura. The lives of the two women are full of something that cannot be called troubles, but rather social suffering of sorrow and pity. Amanda survives on account of her illusions, which protect her from the painful facts of life, allowing her to escape the frenzy of life itself.
Amanda lives mainly in the past and her memory recalls experiences she cherished while living as a young southern belle. She sticks to this delusional past because she is unwilling to face the reality of the present. She wants to live out these unrealistic dreams through the life of her daughter Laura. Amanda dresses Laura as she used to dress herself in the past when she was a southern belle. Doing this ties Amanda up into her illusions even more, bringing her farther away from reality. Amandas problem is hiding in her misunderstanding of time.
Everything changes, and especially in the 1930s, when the cultural breakthrough of the United States has lead to the appearance of many streams in fashion, in ways of perception and behaviour. Amandas horribly outdated clothing and mannerisms also underscore her as a foolish old woman impossibly attempting to relive a wasted life. Amandas obsession with the idea of finding her daughter a gentleman who will marry her and solve all the issues is leading us to the analysis of Laura and her point of view on above circumstances. Laura Wingfield is a very complex and important character to the play. The development of Lauras character over the course of the plot is presented in her collection of glass, which represents her own private world set apart from reality, a place where she can hide and be safe. Laura lives in this world and seems to enjoy her state.
The Essay on Amanda Wingfield Laura Tom Good
... that the three main characters of the drama The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams, Tom Wingfield, Amanda Wingfield, and Laura Wingfield are right in ... people in his situation might agree that escaping reality is a way out Amanda Wingfield is the mother. In contrast to Tom, ... "right" because he thinks his mother and sister have pointless lives. He's never had a father figure to be a role ...
She is hardly concerned with the things that happen around her. The new age and new culture have nothing that Laura can be interested in. To me it seems that if Laura and her mother could trade their ages both of them could benefit. Amanda could finally afford herself to become southern belle and Laura could stay apart from all of that and enjoy a little world of hers. One of the problems with Laura is her memory of the school years when everyone was making fun of her disabilities. However, all of that is just Lauras personal illusion. Actually nobody really noticed (though it is also the problem of indifference to Laura) that Laura was different than everybody else.
When Laura talks to one of her favourite figure in the glass collection the unicorn – she fantasizes that she would be able to socialize normally with people without disabilities, but she knows that she is extremely fragile. The main social issue present in the Glass Menagerie, which affects the lives of the characters, is the uncertainty of the upcoming times. Amanda and Laura seem to be locked in their inner worlds as prisoners who are simply waiting for the discharge of their sentences.
Bibliography:
Williams, Tennessee. The Glass Menagerie. Mass: Bedford/St. Martins, 1945..
