In scene six Amanda explains to Laura her childhood while getting Laura ready for her gentlemen caller. Amanda reveals that she is unable to leave the past, when she was young, beautiful, and wanted by men. The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams shows Amanda’s unwillingness to leave her past and grasp reality. Williams conveys Amanda’s inability to connect to reality through setting, metaphor, motif and movement. Amanda in early scenes has been showing that longs for the days when she was younger.
Up until this point Amanda has only been talking about her gentlemen callers now she goes in to explain more about her younger years and lifestyles that she used to have. Her use of setting has been rare and she only used to explain how many callers there were. It takes a beautiful yellow dress with a blue sash to make her use setting. “I had malaria fever all that spring. The change of climate from East Tennessee to the Delta-weakened resistance.” From this we know it is spring in the Delta. Malaria is a symbol for what she is now, weak and sickly looking. He continues to use his setting to show when she did things. “Evening, dances! Afternoons, long, long rides! Picnics-lovely! So lovely that country in May-” May shows that it is spring which represents Amanda’s youth. The setting is only part of the large metaphor Williams points out.
Amanda’s flashback about her childhood is more closely tied with her unwillingness to connect to reality using a metaphor. Amanda realizes her young years ran out and she was still trying to live her childhood. “Finally there were no more vases to hold them, every available space was filled with jonquils. No vases to hold them?” The jonquils represent Amanda’s young years when she was beautiful and wanted by her gentlemen callers. No more means unavailable. The vases represent the amount of years in her childhood. This is all one large metaphor meaning that her young years were everywhere but she tried to have so much of it at once she ran out of years before she had a chance to really appreciate it. The metaphor was used to help enhance Amanda’s displeasure with associating with reality.
The Essay on Professional Practice in Early Years Settings
1.1 Explain how the range of early years settings reflects the scope and purpose of the sector The range of Early Years Settings reflects on the requirements of parents and families for their children. Some parents want care for their children so that they can return to work, some may want to stay with their children while they socialise, some may want their children in a setting which offer ...
The word jonquil was used eleven times during Amanda’s monologue. Williams uses the motif of jonquils and makes sure it jumps directly off the page. “I made the young men help me gather the jonquils.” Young men wanting to pick flowers with her show that they wanted her. The jonquils represent her youth. “It was a joke, Amanda and her jonquils.” People thought of her wasting so many years of her youth was hilarious. “Malaria, fever, and jonquils and then-his-boy.” The boy is Laura and Tom’s father. Malaria represents her not being as attractive as she could be and boys still wanted her making her more nervous about her looks. The jonquils represent her youth. This all shows how quickly she fell in love with Tom and Laura’s father.
Amanda continues to show she will not escape her past through movement. At the end of the monologue Amanda places a vase full of jonquils on the table. Showing the audience she is not going to be able to move into the present. In the beginning of the monologue Amanda shows Laura the same walk she did during the cotillion, the two cakewalks she won, and at the Governor’s Ball. This walk symbolizes Amanda walking back in time where she was beautiful and young.
Amanda continues to drift back and forth between past and present for the rest of the play. She comes back in time when realizing that Tom and Jim are still not home. The audience is finally introduce to the idea that Amanda is not always in reality. Williams shows this with the use of setting, metaphor, motif and movement. He captures Amanda’s complete breakdown to the past in the monologue.