Sign Up Now
Get instant access to over 1 million+ study documents
OR
Already registered? click here to login
By creating your account, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and student honor code.
Glass Menagerie
Response to a Reading of "The Glass Menagerie"
The story by Tennessee Williams (1973) is one that seems to confuse a lot of people. The story itself seemed pretty simple, but there could be many different interpretations made of the characters and events that took place. It seems that for the most part the characters could not accept reality and that they built figurative walls to protect themselves. Another point to be examined in the story was who the main characters were. From the reading, it seems that "The Glass Menagerie" is about personal discovery and that Jim O'Connor can actually be said to be one of the main characters if not the main character even though he enters the action late.
The scene that dominates the play is that of the apartment rented by the...
A dance hall across the street, a warehouse and movie house, and a business college are also a part of the action, but the apartment is where all of the action takes place. It is true that the mother and the daughter (at first) have difficulty accepting reality, but the play mainly foreshadows the changes that are about to take place. This is because of the fact that the Second World War is about two years away, and because Tom, like his father, cannot be tied to a spot. The apartment is a prison to Tom because it keeps him away from the world he wants to enter, a reminder of better times to the mother, and a safe haven for the daughter. The mother and the brother are tied to the spot, in reality and figuratively, because of Laura.
Laura is, in truth, the primary character -- the…
Work Cited
Williams, Tennessee. The Glass Menagerie. New York: Random House, 1973. Print.
This change is subtle but it is important because, with this change, Laura has the most hope from her brother or her mother. Tom speaks at the end of the play as he does in the beginning of the play. He has not evolved not has he experienced anything that deepens his character. He is still as lost as he was before. Amanda, too, remains unchanged at the end
She tells Laura to stay "fresh and pretty for gentlemen callers" (348) because they "come when they are least expected" (348). There is no excuse for this kind of behavior, especially a mother. Hope emerges in the play through Laura and Tom. Laura demonstrates hope when her favorite unicorn is broken. She is clearly saddened by the act but somehow, she manages to see something positive in it. She realizes
Tennessee Williams reflect his personal struggles and serve as vehicles for poignant social commentary. From "Glass Menagerie" to "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" to "A Streetcar Named Desire," Williams served up a set of masterpieces that delighted critics and audiences alike. His screenplays are among some of the most famous in American history, as big name film stars like Elisabeth Taylor, Marlon Brando, Kirk Douglas, and Paul Newman
Though Antigone is certainly the protagonist of the play, she makes her decision very early in the action -- she chooses to bury her brother despite the civil disobedience and disrespect of the State that it shows. Ismene, on the other hand, wavers between the two duties. When Antigone is caught, her sister tries to take the blame with her: "But now you're in trouble, I'm not ashamed / of
Willlam Hazlitt largely comments on the contemporariness and universality of Hamlet's character: that although Shakespeare wrote the play more than 500 years ago, we have come to know the character of the tragic Prince quite well. Not only because we read about him in school, but also -- and more -- because we know his thoughts as we do our own. (Hazlitt 1900) His sayings and speeches are not only