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..I tried to leave you behind me, but I am more faithful than I intended to be! I reach for a cigarette...anything that can blow your candles out!" This passage from the play showed how, in his fear for his sister and attempt to shield her from the harshness of life, Tom wanted to "blow (Laura's) candles out," an act that symbolizes her eventual lack of hope for life to become better for her and the Wingfields.
This expressed hopelessness for Laura through Tom's character is reinforced by Laura herself, as influenced by Amanda's and Tom's perception of her as a weak individual, physically and emotionally. Her mother lacked the courage and love to steadfastly guide and strengthen Laura's character, as Laura believed that, through her mother's perception of her, she is a woman who has lost all hopes of attaining a wonderful life of being a wife and mother, as mirrored in Amanda's worries that Laura will not be able to get married: "Mother's afraid I'm going to be an old maid." While Laura is central to both Tom's and Amanda's motivations and frustrations in life, she was depicted as not having a stronger voice in the play. Tom and Amanda acted as Laura's 'voices' that developed her character throughout the play. By clinging to the fact that she is a cripple and allowing herself to be 'drowned' in her mother's fears, Laura took away from herself the ability to change her life...
In Laura, she only proved that she is a traditional mother who believed that her family has a rightful place in the society, albeit an unrealistic one and directly clashed with real life. This point is expressed by Amanda in Scene 2, where she admonishes her daughter for not living her life to the fullest, and being self-absorbed by her physical defect: "So what are we going to do the rest of our lives?... Amuse ourselves with the glass menagerie?... I know so well what becomes of unmarried women who aren't prepared to occupy a position..." (42). In this instance, Amanda puts pressure into Laura's already dwindling self-confidence, by her reminding her that she has yet to achieve what every woman aspires to be in their society -- becoming a mother and wife. Laura, crippled and hence, physically immobile, is also becoming socially immobile, who had lost opportunities in life because of her physical defect.
Williams, T. (1987). The Glass Menagerie. NY: Signet.
This expressed hopelessness for Laura through Tom's character is reinforced by Laura herself, as influenced by Amanda's and Tom's perception of her as a weak individual, physically and emotionally. Her mother lacked the courage and love to steadfastly guide and strengthen Laura's character, as Laura believed that, through her mother's perception of her, she is a woman who has lost all hopes of attaining a wonderful life of being a wife and mother, as mirrored in Amanda's worries that Laura will not be able to get married: "Mother's afraid I'm going to be an old maid." While Laura is central to both Tom's and Amanda's motivations and frustrations in life, she was depicted as not having a stronger voice in the play. Tom and Amanda acted as Laura's 'voices' that developed her character throughout the play. By clinging to the fact that she is a cripple and allowing herself to be 'drowned' in her mother's fears, Laura took away from herself the ability to change her life like Tom, further intensifying the level of dysfunction in their family.
Lastly, Amanda, although not a central character of the play, was actually a critical catalyst that prompted Tom to leave the family and for Laura to silently accept her plight as an 'old maid.' She pressured both Tom and Laura to lead 'normal, functional' lives despite the inherent dysfunction that she contributes to her family. In Laura, she only proved that she is a traditional mother who believed that her family has a rightful place in the society, albeit an unrealistic one and directly clashed with real life. This point is expressed by Amanda in Scene 2, where she admonishes her daughter for not living her life to the fullest, and being self-absorbed by her physical defect: "So what are we going to do the rest of our lives?... Amuse ourselves with the glass menagerie?... I know so well what becomes of unmarried women who aren't prepared to occupy a position..." (42). In this instance, Amanda puts pressure into Laura's already dwindling self-confidence, by her reminding her that she has yet to achieve what every woman aspires to be in their society -- becoming a mother and wife. Laura, crippled and hence, physically immobile, is also becoming socially immobile, who had lost opportunities in life because of her physical defect.
Williams, T. (1987). The Glass Menagerie. NY: Signet.
Glass Menagerie Tennessee Williams, His Mother and the Glass Menagerie Tennessee Williams is among the most celebrated playwrights of the 20th century. His family portraits, set to the backdrop of a deteriorating Southern tradition, are a window into human foibles like vanity, insecurity, detachment and personal disappointment. All of these themes are in full display with Williams' breakthrough work, 1944's The Glass Menagerie. A peering insight into the unhappy lives of the
Glass Menagerie Tennessee Williams's play The Glass Menagerie is about the three members of the Wingfield family, Tom, Laura, and their mother Amanda. They live together and have done so since the loss of the Wingfield patriarch. This family dynamic is very dysfunctional and the three serve to harm one another more than provide support as a family unit with the exception of Laura who tries to provide positivity in
Menagerie REVISED Prince, don't ask me in a week / or in a year what place they are; I can only give you this refrain: / Where are the snows of yesteryear? Francois Villon, c. 1461 "Where are the snows of yesteryear?" asks Tennessee Williams in the opening screen of The Glass Menagerie (401), quoting a poem by Francis Villon. Williams explains in the production notes to this famous play that he has left
Her expectation is anything but realistic. To deal with her mother's insurmountable expectations, Laura disappears into her own fantasy world with the sparkling, clear world of the glass animals. These unique glass figurines give her something positive and of value, which is lacking in her present life. Unfortunately, Laura, like her mother, cannot always stay in this fantasy world. She has a more difficult time staying in an unrealistic world
Escape for Tom means the suppression and denial of these emotions in himself, and it means doing great harm to his mother and sister." (www.sparknotes.com/lit/menagerie/themes.html) This play seems to revolve around the character of Laura, even though she is the one with the less lines and the one that appears to be the most weak. She is also the most powerfull symbol in the play. "The physically and emotionally crippled
Laura is also extremely fearful and anxious about disappointing her mother. She says, "When you're disappointed, you get that awful suffering look on your face, like the picture of Jesus' mother in the museum! I couldn't face it" (Williams PAGE #). She wants to please her mother, but she cannot, and that helps reinforce her insecurities as well. Laura has nothing she is good at, and her mother does