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Furthermore, the odd horn that made the unicorn seem "freakish" (1018) is no longer an issue. When Laura realizes this, she also realizes that the things that make her seem like a freak to others may not be so significant, either. The time she spent with Jim allowed her to see that what makes her different might not be such a bad thing after all. She even tells Jim that with a broken horn, the unicorn "will feel more at home with the other horses" (1018). This statement reinforces Laura's change.
The broken unicorn also symbolizes how Laura must deal with the possibility of remaining single. The broken unicorn could very well be her broken heart. These things break, and when they do, they are rarely the same again. However, this is the way of life. We grow, we become attached to others, and we get hurt. Laura realizes this with the unicorn and with herself. This realization causes Laura to emerge as the strongest character in the play.
Another symbol Williams uses in the play is the rainbow. Rainbows are generally seen as beacons of hope and it is no different in the Glass Menagerie. Williams scatters bits and pieces of a rainbow's hope to emphasize that hope is important. For example, after the Malvolio show, Tom returns with a scarf in rainbow colors that is somewhat magical in that if it is waved over goldfish, they will "fly away canaries" (983). Here we see Williams linking this scarf to Tom's desire to fly away from his current situation. At the end of the play, Tom meanders in the streets and strolls by a window that encases pieces of colored glass, that impress him as "bits of a shattered window" (1025). His thought...
While the rainbow is a symbol of hope, Williams proves that there must be more than hope in one is to be successful in the world.
The Glass Menagerie allows us to peer into the desperate lives of Tom, Laura, and Amanda. They live in a cold world that offers very little in the way of aspiration and hope. Jim is the closest thing to hope that the family realizes and that is taken away from them as quickly as it comes to them. Through imagery and symbolism, Williams conveys a pale portrait of an American life. The lighting aspect of the play allows us to see the characters in their delicate state. Glass as beautiful and broken is significant to understanding the play. In addition, Williams uses other symbols to move us to feel where the Wingfields are and what they are going through. The Glass Menagerie is a story of as American family that somehow was overlooked by the American Dream.
Works Cited
Barranger, Milly Understanding Plays. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. 1990.
Boxill, Roger. "The Glass Menagerie." Bloom's Modern Critical Interpretations. Information Retrieved October 5, 2008. Facts on File Resource Database. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin=True
Cardullo, Bert. "Williams's the Glass Menagerie." Explicator. 1997. 55.3. EBSCO Resource Database. Information Retrieved October 5, 2008. http://search.epnet.com
Williams, Tennessee. The Glass Menagerie. An Introduction to Literature. 8th ed. Barnett, Sylvan, ed. Boston: Little, Brown and Company. 1985. pp. 967-1025.
Works Cited
Barranger, Milly Understanding Plays. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. 1990.
Boxill, Roger. "The Glass Menagerie." Bloom's Modern Critical Interpretations. Information Retrieved October 5, 2008. Facts on File Resource Database. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin=True
Cardullo, Bert. "Williams's the Glass Menagerie." Explicator. 1997. 55.3. EBSCO Resource Database. Information Retrieved October 5, 2008. http://search.epnet.com
Williams, Tennessee. The Glass Menagerie. An Introduction to Literature. 8th ed. Barnett, Sylvan, ed. Boston: Little, Brown and Company. 1985. pp. 967-1025.
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