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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 not help her discover her strengths, she capitalizes her weaknesses and victimizes her daughter.
Tom is the only family member to get away from the toxic environment of the small apartment, but he cannot fully forget Laura and her tragic life. He says at the end of the play, "Oh Laura, Laura, I tried to leave you behind me, but I am more faithful than I intended to be!" (Williams). He loves her, but not enough to help her get away and live a good life. He reinforces her tragic status by leaving her alone with her controlling mother, who he knows will never let Laura out of her grip. In reality, Laura is like glue. She holds the family together and still holds on to Tom after he leaves. Tom is tragic in his own way, because his method of coping with his controlling mother is simply to leave the situation and let it sort itself out, somehow. However, Tom ensures Laura's fate by leaving. He might have been able to urge her to change, or find something she could succeed at, and "saved" her so to speak. However, because he leaves, he simply ensures that Laura will remain exactly the way she is - timid, shy, and unsure of herself. Tom does not want to "shatter" Laura when he leaves, but he does just that. He leaves in a rush, out of anger, and leaves her shattered unicorn as a reminder of her failure at love and life. Tom cannot forget Laura, but he leaves just the same,...
In fact, some critics "blame" Tom for leaving Laura persistently a virgin and always alone (Adler 39). There is nothing left for Laura but her tragic, lonely life and her glass menagerie, and that makes her the saddest character in this play.
In conclusion, "The Glass Menagerie" is a troubling play about a troubled family. Laura is weak and dependent, Tom only wants to leave, and the mother is controlling and lives in the past. Each character could be complete and whole, but instead they are flawed. They influence those around them in unhealthy ways, and Laura allows her mother to influence her, as well. Laura is the most tragic, because she cannot allow herself to experience life and happiness at all. Resigned, she will always be alone and lonely, and that makes her an extremely tragic and sad figure.
References
Adler, Thomas P. "The Glass Menagerie." Tennessee Williams: A Guide to Research and Performance. Ed. Philip C. Kolin. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1998. 34-45.
Bloom, Harold, ed. Tennessee Williams' the Glass Menagerie. New York: Chelsea House, 1988.
Williams, Tennessee. "The Glass Menagerie." Literature: Reading, Reacting, Writing. Sixth Edition. Eds., Laurie G. Kirszner, and Stephen R. Mandell. Boston, MA: Thomson - Wadsworth, 2007. PAGE NUMBERS HERE.
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