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 the only character in the play who never does anything to hurt anyone else. Despite the weight of her own problems, she displays a pure compassion (...) that stands in stark contrast to the selfishness and grudging sacrifices that characterize the Wingfield household. Laura also has the fewest lines in the play, which contributes to her aura of selflessness. Yet she is the axis around which the plot turns, and the most prominent symbols -- blue roses, the glass unicorn, the entire glass menagerie -- all in some sense represent her. Laura is as rare and peculiar as a blue rose or a unicorn, and she is as delicate as a glass figurine" (idem)
The plays presents its characters trapped in a world both real and the product of their own minds, a world from...
The entire family is in a way disconnected from reality, and the intrusion of reality in the form of Jim, produces a rupture in the continuity of their lives and changes their equilibrium. This play was somewhat biographical of Williams experiences and his own family, and Tom's leaving to fullfill his dreams echoes the author's fulfillment as a writer.
Sources:
1. Author not available, "The Glass Menagerie Book Notes," from Bookrags.com, Copyright 2000-2006 Bookrags, Inc., retrieved August 1st, 2006, http://www.bookrags.com/notes/gm/SUM.html
2. Eddie Borey, "ClassicNote on Glass Menagerie," May 31, 2000, copyright held by GradeSaver, 1999-2006, retrieved August 1st,2006 http://www.gradesaver.com/classicnotes/titles/menagerie/shortsumm.html
3. Author not available, "The Glass Menagerie," Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, July 21st, 2006. Retrieved: August 1st, 2006. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Glass_Menagerie
4. Jaffee, Valerie and Lichtenstein, Jesse, SparkNote on "The Glass Menagerie." Retrieved August 1st, 2006
http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/menagerie
