Tenessee Williams The Glass Menagerie - 1957 Words

TThis essay will discuss the metaphors associated with the characters in The Glass Menagerie and how each of these metaphors represents a fragment of the American Dream. She is like a piece of her glass collection, too fragile to be brought into the real world without being devastated. Because of her sensibility, she has avoided dealing with people for so long that when she finally tries to socialise with Jim, she fails to see that she is being manipulated. Amanda is a faded Southern belle who is trying to relive her past by using her daughter to mirror her former self. She represents nostalgia for the Old South in the play. Tom is a struggling poet who dreams of real adventures but has to provide support for his family. Jim, despite†¦show more content†¦However, Tom feels that he does not belong there; he feels that he belongs somewhere else. He dreams of adventures, like his father before him. On the top of that, his mother constantly tries to inflict him with a feelin g of guilt in order to make sure that he stays at home. She claims that he will end as faithless and irresponsible his father. Like his sister, he is victim of his mother’s expectations and comparisons . Unlike Laura, however, he refuses to have his life dictated by them . He protests his right to individualism: It seems unimportant to you, what Im doing--what I want to do. As if Tom’s life situation wasn’t already difficult enough as it is, it is made even worse by an important paradox. He constantly tries to escape from his work and familial responsibilities by drinking and going to the movies yet, when given the opportunity, he only uses his artistic prowess to recreate a miserable scene from his past. By writing this play, Tom becomes the victim of his own art as he is unable to use his own talents to bring happiness upon his life. Even after having escaped his monotonous life, he continues to be haunted by his past. Tom feels guilty for abandoning h is sister who depended on him. This feeling of guilt is epitomized in his final speech at the end of the play. â€Å"Oh, Laura, Laura, I tried to leave you behind me, but I am more faithful than I intended to be!† Therefore, Tom, the poet, becomes incapable of expressing any emotionShow MoreRelatedTenessee Williams: the Glass Menagerie1551 Words   |  7 PagesThe Glass Menagerie The glass menagerie is a superb work of art by Tennessee Williams. It is a play that highlights the various realities and desperations of its characters in their response to a confused society. Williams has an admirable talent for creating a play that’s genre is serious and has a tragic ending; yet he keeps the story interesting to the audience whether it be through reading it as a text or in the theater. The story of the Glass Menagerie is an emotional recount of memoriesRead MoreLiterary Analysis of The Glass Menagerie by Tenessee Williams1462 Words   |  6 PagesThe Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams had ordinary people in an ordinary life that closely resembled the influences of Williams’ personal life while having reoccurring themes and motifs throughout the story. The play has been done by many with some variations in the scripts and setting while still clinging to the basic ideas of the original play. Amanda Wingfield was a complex character that encompassed many facets of her personality. She longed to have the life she had as a girl and youngRead MoreAnalysis Of The Play The Glass Menagerie 1281 Words   |  6 PagesDevin Simpson Professor Carusp The Glas Menagerie 4/29/15 Within the play The Glass Menagerie, Amanda, Laura, and Tom Wingfield all of have their own dreams that are continuously destroyed by the harshness of reality. Amanda, stuck in the ease of her youth, tries to relive her life through her daughter Laura. Being crippled both physically and mentally, Laura struggles to escape the bubble she has created around herself that her mother Amanda so strongly tries to force her out of. Tom whom, althoughRead MoreBelonging Essay4112 Words   |  17 PagesHeat and Dust Winch, Tara June, Swallow the Air Gaita, Raimond, Romulus, My Father Miller, Arthur, The Crucible: A Play in Four Acts Harrison, Jane, Rainbow’s End Luhrmann, Baz, Strictly Ballroom - film De Heer, Rolf, Ten Canoes - film Shakespeare, William, As You Like It Skrzynecki, Peter, Immigrant Chronicle Dickinson, Emily, Selected Poems of Emily Dicksinson Herrick, Steven, The Simple Gift Baillie, Alan, The China Coin Russell, Willy, Educating Rita Cleven,Vivienne et al (eds), Conte mporary Indigenous