The Glass Menagerie by. Tennessee Williams

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1. “ The Glass Menagerie” Tennessee Williams, 1944

2. Tennessee Williams was named Thomas Lanier Williams III when he was born in Columbus, Mississippi on March 26,1911. The Glass Menagerie was the first successful play. And since this work of his was performed all over the world.

3. Introduction The Glass Menagerie   is a play first produced in 1944. The author,  Tennessee Williams, was launched into fame and made victim to the forties’ equivalent of literary paparazzi because of it. The play revolves around a young man begrudgingly supporting the family his father has abandoned. It also features a painfully shy and slightly crippled sister character, whose preoccupation with a collection of glass animals draws her away from reality. Set against the backdrop of the  Depression , the family struggles together with the past, the future, and one another.

4. Characters TOM WINGFIELD AMANDA WINGFIELD LAURA WINGFIELD THE FATHER JIM O’CONNOR

5. SUMMARY The play begins with a current-day (1940s at the time) Tom explaining to us that the play is his memory (1930s) being re-told, and has lots of funky memory elements in it like weird lighting and music .

6. Tom’s POV We are also introduced to a large screen that Williams uses to project images and pictures on as the play progresses. Tom explains that his father happily abandoned those years ago.

7. We see Tom having dinner with his mother, Amanda, and his sister Laura. Amanda expresses a desire for Laura to have “gentlemen callers” (a.k.a. dates) as she used to, back when she was a Southern Belle.

8. Laura’s POV Laura describes a boy named Jim she used to have a thing for in high school, and we see her glass menagerie obsession. Amanda gets angry at Laura for dropping out of a typing class due to her painfully shy nature.

9. CONFLICT WITH TOM The conflict with Tom is quickly established; he is at odds with his mother because he hates his job and wants to leave, but has a duty to support the family. His mother calls him selfish for his constant reading, dancing, drinking, and escaping to the movies. Laura encourages them to make up, which they do – ostensibly. But the issue is unresolved.

10. Amanda’s POV Amanda asks Tom to get a gentleman caller for his sister, which he does – one of his friends from work that turns out to be the Jim that Laura had spoken of. Amanda gets all excited and prepares the house.

11. Amanda’s POV Amanda gets all excited and prepares the house.

12. Laura’s POV When Laura finds out that it’s Jim coming to visit, she hides in the living room.

13. Jim ’s POV Jim , however, talks to her and gets her to open up.

14. Laura’s POV They bond; they kiss; Jim is engaged to someone else. He takes off, Laura gets sad.

15. Amanda’s POV Amanda yells at her son and then comforts Laura during Tom’s closing speech to the audience..

16. Tom’s POV Tom reveals to us that he abandoned his family shortly after that night, but has been haunted by Laura, the sister he abandoned, ever since .. -END-

17. What’s Up With the Title ? The Glass Menagerie is a collection of small glass animals that Laura Wingfield obsesses over. She spends her time polishing and, well, obsessing, using the menagerie as a retreat from the real world. The importance of the glass lies in the way Laura mirrors its delicate beauty and fragility.

18. THEME Freedom and Confinement Duty  Family Memory and the Past Weakness Deception and Lies Dreams, Hopes, and Plans Abandonment Marriage Gender Love Drugs and Alcohol

19. CONCLUSION “In life we struggle different kind of hardships , rejection, abandonment, deception, lies, and even in our family we experience those .. But always remember that there’s no perfect family unless LOVE is the center of it, and no matter what happen when trouble comes, it's your family that supports you always. So, it is us who can decide where we should go to forgive and to forget? To accept things ! And even Tom, didn't see the beauty of his family and still Laura is like a fragile glass menagerie, there still one thing stand in the end is that the Love of their Mother. Because, there’s no perfect mother but they LOVE perfectly!”