The Glass Menagerie
On December 26, 1944 while the Battle of the Bulges raged on in Belgium, Tennessee Williams paced the floor in the Civic Theatre in Chicago minutes before the first performance of The Glass Menagerie. Williams had a lot on his mind after the failure that was Battle of Angels four years ago and the mediocrity of the final rehearsals. During the four years after Battle of Angels, Williams worked for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer as a writer and worked on The Glass Menagerie in the meantime. Right before Williams had moved to the west coast to work for MGM his sister had undergone a prefrontal lobotomy in his home of St. Louis. While working at MGM Williams kept working on Menagerie on the side and eventually he presented a screen version to MGM. A
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Each person tries to hide his or her problems from the others because if the family had any more problems they would surely collapse. As the play progresses, Tom has to face a very difficult choice of whether or not he will abandon his family and pursue his personal freedom like his father or stay and sacrifice himself for his mother and sister. When Tom finally makes his decision, he realizes that the curse of leaving his sister will haunt him wherever he goes but he feels that he must free himself and live out his dreams. This “fugitive kind” character that Tennessee Williams creates is typical of his …show more content…
She has such vibrant memories of the past when gentleman callers knocked down her door by the hundreds. Her days of summer in the south with beautiful dresses and jonquils are gone. She recalls these memories so that she can get as far away from her present situation in St. Louis as possible. Amanda tells these stories in order to give her daughter hope that one day a caller will come for her, but the reality is that chances are slim Laura will ever find a mate. The way in which Amanda tries to control her children but also wants what it best for them is very confusing. It is difficult to tell if she truly wants the best for them or if she is trying to keep them close to her as long as she can. Laura is a very unique girl with certain physical defects. She is very shy and vulnerable and she resembles the animals on her shelf. Like them she is very fragile, and she cannot hold her own in the real
Each person tries to hide his or her problems from the others because if the family had any more problems they would surely collapse. As the play progresses, Tom has to face a very difficult choice of whether or not he will abandon his family and pursue his personal freedom like his father or stay and sacrifice himself for his mother and sister. When Tom finally makes his decision, he realizes that the curse of leaving his sister will haunt him wherever he goes but he feels that he must free himself and live out his dreams. This “fugitive kind” character that Tennessee Williams creates is typical of his …show more content…
She has such vibrant memories of the past when gentleman callers knocked down her door by the hundreds. Her days of summer in the south with beautiful dresses and jonquils are gone. She recalls these memories so that she can get as far away from her present situation in St. Louis as possible. Amanda tells these stories in order to give her daughter hope that one day a caller will come for her, but the reality is that chances are slim Laura will ever find a mate. The way in which Amanda tries to control her children but also wants what it best for them is very confusing. It is difficult to tell if she truly wants the best for them or if she is trying to keep them close to her as long as she can. Laura is a very unique girl with certain physical defects. She is very shy and vulnerable and she resembles the animals on her shelf. Like them she is very fragile, and she cannot hold her own in the real