Similarities Between The Glass Menagerie And Persuasion

Throughout English literature, characters are often apposed with their settings. Characters often find themselves in ill-fated circumstances beyond their control. The environment of a character often influences them greatly – addition several layers of emotional depth that are specifically related to the surroundings. This comparison is explored in The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams, Persuasion by Jane Austen, and The Song of the Lark by Willa Cather. In Menagerie, Tom is affected by the absence of his father and his own dreams, while being shackled to the weight of his family. Persuasion explores social aristocracy through the perspective of the prudent Anne. The protagonists are united, each by working against or along their respective environments and families in order to bring about their goals. However, they also differ immensely in terms of motivations and morality.
In the The Glass Menagerie, Tom Wingfield is the breadwinner of his family by day and an aspiring poet by night. However, he is chained from leaving his post as the man of the house. Tom tries to find balance between working for his family, taking care of his elderly mother, and finding a husband for his sister, Laura; all of these tasks prevent Tom from fulfilling his own
She is similar to Tom in the sense that she wanted to live outside of the confines of society, specifically wanting to marry someone with little social prestige. Whereas Tom was virtually sucked into the role of the family man, Anne was pressured by her family into ending her engagement. Tom and Anne diverge in the regard that Tom resented his mother – referring to her as an “ugly, babbling, old witch” (Williams 31) – Anne “did not blame [anyone]” and “did not blame herself for having been guided” (Austen 52). Despite both of them sharing differences with their families, Tom became vitriolic while Anne remained