"The Glass Menagerie"

Perhaps one of Williams’ greatest works was the play “The Glass Menagerie”. Released in 1944, The Glass Menagerie became a hit almost over night. The play was released in Chicago in 1944 and then made its debut on Broadway the following year. The text for the play was also published in 1945. The play also won Williams his first New York Drama Critics Circle Award.

One reason that “The Glass Menagerie” was such a success was that is allowed the audience to see deeper into the life of Tennessee Williams. Laura, Tom and Mrs. Wingfield represented people in Williams’ own life. Although this was typical of Williams’ stories, this time it was different. The character of Tom represented Williams and Laura represented his sister, while Amanda represented his mom. Characterization is crucial to the story line of this work as well as the theme. Tom narrates the story as well as plays a character in it. He feels like he is trapped living at home and caring and providing for his sister and mother. He writes poetry and reads book on European history to provide some intellectual escape from his dead end job and depressing life. Tom feels like he has to live with his mother and his sister but he longs to leave the apartment, get a real job and start a life of his own. Laura lives with her mother still because she is crippled and she has not yet found a man to take care of her. She is supposed to be studying at Rubicam’s Business College but she has dropped out unbeknownst to her mother.

Another reason for the plays success is that Williams creates uniqueness to the play by calling it a memory play. The entire play is a recollection of Tom’s past. Because Tom is so closely identified with Williams himself the play is almost a memory directly from the mind of Williams. Not only is the entire play based off a memory but parts in the play as well. Amanda lives on the memory of her past. Recalling her days in Blue Mountain often. Laura lives of the memory of high school and the boy she had a crush on who called her Blue Roses. Memory plays a crucial role in the play as the plot unfolds.

One of the main themes of this story is the idea of escape. Everyone in life has a way to escape. It’s not always a negative escape, but all people have some way to physically or at least mentally escape from the life they live. The characters in Williams play cannot deal with reality and have to have an escape. Tom has a couple escapes. One is he goes to the movies. Tom goes to the movies almost every night just to get away from the house. He goes alone and the movies provide him an outlet for the emotional stress of living with his family. Tom also smokes and secretly thinks about the consequences of him leaving his family and creating a better life for himself. Laura’s escape is her glass menagerie of little animals. She polishes them and arranges them; they are her pride and joy in life.  Laura dropped out of college so the menagerie is really the only thing that she has left. She is living with her mother and doesn’t really have a chance for anything better in life. Amanda’s escape is her past. She is constantly talking about Blue Mountain and the day they she had 17 gentleman callers. Amanda is so upset that Laura is not as popular as she was and so she refers to her past often to escape the heartbreak. Amanda is trying to live vicariously though her daughter. Amanda is so concentrated on Laura finding a man that she retells stories of her past unrelentingly hoping that Laura will meet a man and make a life for herself. The theme of escape is ultimately shown in the end when Tom abandons his mom and sister and chases after his own dreams. Although the idea of an escape seems to be an inevitable part of life, escapes are only temporary. It will get you away from the moment for a while but eventually you have to come to terms with reality. Tom chose to run way from his reality but it was only another method of escape.

Symbolism also plays a big role in the play as well. The glass menagerie itself represents Laura. Much like the glass animals that are delicate and need to be cared for, Laura has a fragile personality and needs to have someone provide for her. More specifically, the unicorn in the glass menagerie represents Laura.  The unicorn, like Laura, is unique. Although the unicorn looks a lot like the other horses, it has a very distinct feature. Although Laura is a lot like other girls, she has characteristics that give her a unique personality. When Jim breaks the unicorn, it becomes just like all the other horses. Laura begins to feel like she is like other girls because she has a gentleman caller. Jim however, reveals that he is in love with another girl back home. Much like the glass of the unicorn, Laura’s heart is shattered when she hears this news. The fire escape is also symbolic. Tom frequently steps out on the fire escape to smoke and plot how he will eventually abandon his family. Laura also utilizes the fire escape when she realizes that she cannot escape her situation and her life. 

Williams’ main idea of the play that everyone needs an escape weather physical or mental was on that almost every person could relate to. Some people, like Laura, withdraw from their environment and enter a world that only they understand. Some people, like Amanda, dwell only on the past as an attempt to escape the reality of the present. Finally there are people like Tom. They run from reality in hopes that they can forget the life they came from even if only for a short time. Although there seems to be inevitability to escapes in life they are only temporary and a person will always have to eventually face reality.