The Glass Menagerie Essay

In Tennessee Williams’s Glass Menagerie and Henrik Ibsen’s Doll’s House, various comparisons and contrasts are drawn between the characters Tom Wingfield and Nora Helmer. Being writers who originated from similar backgrounds, Williams’ and Ibsen’s similarities and parallels can be identified in their writing and their characters. Both were exceptionally well off during their early childhood until their lives became twisted as their formerly prosperous and successful parents had experienced…

In the play, The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams, Tom is described as an ordinary person with big dreams. His dreams, to go on adventures and become a poet, are shot down by his mother and his faithfulness to his sister, Laura. He goes to his job at the warehouse every morning, so that he will be able to provide the money for the bills coming in every month. He attends the movies every night to get that sense of adventure that he is deprived of at the warehouse. When he comes home, he is…

The play, The Glass Menagerie written by Tennessee Williams, the main characters in this play were Amanda Wingfield, Laura Wingfield, and Tom Wingfield. The play was about a memory of Tom. Tom’s father left him and his family years ago, and he had to work in a shore warehouse to support his mother, Amanda, and his sister, Laura. Unlike the other main characters, Tom stood out and he should be considered as the main character because he was the narrator and the play seemed to revolve around him.…

“The Glass Menagerie” by Tennessee Williams is an example of a classic tragedy. However, the characters in the drama do not encounter death. The characters encounter family instability, abandonment, and resentment. The title of this drama accurately represents these characters. Amanda, the mother of family, refers to her daughter Laura’s collection of glass figurines as a glass menagerie. This means her collection acts as a glass zoo filled with animal figurines. Yet, “The Glass Menagerie” could…

In “The Glass Menagerie” by Tennessee Williams, the Wingfield family is a very broken one. The Wingfield family represents the average family living in St. Louis at the time of 1937. They consisted of the mother, Amanda, the older daughter, Laura, the younger son, Tom, and the nameless father. In the beginning of the play the father is absent and represented by a picture on the wall. He would “stay out late” and drink and one day he never came back (940). The reader gets a feeling that the…

Tom is Human: an Analysis of the Character Tom from Williams ' The Glass Menagerie The character of Tom in The Glass Menagerie, by Tennessee Williams, polarizes opinions among readers of the play. Some readers sympathize with Tom, seeing him as a victim of circumstance who is justified in pursuing his own happiness, even at the possible expense of his family 's well being. On the other hand, some readers see Tom as worthy of scorn for his selfishness and disregard for his responsibilities.…

Impossible Escape from Reality In the play, The Glass Menagerie, by Tennessee Williams, the Wingfields yearn to escape from their frustrating reality. Williams displays that the family inevitably lives in their own illusions to survive in inescapable reality. A close reading for three elements of character, plot, and symbolism reveals the family’s attempts to escape the reality end. Williams uses characterization to show the difficulty of escaping reality. Tom escapes his disappointing reality…

There are many symbols in classic literature, but those used in The Glass Menagerie, are particularly unique. The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams is a play about the reflections of Mr. Wingfield, a man who abandoned his family in order to pursue his own future. In the play, Williams uses many symbols that signify many different things. Many of the symbols used in the play are used to symbolize some form of escape or distinction between reality and illusion. The entire play is centered…

In Fences by August Wilson and in The Glass Menagerie, by Tennessee Williams, fathers play a very large role, along with their relationships being affecting and what they want for their children. In Fences the main character, Troy Maxson and one of his family members, Cory are always head to head with one another. Cory and Troy seem to go head to head starting from how Troy’s father would treat him when he was younger. In The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams Amanda Wingfield is a single…

The Glass Menagerie, a play by Tennessee Williams, is a memory play set in St. Louis in 1937 just at the start of the Great Depression in America. The Glass Menagerie focuses on three completely different characters, their dreams, and each individual’s inner struggle to face reality. Laura Wingfield and Tom Wingfield obtain certain weaknesses, which include self-consciousness and the incapability of making the decision to remove oneself from their current circumstances which ultimately inhibits…