|
Papers > Novels > Glass Menagerie Analysis
Featured Papers from Direct Essays |
|||
1. The Glass Menagerie
|
|||
This is a preview of a paper to view the full text you need to signup and login.
Glass Menagerie Analysis |
|||
|
Plot Overview The Glass Menagerie is a memory play, and its action is drawn from the memories of the narrator, Tom Wingfield. ... During one of the frequent arguments between mother and son, Tom accidentally breaks several of the glass animal figurines that are Lauras most prized possessions. ... Laura then ventures to show him her favorite glass animal, a unicorn. ... Twenty-three years old and painfully shy, she has largely withdrawn from the outside world and devotes herself to old records and her collection of glass figurines. ... Analysis of Major Characters Tom Wingfield - Toms double role in The Glass Menagerie—as a character whose recollections the play documents and as a character who acts within those recollections—underlines the plays tension between objectively presented dramatic truth and memorys distortion of truth. ... Because The Glass Menagerie is partly autobiographical, and because Tom is a stand-in for the playwright himself (Williamss given name was Thomas, and he, like Tom, spent part of his youth in St. ... But he cruelly deserts her and Amanda, and not once in the course of the play does he behave kindly or lovingly toward Laura—not even when he knocks down her glass menagerie. ... Yet she is the axis around which the plot turns, and the most prominent symbols—blue roses, the glass unicorn, the entire glass menagerie—all in some sense represent her. Laura is as rare and peculiar a creature as a blue rose or a unicorn, and she is as delicate as a glass figurine. Other characters seem to assume that, like a piece of transparent glass, which is colorless until light shines upon it, Laura can take on whatever color they wish. ... The Difficult of Accepting Reality - Among the most prominent and urgent themes of The Glass Menagerie is the difficulty the characters have in accepting and relating to reality. ... The private world in which she lives is populated by glass animals—objects that, like Lauras inner life, are incredibly fanciful and dangerously delicate. ... The young people at the Paradise Dance Hall waltz under the short-lived illusion created by a glass ball—another version of Lauras glass animals. ... The Glass Menagerie identifies the conquest of reality by illusion as a huge and growing aspect of the human condition in its time. ... The Unrelenting Power of Memory - According to Tom, The Glass Menagerie is a memory play—both its style and its content are shaped and inspired by memory. ... Amanda too lives in constant pursuit of her bygone youth, and old records from her childhood are almost as important to Laura as her glass animals. ... Abandonment - The plot of The Glass Menagerie is structured around a series of abandonments. ... Music - Music is used often in The Glass Menagerie, both to emphasize themes and to enhance the drama. ... For example, a musical piece entitled "The Glass Menagerie," written specifically for the play by the composer Paul Bowles, plays when Lauras character or her glass collection comes to the forefront of the action. ... Lauras Glass Menagerie - As the title of the play informs us, the glass menagerie, or collection of animals, is the plays central symbol. Lauras collection of glass animal figurines represents a number of facets of her personality. ... Glass is transparent, but, when light is shined upon it correctly, it refracts an entire rainbow of colors. ... The menagerie also represents the imaginative world to which Laura devotes herself—a world that is colorful and enticing but based on fragile illusions. The Glass Unicorn - The glass unicorn in Lauras collection—significantly, her favorite figure—represents her peculiarity. ... "Blue Roses" - Like the glass unicorn, "Blue Roses," Jims high school nickname for Laura, symbolizes Lauras unusualness yet allure. ... The lights dim as what the stage directions term "the Glass Menagerie music" plays. ... Laura is polishing her collection of glass figurines as Amanda, with a stricken face, walks up the steps outside. ... Analysis With Toms direct address to the audience, describing the play and the other characters, the play acknowledges its status as a work of art and admits that it does not represent reality. ... " Williams sought the opposite in The Glass Menagerie: truth disguised as illusion. ... In fact, the director of the original Broadway production of The Glass Menagerie chose to eliminate the screen from the performance. ... The coat resists his clumsy attempts to put it on, so he throws it to the other side of the room, where it hits Lauras glass menagerie, her collection of glass animal figurines. Glass breaks, and Laura utters a cry and turns away. The words "The Glass Menagerie" appear on the screen. Barely noticing the broken menagerie, Amanda declares she will not speak to Tom until she receives an apology. Tom bends down to pick up the glass and glances at Laura as if he would like to say something but says nothing. The "Glass Menagerie" music plays as the scene ends. Analysis By the end of Scene Three, Williams has established the personalities of each of the three Wingfields and the conflicts that engage them. ... Close-knit, dysfunctional families are among Williamss favorite subjects, and the subject matter of The Glass Menagerie is closely connected to Williamss own life. ... Rose even kept a collection of glass animals. ... She then turns the discussion to Laura, as the "Glass Menagerie" music begins to play. ... Laura is unable to speak to people outside her family and spends all her time with old records and her glass menagerie. ... Analysis For the first production of The Glass Menagerie, the composer Paul Bowles wrote a musical theme entitled "The Glass Menagerie. ... The title and timing of the music equate Laura with her glass animals. ... In addition, the rainbow-colored scarf that Tom brings home and gives to Laura reminds the audience of the rainbow of colors refracted by her glass animals. ... Rainbow refractions from the halls glass ball were visible through the Wingfields windows, and young couples kissed in the alley. ... Analysis Although Amanda seems to do everything she can to make her children happy, many of her expectations of what will make them happy are actually egocentric—that is, they are based on Amandas own definition of happiness. ... The social and historical circumstances surrounding characters like Amanda point to some of the broader concerns of The Glass Menagerie. ... In one version of this tale, a handsome young prince rescues a maiden from a lifetime of domestic drudgery, and a glass slipper is crucial to cementing the match. ... Analysis Lauras glasslike qualities become more explicit in Scene Six, where, according to the stage directions, she resembles "glass touched by light, given a momentary radiance." She embodies the "momentary radiance" of glass more completely in Scene Seven. Here, however, it is the fragility of glass that is most evident in her character. ... Whereas Lauras life is built around glass, Jim plans to build his around the "social poise" that consists of knowing how to use words to influence people. ... He gives her a glass of wine. ... In response to his question about what she has done since high school, Laura starts to tell Jim about her glass collection. ... He asks her about herself again, and she describes her collection of glass animals. ... No matter where he goes, some piece of glass or quality of light makes it seem as if his sister is at his side. ... Analysis As Scene Seven begins, Lauras face is made beautiful by the new floor lamp and its lampshade of "rose-colored silk. ... " The glass unicorn that Jim breaks accidentally is yet another symbol that points to Laura. ... Jims kindness and kiss bring her abruptly into the normal world by shattering the protective layer of glass that she has set up around herself, but this real world also involves heartbreak, which she suffers at Jims hands. ... Each character in The Glass Menagerie is trying to escape from reality in his or her own way: Laura retreats into her imagination and the static world of glass animals and old records, Amanda has the glorious days of her youth, and Jim has his dreams of an executive position. ... The rose image continued to show up in Williamss writings long after The Glass Menagerie, and the ghosts haunting Williams would eventually lead him to drug addiction and a mental hospital. ... LAURA: Little articles of [glass], theyre ornaments mostly! Most of them are little animals made out of glass, the tiniest little animals in the world. Mother calls them a glass menagerie! ... This exchange occurs in Scene Seven, after Jims warmth has enabled Laura to overcome her shyness in his presence and introduce him to the collection of glass animals that is her most prized possession. By this point in the play, we are well aware that the glass menagerie is a symbol for Laura herself. Here, she warns him about the ease with which the glass figurines might be broken and shows him the wonderful visions produced when they are held up to the right sort of light. ... The glass unicorn, Lauras favorite figurine, symbolizes her even more specifically. ... This exchange occurs in Scene Seven, after Jims warmth has enabled Laura to overcome her shyness in his presence and introduce him to the collection of glass animals that is her most prized possession. By this point in the play, we are well aware that the glass menagerie is a symbol for Laura herself. Here, she warns him about the ease with which the glass figurines might be broken and shows him the wonderful visions produced when they are held up to the right sort of light. ... The glass unicorn, Lauras favorite figurine, symbolizes her even more specifically. ... The window is filled with pieces of colored glass, tiny transparent bottles in delicate colors, like bits of a shattered rainbow. ... Key Facts Full title - The Glass Menagerie Author - Tennessee Williams (born Thomas Lanier Williams III) Type of work - Play Genre - Tragedy; family drama Language - English Time and place written - 1941–1943; a number of American cities, including New York, St. ... When Jim breaks the horn from Lauras glass unicorn and announces that he is engaged, the possibility that he will help her overcome her self-doubt and shyness is also destroyed. ... Themes - The difficulty of accepting reality; the impossibility of true escape; the unrelenting power of memory Motifs - Abandonment; the words and images on the screen; music Symbols - Lauras Glass menagerie; the glass unicorn; "blue Roses"; the fire escape Foreshadowing - Toms departure is foreshadowed by his frequent retreats to the Fire Escape and the image of a sailing vessel on the screen; the music from the Paradise Dance Hall across the street foreshadows Laura and Jims dancing; Jims breaking of the unicorn foreshadows his breaking of her heart |
|||
To link to this page, copy the following code to your site:
Paper Information |
|||||
Title: Glass Menagerie Analysis
|
|||||
Signup & Login |
|||||
If you don't currently have a login then Signup here |
|||||
| Pre-Written Papers | |||||
|
|||||
| Custom Papers | |||||
|
|||||
Copyright 2003-2008 doingmyhomework.com. All rights reserved.