Sudartono, 1
Cherry Juliana Sudartono
ENG 102
Professor Constantine
3 August 2005
The Symbol Master
Dictionary defines symbolism as the artistic method of revealing ideas or truths
through the use of symbols. Having started his career as a lyric poet, Tennessee Williams
explained that he had a “poet’s weakness for symbols” (qtd in Tischler, 32). This is very
true indeed because Tennessee Williams is an artist of symbols. His creativity can be
seen through one of his most well known play, The Glass Menagerie. It is always
interesting to go deep into this play, which are full of symbols and try to decipher the
meanings behind them.
Tennessee Williams’ first successful play is The Glass Menagerie, first staged in
Broadway on 1945. It is a tale about a Southern family and how they deal with the harsh
reality of lives by escaping into the world of illusion. The story is set in St. Louis,
Mississippi before the World War II. Based on the memory of the narrator/character,
Tom Wingfield, we set on to explore the story, which revolved around the search for a
husband for Laura, Tom’s sister. Tom worked in a shoe warehouse. Even though he hated
his job, he still needs to work because he is the only person in which the two females in
his family, Laura and Amanda his mother, could rely on. Tensions are always present
between Tom and Amanda. Amanda is afraid that Tom will leave them just like their
father did. To prevent this, she tries to take control of Tom’s life, but because she is not
capable of controlling the bigger aspect of his life, she tends to fuss about “Tom’s eating
habits, his smoking, his lack of interest in his job, his late hours, and his insatiable
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appetites for movies” (Fambrough, 100). This not only makes Tom angry, but also makes
matters even worse because to escape from this life, Tom increases the amount of his
drinking and smoking.
Laura, who is born extremely shy and always nervous, which is magnified by her
crippled foot, lives in her own world of glass menagerie. She collected a lot of glass
animals and put them in a glass cabinet. Amanda who desires Laura to be more beautiful
and sociable tries to give Laura more confidence about life. However Laura is determined
to just stay home away from the harsh glare of the world. Getting desperate, Amanda
confronts Tom about his desires to go abroad. She then makes an agreement with Tom,
saying that he is free to leave after he helps her look for a suitable husband for Laura.
Upon hearing this, Tom just drag home Jim, his best friend from the factory, without
checking whether if he is engaged or suitable for Laura. During the fateful night, Jim tries
to show Laura that she is indeed beautiful and he tries to open her minds. For one brief
moment, when Jim breaks one of Laura’s glasses, a unicorn, Laura becomes a normal girl
for the first time of her life. However, disaster struck after Jim kisses Laura, he told her
that he is engaged to a girl and is unable to give what Laura is hoping for. Heartbroken,
Laura gives the broken unicorn to Jim as a souvenir and she retreats to the shelter of her
glass world never to come out again. Amanda is frustrated because she feels like she acts
like a fool, making too many preparations for a failure gentleman. She then blames Tom
for not thoroughly checking Jim’s availability. Tom has had enough and then proceeds to
leave his home forever. However, his memory of Laura stays forever.
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Tennessee William’s love for symbols is clearly defined in this play that is
saturated with symbolic truths (Tischler, 32). The first and most important symbol in the
play is the fire escape. It is a meant of escape for Tom Wingfield, the main character in
the play, from his suffocating home to the outside world. He goes there to smoke a
cigarette when he is feeling frustrated to calm his nerves down. For Tom, the fire escape
is his way out of the “coffin” (Williams, 1303) of his home. Apart from that, the fire
escape is also a curtain that secludes Laura from the world to the safeness of her nest. It is
a partier of the fragile world of hers and the harsh, demanding outer world. The fire
escape makes Laura feels safe. Furthermore, it symbolizes hope for Amanda, a hope for a
brighter future for Laura. Amanda longs for the arrival of a gentleman caller to swoop
Laura away from the poverty.
There is one character that is never shown in the play but people always felt of his
presence throughout the play. The character is the father of the Wingfield’s household
who had long since deserted them. The photograph of his symbolizes his presence.
Furthermore, Amanda is often seen wearing his old robe during the play. This symbolize
that Amanda wants to have him back in her life, despite her acting that she has forgotten
about him. One more thing to symbolize the father is the phonograph, which Laura plays
often. With this she is seeking reassurance from a father figure that is never there and to
confine her memory of her father.
Amanda tries to sell magazines to a few lady friends from the D.A.R. However,
she seems to be losing her ability to charm other people to buy the magazine as she used
to. This symbolizes her starting to lose control of her life and the control over her
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children’s life. The magazine which is full of articles for ladies, also symbolize
Amanda’s fantasy to relive her past, when she is still the young, glamorous and desirable
young girl, just like how a lady should be according to the magazine. During the night
when the gentleman caller is visiting them, Amanda wears her old dress, which she used
to entertain her 17 gentleman callers at Blue Mountain during her youth. This symbolize
Amanda is trying to bring back her past life when she is still felling secure, still have a
hope for a bright future and when everything seems to be perfect.
The gentleman caller, Jim, represent the “century of progress” (Tischler, 34). He
lives in the real world unlike the illusion world the Wingfields live in. He could be
symbolized by Laura’s yearbook. It represents Laura’s feeling for him that is kept secret
for all the years. It also shows that Jim’s memory is always with Laura, even though she
never done anything about her feelings. The Wrigley’s gum that Jim offers to Laura also
symbolizes him as temporary. That he will not last and he will not be there forever, just
like a gum is. This thus foreshadows that Jim will not be the gentleman caller to be the
savior of Laura, unlike how Amanda hopes everything to be.
Tom’s life revolves around cigarette, liquor, and movies. Cigarette and liquors
symbolize the only things to have a calming effect on Tom’s heated nature. They also
symbolize his means to escape from his life, from Amanda’s continuous nagging and also
from his responsible to the two ladies of the house. The movies symbolize his longing for
adventures and his hopes to be away from his life, to be in one of those adventures he
craves for. To him, “man is by instinct a lover, a hunter, a fighter” (Williams, 1306),
which is why he detest being trapped in his home, which he described as a coffin. The
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Union of Merchant Seaman, which Tom joined, using the money for the light bill, also
symbolizes Tom’s escape. “(Tennessee) Williams loved the ocean and frequently used
the sea as an escape symbol. His sailors, pirates, and buccaneers are the gallant figures
who sail away from the dreary land to have adventures denied to most of mankind”
(Tischler, 34). In joining the union, Tom acquired the adventures, which he has been
denied for a long time.
Laura’s life corresponds to her collection of glass menagerie. The collection
symbolizes Laura’s delicate and sensitive self. It also shows that Laura’s feeling is easily
shattered just like glass. The unicorn from Laura’s collection, also symbolize Laura best.
Unicorn is a unique, mythical animal unlike any other. It is just like Laura who is like a
normal human being but with a slight defect. When Jim broke the unicorn’s horn, it
symbolizes how Laura has now become a normal human being, even if for only a little
while. She said “The horn was removed to make him feel les – freakish! Now he will feel
more at home with the other horses, the ones that don’t have horns” (Williams, 1332). In
that one moment, Laura feels that she is actually normal and is not a misfit in society any
longer. Before the incident with Jim, Laura used to go to the Zoo, museums and other
exotic places, because those places are reflection of her. They are unique and fragile and
can only survive in their own habitat.
We could see how Tennessee Williams’ love for symbols is so profound
throughout the play. Each character has his or her own symbols to relate to. In trying to
find out more about these symbols, we actually learn and gain more from the stories. We
learn to appreciate the story more. This is what makes Williams’ story different from
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other writers’ stories because each time you read his work, you tend to find out about
something that you miss before.
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Works Cited
Fambrough, Preston. “William’s THE GLASS MENAGERIE” Explicator 63
2005: (100-102).
Kennedy, X.J., Gioia Dana. Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry and Drama.
New York: 2000.
Tischler, Nancy. Student Companions to Tennessee Williams. New York: Greenwood
Press: 2000.