The Glass Menagerie Major Works Data Sheet
Title: The Glass Menagerie
Author: Tennessee Williams
Publication date: 1945
Genre: Non-realistic drama
Bibliographical information about the author:
Plot Summary: The play begins with a description of the small 1930's apartment. A large photograph is described I a WW1 man who is said to be the fifth character in the play
and also their father. Tom enters dressed as a sailor and describes each character along with the setting of the play. Amanda(Tom's mom) then call Tom to the dinner table.
Here she immediately reminds him how to chew properly. Unable to stand his mom's nagging, Tom leaves to smoke. As Laura tries to clear the table Amanda insists on doing it
herself. She then begins telling the story of how she once received 17 gentlemen callers. Amanda then questions Laura as to why she has not received any gentlemen callers
and worries about her becoming an old maid. Scene two begins with Laura inside tending to her glass ornaments and Amanda coming home, stomping furiously up the steps.
When Amanda walks in, Laura pretends to be practicing her typing. Amanda tears up the typing diagram and Laura asks if her mother went to the DAR meeting. When her
mother does not reply, Laura asks what happened while she was out. Amanda tells Laura that she stopped to tell the Business College about her cold and ask of her progress
when they heard no such thing of a Laura Wingfield. Amanda assured the teacher that she had been going since early January. Laura tells her the truth that she had not been
going to Business College, but walking because the first typing test they had sent her into an anxiety attack and she threw up on the floor. Laura claimed that she could never
go back. Amanda tells Laura that her only hope is to become a wife. Amanda asks Laura if she had even liked a boy before and she said once she liked a boy named Jim in High
School. He was in her chorus class and was the lead in all plays. She said that Jim used to call her Blue Roses because when he asked her why she had been out for so long,
Laura said she had pleurosis and Jim thought she had said "blue roses". Laura looses hope because she read in the personal add in the yearbook that he was engaged to be
married. Amanda says that she will find a husband one day and Laura says that she is crippled. Amanda tells her to never use such language.
Scene 4 starts with Tom returning to the house after taking a trip to the movies. He comes home drunk, searching for a house key. Laura lets him in, and asks Tom where he’s
been. He proceeds to tell her about the show he saw. The scene then dims out, and the church bell is heard at the beginning of the next morning. Amanda goes around the
house calling “rise and shine!” to wake Tom and Laura up. Laura takes Tom off to the side and asks him if he will apologize to Amanda for the argument they have in a previous
scene. Amanda then asks Laura to leave the house to pick up butter. When Laura leaves, Tom apologizes to Amanda. Amanda then asks Tom if he doesn’t like living in the
apartment any more. Tom claims that he still likes living at the apartment, but wants more adventure in his life. Amanda then begins to nag Tom, and also asks him to stay
around the house until Laura can find a husband. After more nagging, Amanda asks Tom to find a nice man at the warehouse and invite him to dinner. The scene ends with
Amanda calling Ella Cartwright asking her to renew her subscription to the Companion. Scene 5 of the play The Glass Menagerie marks a turning point in the story-line. It
begins with Tom sitting on the fire escape with his mother while wishing on the moon. Tom suddenly tells Amanda that he has invited a gentleman named James O’Connor
over for dinner to meet Laura. His mother gruels him with questions about this caller that she hopes will decide to marry Laura, and begins to make many preparations for his
arrival. This information gives Amanda great hope for the future. Tom is on the fire escape recollecting the memories about the gentlemen caller Jim. Since Tom is the only
person at the warehouse that knew Jim back in his high school glory days. Where Jim was seen to be the person to go far in life but 6 years later to be in a job no better then
Toms. Since Tom is the only person that knew Jim back in these days, Jim is very fond in friendly terms with Tom, giving him the nickname "Shakespeare" due to how Tom
loves to write poetry. To then Tom's reminiscing ends and the scene begins transforming into the living room. With Amanda constantly modifying Laura's dress for the last 24
hours and as well cooking Salmon for Jim the gentlemen caller. As Amanda was touching up Laura she mentions the name of the gentlemen caller was Jim. Laura then realizes
that this is the Jim she had a crush on in high school. Laura then starts to feel very ill and tells Amanda that she will not be able to join them for dinner. Amanda frustrated
tells Laura that she will be joining them and she will not ruin this dinner. A knock on the door is heard, Laura refusing to answer to Amanda, until Laura is yelled at to answer
the door. Laura answers the door and quietly introduces herself then fled the scene. Tom and Jim then start to talk while the women go elsewhere. Jim warns Tom that he
should take a public speaking class as he is, to better themselves ,and how they both are meant for executive positions. Also to warn him that if Tom doesn't wake up, the
boss will fire him form the warehouse. Tom tells Jim that he as different plans, that he took the months payment for the electric and used it to join the Union of Merchant
Seaman. Due to that he is tired of watching the movies and not moving. Amanda then enters the room, laying the Southern charm as she introduces herself to Jim. "I married
no planter! I married a man who worked for the telephone company!... A telephone man who- fell in with long-distance!", Amanda expressing to Jim a bit of why Tom has the
attitude he has, and that how she wants better for Laura then what she had. The storm starts outside and they begin to sit for dinner. Amanda calls in for Laura who walks in
sick to her stomach, to a point where Tom and Amanda put her on the couch, then continue to the table to eat. Tom then says grace and the meal begins as Laura lays on the
couch, glancing anxiously at Jim in the living room alone, struggling to contain a sob. Laura and Jim finally get some alone time. They talk about Jim's high school glory and
how he called Laura "Blue Roses." Laura ask him about the girl he was engaged to in high school and Jim says that they never really were engaged, his girlfriends just told
people they were. This makes Laura more comfortable. After some more catching up and talk about the future, they begin to dance o the music from across the street. As
they dance, Jim accidentally knocks over Laura's glass unicorn and breaks the horns off, but Laura is not upset. Jim then kisses Laura and immediately afterward reveals that
he has been seeing another girl. Amanda then enters the room and learns that Jim already has a girlfriend, she is enraged that Tom would play a joke on her and Laura like
that. Tom and Amanda get into a huge argument as Tom tries to explain that even though Jim is his best friend at the Warehouse, he still doesn't know him well enough to
know whether or not he has a girlfriend. Tom storms out of the house to end the argument. He explains that no matter where he runs, he can not outrun the guilt he feels for
leaving his sister.
Describe the author’s style
Williams uses the setting and Tom's narration to create a feeling
of a film between the reader and the text. This style of surreality
allows him to show that the hopes and dreams of the characters
are merely an illusion, that none of them face reality.
The authors style was using symbolism.
Give an example of the author’s style from the work
An example of this is the opening scene where Tom described the
scene as being seen through a thin curtain, softening edges and making
it idealistic. It doesn't show the harsh realities of life.
This I seen predominately by the glass menagerie it symbolizes that
they are all in a dream world and it ends when the horn breaks off the
unicorn menagerie the allusion is over because Jim ruins all chances of
Laura having a husband, Tom finally leaves, and Amanda's left all alone.
Major quotations-act/scene/line numbers-significance
"He is the most realistic character in the
play, being an emissary from a world of
reality.."
Amanda: "What is there left but
dependency all our lives?"
The quote shows that the play and its
characters all live under an illusion or
imaginary world while only one character,
Jim, is in touch with reality while the
others are not even in grips with it.
(Page 1151)
this is an important qoute because it show
show tom feels about his life.
"You know it don't take much intelligence
to get yourself into a nailed-up coffin,
Laura. But who in hell ever got himself out
of one without removing one nail?"
"No. I don't have secrets. I'll tell you what
I wished for on the moon. Success and
happiness for my precious children! I wish
for that whenever there's a moon, and
when there isn't a moon. I wish for it ,
too.
Page 1164
Settings
Amanda, Laura, and Tom's
apartment in St. Louis, Missouri.
It is a prime example of how much
Amanda loves her children and how she
tries so hard to make sure they have a
brighter future than she does, it sums up
scene five as the gentleman caller and
preparations are all done because
Amanda wants Laura to have a brighter
and more secure future than she did as
well as that she won't make the same
mistakes. Amanda also understands that
Tom is restless and wants to leave so this
is her way to secure both of her children
futures.
Significance of the opening scene:
that it shows the tone of the play. The play starts
with extensive stage directions about how the set should look, and information about the period
the play is set in, which can be compared to Amanda’s overbearing parenting of her children. The
stage directions are full of metaphors concerning imprisonment and escape, also nonindividuality, which can be compared to Tom feeling as if he’s trapped in his own family. When
describing the Wingfield's apartment, the author uses the term, “vast hive-like conglomerations.”
This suggests the people of these buildings are like worker bees, lacking individuality, which can
also be compared to how Amanda wanted Laura to be like every other girl her age.
Significance of the closing scene
Symbols
The importance of the closing scene is to unify the ending. It helps to
understand the how are their decision affected them. Tom tried to live on
his own but lived with guilt because he had left Laura. Laura and Amanda
problems did not end up any better than there were. Their possibilities
were limited, either to live with relatives or in the streets. They all came
out from what their dream and into reality
Possible theme statements
The theme for the play Glass Menagerie is you have to be happy no matter what life throws at you. There will be lows at time but in the end it is
up to you being happy and you must make tough decisions to insure yourself that you are happy. Life is all about doing what you want and
making the most of it therefore you must be content with your life.
Abandonment is one theme in The Glass Menagerie. The most significant abandonment s were when Tom and his father
abandoned the family, but they are not the only ones. Laura abandoned school because of her selfishness; she dropped out of high
school and business school because she was nervous. Laura and Tom's father abandoned them so he could go see the world. Tom
followed in his father's footsteps after he could not bear to work in the warehouse any longer to support his mother and sister. We
do not know whether the father has any remorse over abandoning his family, but Tom regrets leaving Laura.
Major Characters
Name
Amanda Wingfield
Role in play
mother of Laura and
Tom. Her personality is
very spastic. The role that
Amanda plays in The
Glass Menagerie shows
the brokenness in the
family. She annoys Tom
about how to do everyday activities. She wants
her children to have a
better future than she had,
but doesn’t know that
she is pushing them
farther and farther away
from her. Adjectives that
describe her are annoying,
loud, controlling, loving,
domineering and caring.
Significance
Adjective to describe
The significance that she
has in the story is that she
is either one who cares or
is controlling. Amanda
does care about her
children, but she is
controlling when she tells
Tom how to live and tells
Laura what to do around
the house.
Adjectives that describe
her are annoying, loud,
controlling, loving,
domineering and caring.