Max «GreetingLine»
A Little Glass Unicorn
The desperate situation of the Wingfields during the Great Depression is
portrayed in Tennessee Williams’ play, The Glass Menagerie. Williams uses many
different techniques to create the appropriate atmosphere for this stunning memory play.
His use of lighting and props, and especially the projection screen give the play a surreal,
almost dreamlike quality. Similarly, he employs a wide range of dramatic devices to
emphasize particular aspects of the characters in the play. Laura is portrayed as beautiful,
shy, and lonely, but her most prominent characteristic is her fragility, her delicate
manner. Williams uses Laura’s wardrobe, lighting, music, and most prominently her
glass menagerie, to emphasize her fragility in The Glass Menagerie.
Laura’s clothing throughout the play reflects her general personality and fragility.
In the second scene Laura wears a “dress of soft violet material for a kimono – her hair
tied back from her forehead with a ribbon.” These exquisite and exotic fabrics not only
portray Laura’s beauty and unique personality, they also reflect her frailty and tenuous
hold on life. When Laura is preparing for the gentleman caller, she wears a new dress that
makes her fragility more apparent reflecting how vulnerable she has become, “The dress
is coloured and designed by memory. The arrangement of Laura’s hair is changed; it is
softer and more becoming. A fragile, unearthly prettiness has come out in Laura: she is
like a piece of translucent glass touched by light, given a momentary radiance, not actual,
not lasting.” By describing Laura in relation to her glass ornaments, Williams reveals a
bond between the two, which later reflects Laura’s rejection by Jim. The ethereal quality
of the dress also helps to bring out Laura’s precarious mental balance and reemphasizes
the dreamlike qualities of the play. The fragility of Laura’s life is symbolized throughout
the play by her wardrobe.
Williams also uses various lighting techniques to give definition to Laura’s fragile
feelings. Throughout most of the play a “clear pool of light” illuminates her figure. Not
only does this suggest the clarity with which Tom remembers her, but it also gives Laura
a pale, almost sickly appearance. This spotlight also serves to draw the audience’s
attention, emphasizing her fragility. “The new floor lamp with its shade of rose-coloured
silk gives a soft, becoming light to her face, bringing out the fragile, unearthly prettiness
which usually escapes attention.” The warmer light of the lamp contrasts the cold light
Max «GreetingLine»
shed by the spotlight, emphasizing Laura’s delicate beauty rather than her fragile and
melancholy mood. This lighting also suggests some hope for Laura in Jim, the gentleman
caller. The music of the play provides further insight into the depth of Laura’s fragility.
Often when Laura’s at her most vulnerable, the musical piece, The Glass Menagerie,
steals in. At other times, other musical themes are used to emphasize Laura’s distress,
such as when Amanda finds out that she hadn’t been attending business school and a
“whisper of strings” begins to play. Sound is also used to symbolize Laura’s fragility
through the victrola. Often in the play when Laura is distressed she finds comfort in the
victrola. Light and sound both play important parts in drawing the audience’s attention to
Laura’s fragility.
The glass menagerie reflects Laura’s frailty and unique beauty. Just like her little
glass unicorn, Laura is special and very fragile. “Little animals made out of glass… This
one is one of the oldest. It’s nearly thirteen. Oh, be careful – if you breathe, it breaks!”
Jim’s rejection of Laura is reflected in the breaking of the unicorn. This also reflects the
fragility of Laura’s own life and how, like the unicorn, it has just been shattered by Jim.
“Laura slowly raises and opens her hand. It still contains the little broken glass animal.
She looks at it with a tender, bewildered expression.” Throughout the play Laura shows
tender loving care for her menagerie, which reflects the care that she herself requires.
Laura’s relationship with her glass collection reflects the relationship that she wishes she
had with her family. This suggests that Laura’s frailty grew from her belligerent
relationship with her mother. Laura’s glass menagerie reflects her fragility and portrays
the family that she whishes she had.
“Glass is something you have to take good care of.” Laura’s fragility, in many
ways, relates to the delicate pieces of her glass menagerie. Through various lighting
effects, Williams illuminates her delicate nature and emphasizes her frail behavior. Music
is employed to portray Laura’s tenuous hold on life and reality, through the victrola and
themes such as The Glass Menagerie. Even Laura’s wardrobe is designed to define her
delicate figure, emphasizing her frailty. “Glass breaks so easily. No matter how careful
you are. The traffic jars the shelves and things fall off them.” In Tennessee Williams’
play, The Glass Menagerie, Laura’s fragile life is emphasized through her wardrobe,
lighting, and music, and represented in her little glass menagerie.