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Symbolism in The Glass Menagerie

The Glass Menagerie: A Study in Symbolism In the drama, The Glass Menagerie (1945), Tennessee Williams reflects upon personal experiences he and his family encountered during the Depression of the 1930s. As a lower class family, the characters are placed in the slums of St. Louis in 1935. The protagonist, Tom Wingfield, is the narrator and Williams surrogate. Living with his mother and sister, Tom supports them by working in a shoe manufacturing warehouse. He should feel lucky to have this job; however, he despises his work and dreams of leaving to become a Merchant Marine.

Unhappy with what life has dealt him, Tom strives for adventure and longs to turn his back on his responsibilities. His mother, Amanda Wingfield, abandoned by her husband almost sixteen years ago, tries to keep her family together through tough times. Although her love and hopes for her children are sincere, her overbearing and outspoken nature often hurts them. Laura, Toms sister, suffers from neuroses. She has trouble separating fantasy from reality. Without the ability to function in the outside world, Laura becomes a liability to both Tom and Amanda. The gentleman caller, Jim OConnor, is a friend of Toms from the warehouse.

He is an ambitious young man, who strives for the American Dream through hard work and optimism. Jim offers the Wingfields hope for the future: Tom: He is the most realistic character in the play, being an emissary from a world of reality that we were somehow set apart from. But since I have a poets weakness for symbols, I am using this character also as a symbol; he is the long- delayed but always expected something that we live for (23). Williams gives the reader many emblems throughout the play; there are three of them are especially interesting.

The unicorn symbolizes Lauras uniqueness, the picture of Mr. Wingfield represents his strong influence on his deserted family, and Malvolios coffin trick signifies Toms suffocating lifestyle. The unicorn is a symbolic representation of ways that Laura is unique or unusual. The first facet of the unicorn, its horn, refers to ways that Laura is an unusual person, such as in her may escape mechanisms. Lauras escape devices include her glass menagerie, listening to records on the Victrola, and visiting the park and zoo. Laura identifies with her glass menagerie because she has trouble identifying with the real world, the pieces are small and delicate, just as she is.

The Victrola is a reminder of Mr. Wingfield; Laura often plays records to avoid the present and thinks pleasantly about the times she had with her father. When Laura stopped going to Rubicams Business College, she would spend many of her days at the zoo or park. She was a nature lover and thought of these places as very peaceful and beautiful, a sharp contrast to her real life. The fragility of the unicorn, its second part, recalls Lauras delicate psychological condition. Lauras emotional problems caused many difficulties in her life.

While in high school, Laura was very self-conscious about the brace she had to wear, as evidenced in the following passage: Laura: I had that brace on my leg — it clumped so loud! Jim: I never heard any clumping. Laura: To me it sounded like — thunder! Jim: Well, well, well, I never even noticed. Laura: And everybody was seated before I came in. I had to walk in front of all those people. My seat was in the back row. I had to go clumping all the way up the aisle with everyone watching! Jim: You shouldnt have been self-conscious. Laura: I know, but I was (93).

Laura suffered all the way through high school. Unfortunately, she scored poorly on her final examinations and dropped out of school. After such a failure, her fragile self-esteem dropped from low to almost non-existent, and she could not face going back. Six years later, with pressure from her mother, Laura took another stab at education. She enrolled at Rubicams Business College. However, Laura only made it to the first test. As the test began, she vomited on the floor and had to be carried to the bathroom. Laura never returned to school, and once again her fragile emotions got the best of her.

The transparency of the unicorn, its final facet, represents the fact that Lauras problems are easily apparent to anyone who cares to notice them. This is best seen through Jims evaluation of her: Jim: You know what I judge to be the trouble with you? Inferiority complex! Yep — thats what I judge to be your principal trouble. A lack of confidence in yourself as a person. You dont have the proper amount of faith in yourself. Im basing that fact on a number of your remarks and also on certain observations Ive made (98-9). Jim, practically a stranger, was able to see right through Laura and recognize her glaring psychological problems.

Although the unicorn is the most famous symbol of the play, the picture of Mr. Wingfield strikes the reader as thought-provoking, also. The picture of Mr. Wingfield is an emblem of his pervasive influence on Amanda, Laura, and Tom. First, the largeness of the portrait suggests Mr. Wingfields strong hold on Laura, even though he has been gone nearly sixteen years. The “larger-than-life size photograph” looms over the family as a haunting reminder of him (23). This especially torments Laura, who hopes someday he will return. This is evident in her playing of the Victrola.

The Victrola brings back pleasant memories of her father; she remembers when times were good and wishes things could be like that again. Second, the grin on Mr. Wingfields face reminds Amanda of the effect his personality has had on her life. Mr. Wingfields grin and good looks are what first attracted Amanda to him. He was full of charisma and won Amandas heart through physical attraction, as Amanda declares: “One thing your father had plenty of — was charm! ” (36). Amanda remembers the pleasant times they shared and, as a romantic, still hopes that he will return.

However, more realistic in her situation, Amanda looks at the grin as a painful reminder of his mischievous and devious manner that led to him leaving. The grin signifies Mr. Wingfield laughing at them by abandoning them. This is apparent when Tom states: “The last we heard of him was a picture postcard from Mazatlan, on the Pacific coast of Mexico, containing a message of two words: Hello — Goodbye! and no address” (23). Finally, Mr. Wingfields Doughboy uniform mirrors Toms adventurous aspirations to become a Merchant Marine. Tom longs to break free of his boring life and satisfy his craving for adventure.

He rationalizes his plans to abandon his family through heredity: “Im like my father. The bastard son of a bastard! ” (80). Just as the picture of Mr. Wingfield, Malvolios coffin trick represents some more of the great symbolism used throughout the play. Malvolios coffin trick is a token of Toms suffocating lifestyle. The first aspect, Malvolios similarities with Tom, refers to each of their life-threatening situations. Malvolio faces literal death by suffocation if he does not successfully escape the coffin. Conversely, Tom faces figurative death by emotional and spiritual suffocation if he does not find a way out of his present situation.

The coffin, the second aspect, symbolizes the lifestyle from which Tom is striving to escape. Tom looks at his life as a “two-by-four situation” (45). He fears living the next fifty-five years of his life working in the basement of a warehouse, performing mundane tasks, and making a mere sixty-five dollars a month. Although he loves his family, he cannot tolerate the thought of spending the rest of his life in a cramped apartment, supporting his family, living with the constant worry of Lauras well-being, and putting up with his mothers frequent nagging.

The nails of the coffin, its final facet, represent Laura and Amanda. In his trick, Malvolio escapes from the coffin without disturbing any of the nails; however, Tom knows that that will be impossible for him: “You know it dont 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? ” (45). Tom is suffocating in his own figurative coffin, but for him to escape he must disturb Laura and Amanda. Clearly, Malvolios escape from the coffin was much easier than Toms flight from his lifestyle will be.

In conclusion, Williams play, through well-written symbolism, offers its readers many emblems to study, including the unicorn, the picture of Mr. Wingfield, and Malvolios coffin trick. This drama teaches the reader about the struggles of the Depression and the effects it had on the people who lived through it. Like Tom, Williams suffered with his own suffocating lifestyle, until he finally escaped to become a playwright. When Williams left home, his sister, Rose (Laura), was devastated. Her neuroses worsened to psychoses, and at age 27 she was lobotomized, which left her a vegetable for the rest of her life.

However, unlike his father (Mr. Wingfield), Williams felt much guilt for leaving his family and never completely forgave himself for what happened to Rose. Although what happened to Rose is very tragic, I feel it is hard to blame Williams. Unfortunately, after he left, surgeons performed a lobotomy on her, but if he would have stayed, it would have been as if he was lobotomizing himself. I feel that The Glass Menagerie was a wonderful play. With so many tokens throughout the play, each one with many facets, it was truly fascinating to analyze and discuss them.

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Home » Symbolism in The Glass Menagerie

Symbolism in The Glass Menagerie

The play The Glass Menagerie, by Tennessee Williams, Williams uses many symbols which represent many different things. Many of the symbols used in the play try to symbolize some form of escape or difference between reality and illusion. The first symbol, presented in the first scene, is the fire escape. This represents the “bridge” between the illusory world of the Wingfields and the world of reality. This “bridge” seems to be a one way passage. But the direction varies for each character. For Tom, the fire escape is the way out of the world of Amanda and Laura and an ntrance into the world of reality.

For Laura, the fire escape is a way into her world. A way to escape from reality. Both examples can readily be seen: Tom will stand outside on the fire escape to smoke, showing that he does not like to be inside, to be a part of the illusionary world. Laura, on the other hand, thinks of the fire escape as a way in and not a way out. This can be seen when Amanda sends Laura to go to the store: Laura trips on the fire escape. This also shows that Laura’s fears and emotions greatly affect her physical condition, more so than normal people.

Another symbol presented deals more with Tom than any of the other characters: Tom’s habit of going to the movies shows us his longing to leave the apartment and head out into the world of reality. A place where one can find adventure. And Tom, being a poet, can understand the needs of man to long for adventure and romance. But he is kept from entering reality by Amanda, who criticizes him as being a “selfish dreamer. ” But, Tom has made steps to escape into reality by transferring the payment of a light bill to pay for his dues in the

Merchant Seaman’s Union. Another symbol, which deals with both Amanda and Laura, is Jim O’Connor. To Laura, Jim represents the one thing she fears and does not want to face, reality. Jim is a perfect example of “the common man. ” A person with no real outstanding quality. In fact, Jim is rather awkward, which can be seen when he dances with Laura. To Amanda, Jim represents the days of her youth, when she went frolicking about picking jonquils and supposedly having “seventeen gentlemen callers on one Sunday afternoon.

Although Amanda desires to see Laura ettled down with a nice young man, it is hard to tell whether she wanted a gentleman caller to be invited for Laura or for herself. One symbol which is rather obvious is Laura’s glass menagerie. Her collection of glass represents her own private world. Set apart from reality, a place where she can hide and be safe. The events that happen to Laura’s glass affects Laura’s emotional state greatly. When Amanda tells Laura to practice typing, Laura instead plays with her glass.

When Amanda is heard walking up the fire escape, she quickly hides her collection. She does this to hide her secret world from the others. When Tom leaves to go to the movies in an angered rush, he accidentally breaks some of Laura’s glass. The shattered glass represents Laura’s understanding of Tom’s responsibilities to her. Also, the unicorn, which is important, represents Laura directly. Laura points out to Jim that the unicorn is different, just as she is different. She also points out that the unicorn does not complain of being different, as she does not complain either.

And when Jim breaks the horn off the unicorn, Laura points out that now it is like the ther horses, just as Laura has shed some of her shyness and become more normal. When she hands the broken unicorn to Jim, this might represent Laura handing over her broken love to Jim, as Jim has revealed that he is engaged to be married. As can be seen, there are quite a few symbols in this play. And a number of them have diverse meanings. Most of these symbols have a direct meaning in the author’s own life. This is understandable seeing that the play is supposed to be “memory play. ” It is obvious that this memory play is based on Williams’ own memories.

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