Character Analysis Of The Glass Menagerie

“The play is memory. Being a memory play, it is dimly lighted, it is sentimental, it is not realistic” (Williams). The play “The Glass Menagerie” is narrated from Tom’s memory, and the audience learns about the other characters from his perspective of them. It is obvious that the main character is Tom, because he is the narrator. However, it is not clear who the protagonist and antagonist are, because there is not a true hero or villain in the play. All four characters are genuine people who have flaws that come out throughout the story. Though, through the eyes of tom’s memory, he is the closest character to a protagonist, because he undergoes a huge change, he is the financial support of his family, and he is the one whom the audience most

According to an online source, an antagonist is, “the principal opponent or foil of the main character, who is referred to as the protagonist, in a drama or narrative” (antagonist). In this case the foil character of Tom is Amanda, because she has blocked him from having a life of choice and freedom. Tom and Laura undergo a change in a way or another, but Amanda remains the same persons in the end as she was in the beginning. Throughout the story all she does is nag and control her children. She tries to drive Tom to not become his father, but ironically ends up making him leave like his father did. Also, she pushes Laura into marrying a gentleman caller, but she fails at that too. “Don’t think about us, a mother deserted, an unmarried sister who’s cripples and has no job! Don’t let anything interfere with your selfish pleasure! Just go, go, go to the movies!” (Williams). Even in the end of the play Amanda nags Tom, and does not support his choice like a good mother

The title represents her collection of glass menagerie, but does not mean that Laura is the main character nor the protagonist. She goes through a slight change when she kisses Jim, but other than that she still has the same future as she did in the beginning. According to an article, “In the latter disciplines, ‘disability’ is typically viewed as a distance from the “norm” in order to bring the disabled closer to the established norm” (disability studies). Even though Amanda tried to convince Laura that she was no different than any other girl and that she was still beautiful, Laura would describe herself as “crippled” instead of disabled. She never tried to establish herself with the norm, because she was fragile like her glass menagerie. This just proves that she is not the protagonist, because she is merely a memory that Tom couldn’t leave