Symbols and Symbolism in Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie
The Glass Menagerie illustrates how Tennessee Williams incorporates symbols to help express the central theme of the play. One of the recurring symbols, apparent throughout the play, is that of the "glass menagerie" - symbolic of Laura herself. Another symbol for Laura is the glass unicorn. Still another symbol is that of the picture of the father - symbolic of freedom. These symbols play an important part in the development of the plot, as well as the theme of the play.
The glass figurines that reside in Laura's menagerie are symbolic of Laura herself. Laura is "like a piece of her own glass collection, too exquisitely fragile to move from the shelf" (849). Because of a slight defect, magnified several times over by her own mind, Laura's self image is as fragile as her collection. Because of her low self image, she is extremely withdrawn, even to the point of avoiding contact with others as much as is possible. Laura escapes "to the world of her menagerie where she is safe from the world of people" (Kahn 74)...
...for the Pythia at Delphi to be used, the people seeking advise are completely dependent on the interpreters to receive the answer to their questions, and thus have no choice but to be left with second hand advice; it had to go through the priests before the one seeking advice could receive an answer. With this in mind, it is hardly possible to be quite sure of how precise the priests interpreted Pythia’s utterances, and how well they really knew how to do their jobs --regardless of how wholeheartedly the people of Greece believed in them.
In the beginning of the book, Santiago travels to visit a Gypsy who is said to be able interpret his recurring dream. As a child he had always heard stories about Gypsies capturing children, taking them to their camps and making them their slaves. These stories translated into one of his largest fears for Santiago as a child and that fear returned when he visited the Gypsy, “As a child, the boy had always been frightened to death that he would be captured by Gypsies, and this childhood fear returned when the old woman took his hand” (17). The Gypsy eventually tells Santiago that there is treasure located at the Egyptian Pyramids. Without being able to overcome his fears of Gypsies, Santiago may have never went on a journey to Egypt in order to achieve his personal legend. Another example in the book that shows Santiago overcoming his fears is while Santiago and the Alchemist are travelling towards the Pyramids. They are suddenly captured by a desert tribe at war, who mistakes them for spies. In order to save his life Santiago has to turn himself into the wind. Coelho states, “But the boy was too frightened to listen to words of wisdom. He had no idea how he was going to transform himself into the wind” (83). Two days later Santiago is standing in front of the tribal chieftains trying to turn himself into the wind. He is able to stay calm while his life is on the line and
What did the author put into his mind that made everything be okay? We know at the end of the story he thinks that he now comes across as a father figure to this child he left stranded. Because that helpless baby was stranded, the baby now knows that life is meant to be cold all thanks to the “great” role model, MC. In class, we talk about consequences in life and how we are supposed to react from them. The correct way is to respond in a positive matter and learn to almost never do it again. Here’s the biggest question though, How is MC supposed to learn from the “consequences” if he doesn’t think he did anything wrong in the first place. The author knew he didn’t have a chance from the beginning.
"Connie's Tambourine Man: A New Reading Of Arnold Friend." Studies In Short Fiction 22.2 (1985): 219. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 26 Oct. 2017.
Notes: Thank you for the feedback as well as the extension. As requested by you in class, this is a note notifying you that this annotated bibliography has been edited to incorporate your comments. Rather than highlighting dogmatism in conservative persons the annotated bibliography now focuses on the dogmatic trait as a whole, now with the understanding that there is a difference between the belief system of dogmatism and the personality trait of dogmatic.
Over many years people have seemed to develop their thinking concerning morality based on resulting in interactions with individuals and social institutions. Different societies have their own cultures that have different ideas about how humans are to behave. Societies
This piece is very familiar to everyone. In all honesty, I have heard this piece in so many places, movies, and tv shows. The opening of this piece is very iconic and grabs attentions from the start because for some reason it has a sound that will make you feel like something scary is going to happen. Since my childhood I remember the sound of this piece but never learned who was the composer until a few years ago. This happens a lot to many people that are not familiarized with the compositions of musicians. This compositions by Bach is very popular. The Toccata and Fugue in D minor is a piece of organ music that was published in 1833. This piece became very popular quick.
In recent years, the use of eyewitness testimonies as evidence in court cases has been a subject in which various researchers have been interested in. Research suggests that eyewitness testimonies are actually not reliable enough to use as primary evidence in court cases. There have been many cases in which an innocent person gets sent to prison for a crime they did not commit because an eyewitness testified that they were the ones that they saw at the scene of the crime. Researchers’ goal is to improve the legal system by finding out whether eyewitness testimonies should be used in the court of law or not.
Although Bach’s name is widely recognized today, his contemporaries held little respect for his creative works (Herz 1). Only his skills as an organist were highly recognized and praised by those who knew of him. Many organ builders would not allow anyone but Bach to approve their creations. The composer’s works remained unpublished and unrecognized until many years after his death.
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German organist, composer, and musical scholar of the Baroque period, and is almost universally regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time. His works, noted for their intellectual depth, technical command, and artistic beauty, have provided inspiration to nearly every musician after him, from Mozart to Schoenberg.
Because the glass menagerie symbolizes more than one feature, its imagery can be considered both consistent and fluctuating. The consistent side of this portrayal is that the menagerie is a constant symbol of Laura’s personality.
In the article, “Bravery, Honor, and Loyalty as Morals in Beowulf,” the author, Eleanor Cory, states that Beowulf serves as a moral instruction and demonstrated important values of the Anglo-Saxon people. Cory states, “...the poem Beowulf illustrates three important morals of its time: bravery, honor, and loyalty.” Throughout the article, Cory goes into explicit detail on how two characters from Beowulf, Beowulf and Wiglaf, demonstrate these morals. Cory refers to the epic, Beowulf, as “...a work of art,” alluding to its instructive purposes. Cory’s main focus refers to the values and morals of the Anglo-Saxon era demonstrated in the life of Beowulf and Wiglaf.
Symbolism is an integral part of every play. The author uses symbolism in order to add more depth to the play. In Tennessee Williams’ play, The Glass Menagerie, he describes three separate characters, their dreams, and the harsh realities they face in a modern world. The Glass Menagerie exposes the lost dreams of a southern family and their desperate struggle to escape reality. Everyone in the play seeks refuge from their lives, attempting to escape into an imaginary world. Williams uses the fire escape as a way for the Wingfields, the protagonists of the play, to escape their real life and live an illusionary life. The fire escape portrays each of the character's need to use the fire escape as a literal exit from their own reality.
In The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams, the glass figurine of the unicorn plays an inherently important role as a representation of Laura's self esteem. The collection of glass figurines is used by Laura to escape from the dangers of the outside world. The unicorn is the central piece to her collection and is important because it directly symbolizes Laura. The unicorn represents Laura's obsession with her handicap and also represents the uniqueness in her character. As the play develops, the fracture of the unicorn's horn represents a change in Laura's perspective of self and also gives a reason to why she parts with the figurine in the end.
Sometimes religion defines what is good or wrong. For a Christian religion supports people should love one another. Therefore, it influences people to understand the importance of staying together. In addition, other religions define the value and framework that helps in identifying what is bad or right. They teach the concepts of good thoughts and deeds in the society. The structures are defined in relevant resources like holy books such Quran and the Bible. In other groups, morality and religion are inseparable because moral behaviors are parts of their beliefs. Religious leaders act as an example to the members of the community. Also, some religious families where the forefathers were morally upright, individuals in the same background tend to support good morals (Doetzel