The Glass Menagerie

655 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Effects of child abuse

The Glass Menagerie

Abuse that begins during early childhood is very detrimental to the one being abused. The child is just beginning to learn who they are as a person. Children who are abused or made fun of often feel that they are unworthy and have little or no power and that the bullies are superior and have all the power. They often grow into depressed teenagers. In addition, many of the children abused or tormented of lose all hope and become abusers themselves. Sometimes a mental disability is developed. Either way, childhood abuse has a lifetime effect on the personality of the abused. It is very unlikely that anything positive will bloom out of someone being abused or tormented as a child.

Laura Wingfield in The Glass Menagerie is a great example of a person who was affected by tormenting. Laura is an extremely shy, sensitive, and self-conscious person by nature. Her shyness is even made worse by her mother’s forceful and almost brutal nature. Laura’s mother, Amanda, puts an enormous amount of pressure on her daughter. Amanda definitely wants the best for Laura but she does not understand that her daughter is very different from herself. Amanda constantly tells love stories and tells tales of many gentleman callers. She constantly tells her daughter to stay pretty for her gentleman callers even though Laura does not expect any. After, Laura drops out of school Amanda tries to get Laura’s brother Tom to set her up with a man. Amanda forces her daughter to dress the way she thinks is appropriate. When Laura’s date, Jim arrives Amanda puts tremendous pressure on Laura. Laura is extremely sick, yet Amanda forces her to open the door for Jim and engage in conversation. As a result of Amanda wanting and pressuring Laura into becoming a person she is not, Laura withdrew herself from reality.

Another factor that affected Laura as a person was her slight physical defect, a limp. Her oversensitive nature combined with the way people with disabilities are treated made her think that everyone notices the limp and it become a huge stumbling block to normal living. Her inability to overcome this defect causes her to withdraw into her world of illusion.

Tom Wingfield, Amanda’s son is another character in the play that was tormented by Amanda and others.

Show More
Related

  • Analysis Of Laura Wingfield

    986 Words  | 2 Pages

    Who is Laura Wingfield you might ask? Without the knowledge of her age one might assume Laura is quite young the little sister. However she is not, Laura is almost 24 and is someone who didn’t want to be treated like a child but just became complacent with her status. Furthermore, Laura is unemployed which creates one of the main conflicts in the play, and her response to this problem highlights Laura’s attempt at ignoring reality by lying to her mother. The entirety of the play takes place in Saint Louis and Laura’s family apartment. Highlighting, why Laura’s has a clear inability to accept change since Laura has lived in Saint Louis, Missouri her whole life. Similarly, Laura has also lived her entire life in the same apartment located in

    Read More

  • Glass Menagerie and Streetcar Named Desire - Comparing Amanda Wingfield and Blanche Dubois

    1439 Words  | 3 Pages

    Amanda Wingfield is mother of Tom and Laura. She is a middle-aged southern belle whose husband has abandoned her. She spends her time reminiscing about the past and nagging her children. Amanda is completely dependent on her son Tom for finical security and holds him fully responsible for her daughter Laura's future. Amanda is obsessed with her past as she constantly reminds Tom and Laura of that " one Sunday afternoon in Blue Mountain when she once received seventeen gentlemen callers" (pg.32). The reader cannot even be sure that this actually happened. However, it is clear that despite its possible falsity, Amanda has come to believe it. Amanda also refuses to acknowledge that her daughter Laura is crippled and refers to her handicap as " a little defect-hardly noticeable" (pg.45). Only for brief moments does she ever admit that her daughter is crippled and then she resorts back into to her world of denial and delusion. Amanda puts the weight of Laura's success in life on her son Tom's shoulders. When Tom finally finds a man to come over to the house for diner and meet Laura, Amanda blows the situation way out of proportion. She believes that this gentlemen caller, Jim, is going to be the man to rescue Laura. When in fact neither herself nor Laura has even met this man Jim yet. She tries to explain to Laura how to entertain a gentleman caller; she says-talking about her past " They knew how to entertain their gentlemen callers. It wasn't enough for a girl to be possessed of a pretty face and a graceful figure although I wasn't slighted in either respect.

    Read More

  • Use of Metaphor in Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie

    841 Words  | 2 Pages

    Amanda is also well characterized by the glass menagerie. The glass sits in a case, open for display and inspection for all. Amanda try’s to portray herself as a loving mother, doing everything she can for her children, and caring nothing for herself, when in fact, she is quite selfish and demanding. Amanda claims that she devotes her life to her children, and that she would do anything for them, but is very suspicious of Tom’s activities, and continually pressures Tom, trying to force him in finding a gentleman caller for Laura, believing that Laura is lonely and needs a companion, perhaps to get married. Like the glass, her schemes are very transparent, and people can see straight through them to the other side, where ...

    Read More

  • Free Glass Menagerie Essays: The Destruction of Laura

    1116 Words  | 3 Pages

    Laura's mother and brother shared some of her fragile tendencies. Amanda, Laura's mother, continually lives in the past. Her reflection of her teenage years continually haunts Laura. To the point where she forces her to see a "Gentleman Caller" it is then that Tom reminds his mother not to "expect to much of Laura" she is unlike other girls. But Laura's mother has not allowed herself nor the rest of the family to see Laura as different from other girls. Amanda continually lives in the past when she was young a pretty and lived on the plantation. Laura must feel she can never live up to her mothers expectations. Her mother continually reminds her of her differences throughout the play.

    Read More

  • Analysis: The Glass Menagerie

    1125 Words  | 3 Pages

    As Winfield 's wife, Amanda is worthy of love and respect. Amanda is a southern lady, when she was young, she had an attractive appearance and graceful in manner, and her families were also quite rich. These favorable conditions made her the admiration of many men. Still, her final choice was a poor boy. She did not hesitate and bravely to choose her own love. Though her marriage was not as good as she had imagined the happiness of life, and the husband, Winfield meager income also drinking heavily, finally abandoned Amanda and two young children, but she still remembered and loved her husband. Her husband 's weakness did not make Amanda fall down; instead, she was brave enough to support the family, raising and educating of their two young children. Daughter Laura was a disability to close her fantasy world, and she was collection of a pile of glass small animals as partners. Amanda knew Laura sensitive, fragile, she was always in the care and encourages her daughter. Because of her shortcomings, Laura sometimes frustrated and Amanda immediately replied that "I 've told you never, never to use that word. Why, you 're not crippled, you just have a little defect". Amanda for the care of the children was more reflected a mother 's strong from the play that Amanda paid money to send Laura to typing school. She hoped daughter have a better future and married a good man to take care of the family, and encouraged her daughter, prompting her to go out of the glass menagerie to experience her real life, but Amanda placed more expectations for his son Tom because her husband left home, Tom is the only man and the mainstay of the family. She wanted Tom to realize that is a kind of family responsibility, also is a kind of essential social

    Read More

  • The Concincing Character Develpoment in Nora Helmer of A Doll’s House and Laura Wingfield of The Glass Menagerie

    753 Words  | 2 Pages

    Laura is a static character, like every other character in The Glass Menagerie. From beginning to end, she is described as “terribly shy” by two people—Tom and the typing instructor. The fact that Tom, her brother, and her typing instructor who is practically a stranger used the same words to describe her leads to the conclusion that Laura can easily be summed up by those two words. There is no depth to her at all with the slight exception of how Jim characterizes her. And even then, she can be summed up by saying she’s one-in-a-million or nicknaming her Blue Roses. She remains quiet and shy throughout almost the entire play except for when she comes out of her shell for a fleeting moment with Jim, before the unicorn’s horn breaks off. The slight development of Laura occurs only because she loved Jim and the belief that she had a chance with him motivated for her to gradually open up. He was building up her confidence even though it was for the purpose of him to practice his public speaking, not because he truly cared about her. But the development is quite convincing since Laura, like any other girl, shy or not, was hoping for love to come to her. Willia...

    Read More

  • The Fantasy World of The Glass Menagerie

    682 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Fantasy World of The Glass Menagerie In The Glass Menagerie, Tennessee Williams creates a world in which the characters are disillusioned by the present.   Amanda, Tom, and Laura achieve this disillusionment by resorting to separate worlds where they can find sanctuary.   Each character develops their own world, far away from reality. Amanda frees herself from the harsh realities of life by constantly reminding herself of the past.   To begin with, she continuously repeats the story of the "one Sunday afternoon in Blue Mountain" when she received seventeen gentlemen callers (1195).

    Read More

  • Essay on the Dysfunctional Family of The Glass Menagerie

    1074 Words  | 3 Pages

    The three family members are adults at the time of this play, struggling to be individuals, and yet, very enmeshed and codependent with one another. The overbearing and domineering mother, Amanda, spends much of her time reliving the past; her days as a southern belle. She desperately hopes her daughter, Laura, will marry. Laura suffers from an inferiority complex partially due to a minor disability that she perceives as a major one. She has difficulty coping with life outside of the apartment, her cherished glass animal collection, and her Victrola. Tom, Amanda's son, resents his role as provider for the family, yearns to be free from him mother's constant nagging, and longs to pursue his own dreams. A futile attempt is made to match Laura with Jim, an old high school acquaintance and one of Tom's work mates.

    Read More

  • The Dreamers of The Glass Menagerie

    1069 Words  | 3 Pages

    how society forced them to change and Laura to lose her status in order to fit

    Read More

  • Glass Menagerie: Symbolism of Laura’s Fragility and Escapism

    935 Words  | 2 Pages

    When he asks what she gives it to him for, she replies, “A—souvenir.” Then she hands it to him, almost as if to show him that he had shattered her unique beauty. This incident changed her in the way that a piece of her innocence that made her so different is now gone. She is still beautiful and fragile like the menagerie, but just as she gives a piece of her collection to Jim, she also gives him a piece of her heart that she would never be able to regain. Laura and her menagerie are both at risk of being crushed when exposed to the uncaring reality of the world.

    Read More

  • Characters in The Glass Menagerie

    614 Words  | 2 Pages

    providing for them. The idea of the sense of duty she has for Tom and

    Read More

  • glass menagerie

    860 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Glass Menagerie is a play written by Tennessee Williams in 1945. The play takes place in the Wingfield’s apartment in St. Louis. Tom is the protagonist in the play and he stays at home with his mother Amanda and his sister Laura. Tom’s Father left the family when he was younger leaving him as the man of the house. His mother Amanda expects him to do everything a man would do. This included working, paying bills, and taking care of herself and Laura. Laura is disabled and she doesn’t work therefore Tom is left providing for his whole family. Being abandoned by Mr. Wingfield left the family distraught. No one seemed to be able to cope with the fact that he was gone even though he left many years ago. Amanda is constantly treating Tom like a child. She tells him how to eat, when to eat, and what he should and should not wear. Tom eventually gets fed up with everything. He can’t stand his factory job, the responsibility of being the man or being treated like a child by his mother. Tom decides to follow in his father’s footsteps and leave the family. It seems as if Tom thinks that running away from his problems will make them go away but things didn’t turn out that way. Although the play was written many years ago, young adults in this day and age can relate to Tom and his actions. The main theme in the play is escape. All of the character use escape in some way. Laura runs to her glass menagerie or phonographs when she can’t handle a situation, Amanda seems to live in the past, and Tom constantly runs away when things aren’t going his way. Escape is a short term fix for a bigger problem. Running away may seem like the easiest thing to do, but in the end the problem is still there and it may be unforgettable. As time goes on esc...

    Read More

  • Character Analysis Of Amanda Wingfield In The Glass Menagerie

    1827 Words  | 4 Pages

    At first glance, Amanda Wingfield from Tennessee Williams’s The Glass Menagerie seems like a selfish women stuck in her past. In some ways this observation is correct; however, she is much more than that. Her kind and caring nature, and her insatiable love for her children has been overshadowed by her brash and insensitive dialogue. Her character is extremely complex and each one her actions reveals more of her overwhelming personality. Amanda loves her children and tries her best to make sure they do not follow in her path to downfall. Unfortunately, while she is trying to push her children toward her ideals of success; she is also pushing them away. Amanda Wingfield is a kind women stuck the wrong place and time; she

    Read More

  • Child Abuse Essay

    1082 Words  | 3 Pages

    People who have been affected by child abuse could suffer from effects such as a low self-esteem which could be displayed in the decisions they make in simple very day life. Child abuse victims can also suffer from effects such as physical injuries, attention disorder. Victims who have been abused tend to have difficulty maintaining a long term relationship with other individuals. They also display extremely violent and aggressive behaviors and attitudes which could lead to death.

    Read More

  • Child Abuse Essay

    1007 Words  | 3 Pages

    As I said before, many people don’t realize what the consequences of child abuse can do to a child. When a child is abused the may develop a range of maladaptive, anti-social, and self-destructive behaviors and thoughts by trying to cope with the abuse that is in their life. They may blame themselves for what is happening in their homes. Children who are abused also don’t have the ability to “spread their wings” and experience new things. Parents who abuse their children usually have a very tight restraint on them and don’t allow them to be able to experience new things. Children then lose their curiosity and wonder and quit trying new things and exercising their mind.

    Read More

More about The Glass Menagerie

Open Document