The Glass Menagerie Literary Analysis Essay

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Recommended: Literary aspect of the glass menagerie

Kelsie Seals
English 1302, 36300
T.D. Heflin
May 3rd, 2014 (1091)
“The Glass Menagerie”
The play “The Glass Menagerie” was written by Tennessee Williams who was a Pulitzer Prize winner. This play is a family drama play that was written in 1945. The three strongest literary elements of the play are plot, symbolism, and characterization.
The main literary element of the play is theme. The theme of “The Glass Menagerie” is the difficulty of accepting reality. Each of the characters have a hard time accepting reality. Tom, Laura, and Amanda each have their own way of escaping reality. Tom provides for his family by working a job that he doesn’t like with long hours in a warehouse. “He is the most realistic character in the play, being on a missionary from a world of reality that we somehow set apart from.” (The Glass Menagerie, page 1176) With the stress of everyday life at home it is slowly pushing Tom over the edge, so he escapes by going to the movies and drinking a lot. Laura sees herself as crippled and fears how others see her. She spends a great amount of time playing with her glass figurines to escape society and everyday life. Amanda the mother reminisces about life before her husband left. She also spends all of her time figuring out how she can get gentleman callers for Laura. She thinks that if Laura can’t go to business college and make something of her future she needs to get married. For each of the characters they have a harsh reality ever since their father/husband left them.
According to Jacqueline O’Connor she saw confinement as a main theme in the play. She says, “Tom speaks frequently about the confinement that keeps him from fulfilling his dreams.” “In scene three, he berates his mother for the lack of priva...

... middle of paper ...

...hat character trapped by the present.”
In summary, the three literary elements theme, symbolism, and characterization play a big part in giving life to the play. Starting with the characters having difficulty accepting reality, symbols that represent each of them, and the attitude of their character.

Bruccoli, Matthew J., and Judith S. Baugman. "Laura Wingfield." Student's Encyclopedia of American Literary Characters. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2009. Bloom's Literature. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 3 May 2014.
Juan, Z. “A Comparison of Tenessee Williams and Anton Chekhov.” Studies in Literature and Language “ 1.3 (2010): 35-8 ProQuest. Web. 3 May 2014.
Williams, Tennessee. “The Glass Menagerie.” Literature: an Introductionto Fiction, Poetry, Drams, and writing. Ed. X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 7th Compact ed. New York: Pearson, 2013. 1174-1220. Print.

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