Important Symbols and Themes of The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams

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Important Symbols and Themes of The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams

Tennessee Williams' play, The Glass Menagerie is considered a memory

play because it is told from the memory of the narrator. The narrator,

who is also a character, is Tom Wingfield, the youngest member of the

Wingfield family. The other characters are Amanda Wingfield, his

mother; Laura Wingfield, his older sister; and Jim O'Connor the

gentleman caller. A fifth character is represented by the photograph

of Mr. Wingfield, who left the family a long time ago. It is this

departure by Mr. Wingfield that represents the theme of escape

throughout the play.

The Glass Menagerie is set in the apartment of the Wingfield family

during the mid 1930's. By description, it is a cramped, dinghy place,

similar to a jail cell. Of the Wingfield family members, none of them

want to live there. Poverty is what traps them to live within their

present environment. Williams uses many symbols to help the

Wingfield's escape their surroundings, and differentiate 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" may 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

entrance into the world of reality. Amanda sees the fire escape as an

opportunity for gentleman callers to enter their lives. This would be

an example of reality entering the Wingfields illusionary lives. For

Laura, the fire escape represents a way to hide from rea...

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...elming. He cannot seem to get over it. Everything he sees is a reminder of her. Tom is now truly following in the footsteps of his father. Too late, he is realizing that leaving is not an escape at all, but a path of even more powerful desperation.

Williams uses the theme of escape throughout "The Glass Menagerie" to demonstrate the hopelessness and futility of each character's dreams. Tom, Laura and Amanda all seem to think, incorrectly I might add, that escape is possible. In the end, no character makes a clean break from the situation at hand. The escape theme demonstrated in the fire escape, the dance hall, Mr. Wingfield and Tom's departure prove to be a dead end in many ways. Perhaps Tennessee Williams is trying to send a message that running away is not the way to solve life's problems. The only escape in life is solving your problems, not avoiding them.

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