Escape in Tennessee Williams´ The Glass Menagerie - 626 Words

In Tennessee Williams drama The Glass Menagerie, Williams uses symbolism and foreshadowing to show how the little things in peoples lives can be the escape of the reality of daily problems that they may face, main example being Lauras glass figures. Story is introduced with Tom, the protagonist and narrator of the story. The other characters are his sister Laura, and his mother Amanda, who is the antagonist. An imperative element about the story is that it is not told in the narrators present time, but is entirely based of his memories. Tennessee Williams did that to place an emphasis on the mood of the story through Toms point of view. In the story, Amanda and Tom constantly fight because of Amandas harassment, which in turn is causing Tom to be both unhappy and restless. She resents how Tom likes to spend his time. He likes to drink and watch movies, but Amanda taunts him for wanting to pursue his own dreams instead of working to support his family. So every character in the story faces a certain dilemma. Tom hates his job, while Amanda wants to make changes to Laura so that she can be more outgoing. Which in turn causes Laura not be at ease. But Laura is true to her character, she doesnt get angry, but is extremely shy. Some messages in the story jump out at you, such as the difficulty of accepting reality, and how people cant truly escape their problems. The central mood is that of despair. As the story progresses, each character is working through aShow MoreRelated Dreams of Escape in The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams2189 Words   |  9 Pages     Ã‚   In The Glass Menagerie, Tennessee Williams presents us with four characters whose lives seem to consist in avoiding reality more than facing it. Amanda lives her life through her children and clings to her lost youthfulness. Tom retreats into movie theaters and into his dream of joining the merchant seamen and some day becoming a published poet. Laura resorts to her Victrola and collection of glass ornaments to help sustain her world of fantasy. Finally, Jim is only able to find some reliefRead MoreEscape from Reality in The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams680 Words   |  3 PagesEscape from Reality in The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams The Characters Escape From Reality in The Glass Menagerie The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams centers around a dream of escape. Although everyone wants to escape from a different reality, they all feel that need to get away. The father is the most successful in his escape because he never has to deal with anything at home. He actually leaves and doesnt look back. As for the other four: Laura, Amanda, Tom, and Jim, they seemRead MoreIllusion Vs. Reality In The Glass Menagerie By Tennessee Williams1022 Words   |  5 Pagesillusions on someone. In The Glass Menagerie Tennessee Williams uses metaphors, the fire escape, and Laura’s glass menagerie to emphasize how the characters retreat to their world of illusion to escape from reality. Williams uses Laura’s glass menagerie to exemplify how the characters retreat into their private world of illusion. Because of Laura’s defects, she feels as if others do not accept her. She makes a world of illusion to escape from reality. Her glass menagerie represents this kind of worldRead More Essay on the Symbolism of the Menagerie in The Glass Menagerie1002 Words   |  5 PagesThe Symbolism of the Menagerie in The Glass Menagerie      Ã‚   Tennessee Williams play, The Glass Menagerie, 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. Williams use of symbols adds depth to the play. 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Amanda tries to relive her past through Laura, and denies anything she does not want to accept. Laura is terrified of the real world, and choses to hide behind her limp, her glass menagerie and the victrola. Tom hides from his reality by going to the movies, writing poetry, and getting drunk. Mr Wingfield hides from hisRead More Essay on Stagnant Lives in Streetcar Named Desire and Glass Menagerie1196 Words   |  5 PagesStagnant Lives in Streetcar Named Desire and Glass Menagerie   Ã‚  Ã‚   The Stagnant Lives of Blanche DuBois and Amanda Wingfield  Ã‚  Ã‚   All of Williams significant characters are pathetic victims--of time, of their own passions, of immutable circumstance (Gantz 110). This assessment of Tennessee Williams plays proves true when one looks closely at the characters of Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire and Amanda Wingfield in The Glass Menagerie. Their lives run closely parallel to one anotherRead More Essay on The Glass Menagerie and the Life of Tennessee Williams957 Words   |  4 PagesThe Glass Menagerie and the Life of Tennessee Williams The Glass Menagerie closely parallels the life of the author. From the very job Tennessee held early in his life to the apartment he and his family lived in. Each of the characters presented, their actions taken and even the setting have been based on the past of Thomas Lanier Williams, better known as Tennessee Williams. Donald Spoto described the new apartment building that Williams and his family relocated to in St. Louis, MissouriRead More The Importance of Symbolism in The Glass Menagerie Essay1609 Words   |  7 PagesImportance of Symbolism in The Glass Menagerie  Ã‚      Tom Wingfield is the narrator and a major character in Tennessee William’s timeless play, The Glass Menagerie. Through the eyes of Tom, the viewer gets a glance into the life of his family in the pre-war depression era; his mother, a Southern belle desperately clinging to the past; his sister, a woman too fragile to function in society; and himself, a struggling, young poet working at a warehouse to pay the bills. Williams has managed to create aRead MoreEssay Crushed Dreams in The Glass Menagerie1194 Words   |  5 PagesCrushed Dreams in The Glass Menagerie      Ã‚  Ã‚   Tennessee Williams is known for his use of symbols, tension, and irony. Williams uses all of these components to express the central theme of The Glass Menagerie - hope followed by despair. Each of the characters has dreams that are destroyed by the harsh realities of the world.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As the narrator blatantly admits, since I have a poets weakness for symbols, symbols are central to The Glass Menagerie (Williams 30). Symbols are merely