Length: 828 words (3 pages)
Rating: Red (FREE)      
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Symbolism in The Glass Menagerie

 

        The Glass Menagerie uses an extensive pattern of symbolism that

describes the characters of Tom,Amanda,Laura and Jim. Glass,light,color and

music constitute the substance of the dominant symbols and motifs,serving

to reveal deeper aspects of characters and underlying themes of the

play.Tennessee Williams wrote the play so that each character had a special

symbol which resembled their personality.But he didn't only give the

characters of the play a a resembling symbol;he also mentions the

apartment blocks to be hivelike conglomerations of cellular living-units

resembling a beenstock.The way he describes their location also has a lot

of symbolism in its roots because he describes them to be flowering  as

warty growths in overcrowded urban centers.

 

        Tennessee Williams used many symbolic aspects to describe Laura and

the world she lives in.In the play,Laura represents the very fragile,shy

and emotionally crippled girl.In her mind she lives in a world of glass

animals and doesn't have a connection to the real world.The managerie of

glass also represents the fragile relationships among all the

characters.The glass unicorn is most obviously a symbol of Laura--

delicate,sadly different,an anomaly in the modern world.The glass motif

recurs throughout the whole play in many other forms.When Laura dropped

out of college she constantly visited the zoo,a glass house of tropical

flowers that are as vulnerable as she is.During Laura's and Jim's brief

romantic encounter,Laura is gaining more confidence about herself.It seems

as if she is starting to escape her world of illusions.When they started

dancing together,Jim accidently knocked the little glass horse over.

Laura,who usually worships her glass collection more than anything

else,replied to his excuse;"He's lost his horn.It doesn't matter.Maybe

it's a blessing in disguise." and  "I'll just imagine he had an

operation.The horn was removed to make him feel less--freakish!Now he will

feel more at home with the other horses,the ones who don't have

horns....".These two quotes give an impression that Laura is finally

escaping her illusive world.She thinks that she might have a chance to

survive the real world.What she doesn't know is that she is about to be

wounded by the news of Jim's engagement.After Jim tells her the news,she

gives him the unicorn as a souvenir and retreats into her land of the

glass menagerie never to come out again.

 

           In the play,Tom is the adventure seeking man trying to escape

the prison Amanda is keeping him trapped in.To escape the real world,Tom

constantly goes to the movies.The movies make him think about all the

adventures he missing.It his little land of dreams.He is jealous of his

father who left his family and achieved what Tom always wanted,

"Freedom".Tom has never been comfortable with the way his mother treated

him.She always disagreed with the way Tom behaved.When Amanda put him down

after Jim left,saying that he didn't even know that his friend was engaged

and that Jim broke Laura's heart,Tom finally had enough.He took the money

that was meant to pay for the electric bill,left the family and finally

pursued his dream of adventure.Still,when he crosses by a window with

little perfume bottles made of glass or other small things made of this

material,he thinks of Laura.

 

        Amanda,who is the domineering parent of Tom and Laura,lives in a

fantasy world in which she was a young beautiful girl,living in an area

called Blue Mountain.She always told Laura and Tom about the many

gentleman callers she received every day.Sometimes there were as many as

seventeen a day,all prominent men on the Mississippi Delta.To make some

extra money she sells The Homemaker's Companion that features the

serialized sublimations of ladies of letters who think in terms of

delicate cuplike breasts,slim,tapering waists ,and rich and creamy

thighs.Those are all parts of her fantasy world which make her think back

to the time when she was a young and beautiful girl.She also is the

domineering parent in the family.She treats Tom very harsh sometimes.She

does that because she is scared that she is going to lose her children

just like she did her husband.

 

        Jim is the most realistic character in the play.He is didn't live

in any fantasy world like Tom and his family did.When he talked to Laura

after they had dinner,he tried to make her more comfortable because he

felt that Laura was very shy.He showed Laura how superior he is in order to

impress her.For example,he said,"Look how big my shadow is when I

stretch."He wanted to show Laura how manly he is.Jim's nickname for Laura ,

Blue Roses,suggests a phenomenon that is contrary to nature.Blue also

means sad.

 

        The symbolism in the play The Glass Menagerie made the story much

more interesting. It gave the play a special point which made it more

interesting to read. Tenessee Williams used a wide range of symbolic

aspects to describe Laura,Amanda,Jim,and Tom who are four out of the five

characters in the play. Symbolism is sometimes very important in

plays,stories,etc. because it tells us about the secrets which are hidden

inside.