The Glass Menagerie by Tennesse Williams

     In Tennesse Williams' memory play The Glass Menagerie (1945), he illustrates the hardships between the siblings, Tom and Laura Wingfield who are trying to live and overcome the conflicts within the era of the Great Depression but also the battles within themselves of emotion and wanting. Williams uses a parallel structure in using Tom Wingfield in beginning the play, during the play, and in the end to tell the events that are happening within the household and how later on it hurts to remember his sister because he abandoned her; and he also uses imagery in the beginning of the scenes and during the scenes to illustrate the events and also to slow down the moment to take in the scene to spark the imagination, and finally he uses soliloquy for Tom Wingfield to speak the regrets and the memories he has of his sister in failing her. Williams purpose on this memory play is to tell a story that is saddening and heartfelt also to make one remember that life cannot be lived without a purpose or even self motiviation to do well in life. He seems to have an audience who enjoys stories involving family trials, the romance of life and memory, and the becoming of one coming out of situation that ties oneself down. 

Vocabulary:

• menagerie: a collection of wild or unusual animals
• kitchenette: a very small compact kitchen
• voile: a lightweight, semisheer fabric of wool, silk, rayon, or cotton constructed in plain weave

Tone: sincere, reflective, dreamy

Rhetorical Strategies: 

• imagery: "A fragile, unearthly prettiness has come out in Laura: she is like a piece of translucent glass touched by light, given a momentary radiance, not actual, not lasting." (pg:69)
• allusion: "No, sister, no, sister- you be the lady this time and I'll be the darky." (pg:25)
• metaphor: "...-stuck away in some little mousetrap of a room- encouraged by one in-law to vist another- little birdlike women without any nest-eating the crust of humility all their life!" (pg.34)
• foreshadow: "For sixty-five dollars a month I give up all that I dream of doing and being ever! And you say self-self's all i ever think of. Why, listen, if self is what I thought of, Mother, I'd be where he is-GONE! As far as the system of transportation reaches!" (pg.41)
• idiom: "Stick and stones can break our bones..." (pg:47)

Questions:

1. What is the D.A.R. that Amanda attends to?
2. Why does Willliams include Jim O'Connor as one of the characters and who is able to draw Laura out of her protective shell?
3. Does having a protective and demanding parent a good thing for children when growing up? 

Memorable Quote:
 "The window is filled with pieces of colored glass, tiny transparent bottles in delicate colors, like bits of a shattered rainbow. " (pg:115)

The Glass Menagerie and Tennesse Williams

     The Glass Menagerie first performance was on December 26, 1944, but the play's actual publication date was in 1945. Written by Tennesse Williams, whose real name was Thomas Lanier Williams III, but took on his nickname from college as his real name. He was born on March 26, 1911 in Columbus, Mississippi and died on February 25, 1983 from choking on a top from his eye medicine and was believed from a drug overdose also. He lived during the Great Depression which was part of the "setting" of the play. The character Laura in The Glass Menagerie is based on his sister Rose Williams, whom he was very close to. It was believed that Rose had mental issues because she allegedly accused her father for sexual assault. In 1937 by the permission of their parents she underwent a brain surgery that left her incapitated which was an emotional shock to Tennesse Williams. Williams childhood wasnt a very happy one he was sick and weak for a while he consider his mother as one of his heroines. His mother was very supported of his writing career that she gave him a typewriter. His father was an alcoholic and affected by the Great Depression during the 1930s. His father had disowned him when Tennesse declared himself a homosexual.           
     Williams top plays and performances were really famous and praised during the early 1940s and early 1960s by the motivation and his involvement with his partner Frank Merlo until his death. "Alcoholism, depression, thwarted desire, loneliness in search of purpose, and insanity were all part of Williams' world" which affected his daily life that sometimes lead to emotional breakdowns. By the change of society in taste and culture later on in the 1960s his plays became less viewed and famous.

"SparkNotes: The Glass Menagerie: Context." SparkNotes: Today's Most Popular Study Guides. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2011. <http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/menagerie/context.html>.