The play The
Glass Menagerie, by Tennessee Williams, Williams uses
many symbols
which represent many different things. Many of the symbols
used in the play
try to symbolize some form of escape or difference 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" seems to 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. For
Laura, the fire escape is a way into her world. A way to
escape from
reality. Both examples can readily be seen: Tom will stand
outside on the
fire escape to smoke, showing that he does not like to be
inside, to be a
part of the illusionary world. Laura, on the other hand,
thinks of the
fire escape as a way in and not a way out. This can be
seen when Amanda
sends Laura to go to the store: Laura trips on the fire
escape. This also
shows that Laura's fears and emotions greatly affect her
physical condition,
more so than normal people.
Another symbol
presented deals more with Tom than any of the other
characters: Tom's
habit of going to the movies shows us his longing to
leave the
apartment and head out into the world of reality. A place where
one can find
adventure. And Tom, being a poet, can understand the needs of
man to long for
adventure and romance. But he is kept from entering
reality by
Amanda, who criticizes him as being a "selfish dreamer." But,
Tom has made
steps to escape into reality by transferring the payment of a
light bill to pay
for his dues in the Merchant Seaman's Union.
Another symbol,
which deals with both Amanda and Laura, is Jim
O'Connor. To Laura,
Jim represents the one thing she fears and does not
want to face,
reality. Jim is a perfect example of "the common man." A
person with no
real outstanding quality. In fact, Jim is rather awkward,
which can be seen
when he dances with Laura. To Amanda, Jim represents the
days of her
youth, when she went frolicking about picking jonquils and
supposedly having
"seventeen gentlemen callers on one Sunday afternoon."
Although Amanda
desires to see Laura settled down with a nice young man, it
is hard to tell
whether she wanted a gentleman caller to be invited for
Laura or for
herself.
One symbol which
is rather obvious is Laura's glass menagerie. Her
collection of
glass represents her own private world. Set apart from
reality, a place
where she can hide and be safe. The events that happen to
Laura's glass
affects Laura's emotional state greatly. When Amanda tells
Laura to practice
typing, Laura instead plays with her glass. When Amanda
is heard walking
up the fire escape, she quickly hides her collection. She
does this to hide
her secret world from the others. When Tom leaves to go
to the movies in
an angered rush, he accidentally breaks some of Laura's
glass. The
shattered glass represents Laura's understanding of Tom's
responsibilities
to her. Also, the unicorn, which is important, represents
Laura directly.
Laura points out to Jim that the unicorn is different,
just as she is
different. She also points out that the unicorn does not
complain of being
different, as she does not complain either. And when Jim
breaks the horn
off the unicorn, Laura points out that now it is like the
other horses, just
as Laura has shed some of her shyness and become more
normal. When she
hands the broken unicorn to Jim, this might represent
Laura handing
over her broken love to Jim, as Jim has revealed that he is
engaged to be
married.
As can be seen,
there are quite a few symbols in this play. And a
number of them
have diverse meanings. Most of these symbols have a direct
meaning in the
author's own life. This is understandable seeing that the
play is supposed to
be "memory play." It is obvious that this memory play
is based on
Williams' own memories.
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