The Glass Menagerie

3 Pages 795 Words

Symbolism in Glass
Tennessee Williams “The Glass Menagerie” tells the story of an unusual family coping with unfortunate circumstances. The title of the play comes from a hobby of the youngest member of the family, Laura. Her glass menagerie is a collection of glass ornaments. Laura’s glass menagerie symbolizes everyone in the story.
In the beginning of the play Tom explains to the audience that he is the narrator. This is also when the father is mentioned for the first time. His father left their family, but is always a presence in their house because of his “larger-than-life size photograph that hangs over the mantel” (1781). The glass menagerie symbolizes him because it is also unreal. His presence is always felt, but it is not a real presence, just as the figures in Laura’s glass are very important to her, but they are also not real.
Amanda, the mother, is very strange. She has had a hard life. Her husband left her with two children and the pressure of raising them on her own really seems to have altered her view of reality. She talks endlessly on how many men wanted to date her when she was young, telling her children, “sometimes there weren’t enough chairs to accommodate them all” (1782). She lives in the past. Her mind is also very fragile, as fragile as glass. If she becomes upset she goes back into her past to think about better days. She does not choose to believe the truth when it does not suit what she wants to believe. She is as fragile as ornament in her daughter’s glass menagerie.
Tom, as mentioned earlier, is the narrator. He is also fragile, but in a different way than his mother. His patience is easily worn. He has to work long hours supporting his family. He knows that he must work or they will not survive, but living with that burden has made him bitter, and he is staring to yearn for bigger and better things. The only comfort he feels is when he leaves the apartment an...