[WARNING: This contains
MAJOR spoilers]
Hello Friend, today’s post is going to revolve around the
characters of “The Glass Menagerie”, a memory play written by one of the three
foremost playwrights of the twentieth century, Tennessee Williams. Williams was
a genius! I don’t agree with his views on every subject [his views were pretty
nihilistic, and he always depicted life as something dreary and dreadful. His
plays were a means of venting his negative emotions. They always give me something
to think about, and I’m really glad I read “Sweet Bird of Youth”—this was my
introduction to Williams]. The Glass Menagerie contains strong autobiographical
elements, featuring characters based on the author, his overly emotional
mother, and his mentally fragile sister. This post is mainly going to be about
the characters, but I’m just going to give you a brief summary of the play as
well [so you know what I’m talking about, haha.] It’s set in the small,
unobtrusive town of St. Louis in the United States of America, 1937. There’s
this young man [in his early twenties] called Tom Wingfield; he has a slightly
older sister, Laura, who is crippled and extremely reclusive. Their mother,
Amanda Wingfield, has been raising the two of them single-handedly for sixteen
years, ever since their father “fell in love with long distance” and left them
to fend for themselves. Tom is the main bread earner of the family [Amanda
works as well.] Throughout the play, it is seen that this family is completely
dysfunctional; Amanda constantly nags her children—especially Tom—and Tom
sometimes goes out of his way to aggravate his mother, while Laura, poor Laura,
desperately tries to keep the peace. None of the three characters are willing
to face the reality of their situation: they are extremely poor and hardly able
to make ends meet, but they insist on living in a world of their own creation, particularly
Laura. There’s another seemingly minor character, Jim O’ Connor, the “gentleman
caller” whom Amanda has been expecting for a while [she wants Laura to be
married off as soon as possible, as Laura is completely dependent on her mother
and brother for aid of any kind; she is not able to do much by herself.] Now,
let’s move on to a proper analysis of the characters!
Tom Wingfield
Tom Wingfield is the
narrator and protagonist of The Glass Menagerie. His style of narration is
quite unique, as he seems to be looking at his past through a screen; he
frequently talks to the audience directly, and cites this play as a “memory
play”, as he is drawing upon his memories and presenting them in the form of a
play. He can be seen as an unreliable narrator; in fact, in the beginning, he
warns the readers that everything they see may not be as it seems. He opens
this play with this memorable quote: “Yes, I have tricks in my pocket, I have
things up my sleeve. In this respect, I am not unlike the stage magician.
However, he gives you illusion in the guise of truth. I give you truth in the
pleasant guise of illusion.” Tom is a
very complex, multi-faceted character, as he frequently struggles with himself
and his indecisiveness; he feels greatly burdened and pressurised as he is the
main bread earner of the family; he has to look after his mother and sister.
Though Mr. Wingfield has left them sixteen years ago, his presence still looms
over the house; Tom yearns to follow in his father’s footsteps and leave his
mother and sister once and for all. Tom is in now in a position far beneath
him: he is working at a shoe warehouse. His earnings are not enough to support
all of them, forcing his mother to work as well. He is an aspiring poet, and
earnestly wishes to propel himself out of the harsh reality which he finds
himself in. Few people know about his literary pursuits. Due to his mother’s
constant nagging, he has grown rebellious and restless; however, he initially
finds himself unable to follow his father due to a strong sense of duty and
responsibility [as well as his mother’s emotional blackmailing.] At the end,
after a massive row with her, he decides to leave them for good; he loves his
mother and sister, but the responsibility is too much for him [I don’t exactly
blame him.] Shortly after, he gets fired for writing a poem on the lid of a
shoebox. This is the last time his mother and sister see him. Though Tom has
left them, he feels guilty about his decision, and is haunted by the face of
his sister, Laura. To signal the end of the play, he asks her to “blow the
candles out.”
Amanda Wingfield
Amanda Wingfield is one of the most important characters of
The Glass Menagerie. She is the emotionally unstable mother of Tom and Laura
Wingfield. As I stated before, she’s been raising them single-handedly for the
last sixteen years after her “charming” husband walked out on her and the kids.
Amanda is understandably bitter about having been left on her own; she loves
her children and wants the best for them, but finds fault with everything that
Tom does, and is a perfectionist. She is aware of the fact that she and her
children are hardly able to make ends meet, and attempts to cope with her
situation by delving into her past as a much-desired Southern belle; this
typical “faded Southern belle” character type has consistently been seen in
several of Williams’ works, particularly in “A Streetcar Named Desire.” However,
the woman in “A Streetcar Named Desire”, Blanche DuBois, is actually psychotic
and delusional, whereas Amanda is merely in denial. She could’ve had her pick
of men, yet she chose Mr Wingfield, who abandoned
her—this awareness makes her all the more bitter, and she wants to spare
her daughter, Laura, such pain. Being unable to move forward in life is one of
Amanda’s biggest weak points. She is unwilling to let go of her glorious past.
Moreover, she is afraid that Tom will, someday, leave them to fend for
themselves; he does leave them
eventually. Though Amanda seems dreamy and silly, she displays astonishing
pragmatism at times; she knows full well that uneducated, unemployed, unmarried
girls get palmed off onto grudging relatives who have to support them
financially. She does not want Laura to go through something so degrading. Though
Amanda is not a very sympathetic character in the beginning [as seen from Tom’s
perspective], as the play progresses, the audience gradually begins sympathising
with her. She does have a massive victim complex and tends to over-react, but
this does not take away from the sympathy the audience feels for her. At the
end of the play, she is seen comforting Laura after Tom walks out on them; her
silliness is gone, and she seems dignified and beautiful in a surreal way.
Laura Wingfield
Laura Wingfield is another major character in The Glass
Menagerie. The title [I’m sure you’ve all been wondering about that for a while
now] refers to her prized collection of tiny glass animals; Amanda calls them a
“menagerie”. Laura is most likely based on Williams’ sister, Rose. Laura is
depicted as a quiet, quaint, conservative and rather “odd” girl; she also has a
slight physical defect [she is crippled and walks in a somewhat awkward
fashion.] This has dealt a severe blow to her self-esteem, as she is aware that
she is “different” from other people; she has a massive inferiority complex.
She is a very perceptive girl, and is incredibly close to her brother. The
Glass Menagerie is a play that establishes a thin, but firm, boundary between
reality and illusion; however, Laura is entirely in a world of her own
creation. She is too frail to face the harsh reality which she and her family
are living in, and she has created a make-believe world as a coping mechanism
[though she is hardly aware of this herself.] All the animals in her
“collection” are as fragile and oddly beautiful as herself; glass reflects a
myriad of marvellous colours if the light falls on it in a certain way.
Similarly, Laura is extremely beautiful when viewed by people who understand her
peculiarities; sadly, no one really understands her [Tom and Amanda are puzzled
by her behaviour at times, too. Indeed, I’m sure that even she hasn’t figured
herself out. She sort of just drifts along, existing without actually living—if
you get what I mean. I know I’m not making much sense here.] The little glass
unicorn, her personal favourite, symbolises and mirrors her own state of mind;
different from everyone, not meant for this world at all [in short,
otherworldly], beautiful but strange, and so fragile you could shatter her just
by holding her close. She is so socially
inept that she has given up education because of her deep-seated terror of
interacting with people; this annoys her mother no end. At the end of the play,
the glass unicorn’s horn ends up getting broken; this symbolises all that has
been taken from and broken in Laura. Her spirit, frail enough already, has been
completely shattered by the “gentleman caller”, Jim O’ Connor. She gives him
the broken unicorn as a “souvenir”, suggesting that, in its current state, it
befits him more than her. [I’ll be getting to what he did to her soon. Just be
patient!] There is another symbol used for her in the play—blue roses; a
tribute to Rose. Just like Laura, blue roses stand out due to their unique beauty
and grace—however, this is all just superficial. Their beauty, is not actual,
not lasting. It withers quickly. Laura may seem extremely pretty initially, but
her beauty fails to leave a deep impact on people.
Jim O’ Connor
Ah! The “gentleman caller”! [OK, even I know I’m milking the
gentleman caller thing a bit. A gentleman wouldn’t actually have done what he
did to Laura.] Jim is an old high school acquaintance of Tom and Laura. He was
a popular athlete and actor during his days at Soldan High School. Subsequent
years have been less kind to Jim, and by the time of the play’s action, he is
working at the same shoe warehouse as Tom. His hunger to shine again is
depicted by his study of public speaking and ideas of self-improvement; he
regularly attends night school and has a very cheery, “can-do” kind of
attitude. Jim and Laura engage in conversation, and he compliments and kisses
her—only to tell her, immediately afterwards, that he is engaged. Engaged! And getting Laura’s hopes up like that! Well, that’s the last straw for her. She gives
him the broken unicorn, and he quickly leaves. That’s the last we see of him
[thankfully.] That’s all I can write for him, really.
Isn’t this an extremely interesting play?
That’s all for now! See you next time!
Thank you! I hope you liked my article!
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