The Glass Menagerie Essay - Critical Essays

Analysis

The Glass Menagerie is a play about coming-of-age. Tom’s maturity is demonstrated by his final
decision to leave the family, a decision that is made with the awareness of the inevitable clash
between illusion and reality, between reaction and action, and between what life has given him
and what he can control. In the opening of the play, Tom announces that unlike a stage magician
who “gives you illusion that has the appearance of truth,” he gives the audience “truth in the
pleasant disguise of illusion.” Amanda is just such a stage magician, manufacturing illusion in
the appearance of truth. Her problem is neither that she is insensitive nor that she is an
overprotective mother attempting to keep her children under her wings. Her dilemma is that she
is an anachronistic figure who clings “frantically to another time and place.” Tradition, the main
cause of Amanda’s obliviousness to changes in society, is as important to her as her relationship
with reality. Her faith in the “gentleman caller” tradition not only results in a failed marriage but
also leads to the disastrous meeting between Jim and Laura.

Amanda’s husband does not appear in the play, but his character plays an important role in
demonstrating and accentuating Amanda’s blindness. Mr. Wingfield, a bona fide gentleman
caller, was hand-picked by Amanda to marry. He was also an irresponsible pleasure-seeker who
later deserted the family for his own enjoyment of life. His abandonment of the family, in
addition to announcing the death of the marriage, challenges the credibility of the “gentleman
caller” tradition. Amanda is too nostalgically myopic, however, to see the portentous implication
and too hopelessly dazzled by its glamour to admit its destructive potential. Thus, the circular
movement of the play is not only underlined by the fact that Laura ends where she starts but also
displayed in the emotional toll that two generations have to pay for living in an world of illusion.

Laura’s tie to her make-believe world is as strong as Amanda’s is to the past. Because of her
apparent physical deformity, she has become sensitive to what people think of her. Her physical
condition thus represents her mental distress; she is crippled both physically and mentally. In
search of companionship, she builds her own fantasy world with her glass-animal friends and
with a Victrola and many old records. Laura, however, is more than a prisoner of her own
deformed consciousness. She is also a victim of moribund traditions, such as that of the
“gentleman caller.” The tragic nature of her life is made even more painful when the audience
realizes that she is cognizant of the delicate nature of her fantasy world but that she does not see
any alternative that can substitute for the security and companionship that her fantasy world
provides her.

Jim is another magician who manufactures illusion in the appearance of truth. During his visit to
the Wingfields’ apartment, he tries to act like a gentleman, but his selfishness and egotistic
nature are reminiscent of those of Amanda’s former husband. Jim’s interest in Laura arises only
when he discovers that she still remembers all his “glorious” achievements in high school. He
then practices public speaking skills on Laura, insensitively invites her to dance although he is
aware of her physical condition, and continues to talk about the power of love after he bluntly
breaks Laura’s heart by refusing to see her again.
The Glass Menagerie ends with Amanda blaming Tom as the one who lives by dreams and
illusions. Tom is not content with his work and dreams of becoming a poet. He represents the
awakening generation of young people who are in a desperate search of their true identity. Tom
is acutely aware of his responsibility, not in the traditional terms of being loyal to a family but in
the sense of human choice. By deciding to break away from dying traditions, he has taken over
control of his own destiny and turned himself into the speaker of “truth in the pleasant disguise
of illusion.”

The Glass Menagerie Essay - Critical Context

Critical Context

Tennessee Williams’ first major play, Battle of Angels, was produced by the Theatre Guild in
Boston in 1940 and brought him recognition.The Glass Menagerie, his second play, helped to
solidify his position in the American theater, establishing him as a leading playwright. The play
was completed in 1945, around the time that World War II was coming to an end. Many literary
works produced at the time were related either directly or indirectly to the war. The Glass
Menagerie was one of the first works in that era to depict young people’s restlessness and
struggles in trying to identify their relationship with the past, with tradition, and with society.
The play has been used in both high school and college classrooms to display the detrimental
effect of the struggle between illusion and truth and between the past and the present. It
encourages young people to establish self-esteem, develop confidence, and think for themselves
about the dreams for which they are willing to live and die. While Williams’ later plays deal
mostly with the adult world, The Glass Menagerie perfectly captures the fantasy world of young
adults.