T.

Williams “The Glass Menagerie”

1. Tom's opening speech sketches the social background of the play and
introduces the main character. What basic information does Tom provide in
this speech about his family? About the gentlemen caller? About the nature of
itself?

Tom Wingfield appears in a stage dressed as a merchant sailor and speaks directly
to the audience. In his talk he explains the social and historical background of the
play: the time is the late 1930s, when the American working classes are still
affected by the effects of the Great Depression. The civil war in Spain has just led
to a massacre of civilians at Guernica. Tom also describes the other characters.
One character, Tom’s father, does not appear onstage: he left the family years ago
and, except for a postcard from Mexico, has not been heard from since.

Tom describes a gentleman caller who appears in the final scenes as the most
realistic character in the play.

He describes himself as a narrator of a play as well as its character. The play is his
memory.

2. In Scene 1, how do we know that there is tension among the family

members? Who seems to cause the tension?

In Scene One, the indications of tension in the family are seen when they are all
eating dinner together. As soon as they all sit down to start dinner, Amanda (Tom’s
mother) immediately starts criticizing Tom. She says “Honey, don't push with your
fingers...So chew your food and give your salivary glands a chance to function”.
Tom replies “I haven't enjoyed one bite of this dinner because of your constant
directions on how to eat it...Sickening - spoils my appetite - all this discussion of –
animals’ secretion - salivary glands - mastication!”.

Their argument clearly shows that there are some deep tensions in the family that
would cause Tom to react in such an angry fashion. It appears that Amanda is the
one who causes the tensions in the family with her expectations and dreams for her
children. She wants Tom to always behave like a gentleman and his reaction gives
us a hint that this is not the first time that she has criticized him.

3. A play is put in motion by some element that upsets the situation at the
beginning of the story. The element that sets this play in motion arrives in
Scene Two. What is it? How does it upset the opening situation, and how does
it set the play in motion?
In Scene two, Amanda gets to know that Laura has not been attending business
school. It is clear that Amanda supposed to attend it. This upsets the situation
because Amanda wants Laura to have a nice job and start a family, and this
business school is a perfect chance for her. Amanda says, "So what are we going to
do the rest of our lives?" Amanda’s fear is that Laura will never marry a gentleman
or have a career. She says, "Girls that aren't cut out for business careers usually
wind up married to some nice man".

However, Laura is not self-confident and that does not let her meet new people and
be successful. Amanda insists on her daughter to marry a gentleman and this leads
to her asking Tom to find Laura a gentlemen caller. This gentleman is Jim.

4. In Scene Two, what does Laura say and do to reveal that she is “set apart”
from the real world?

In Scene 2 the audience finds out that Laura is shy and timid. She tends to be
socially awkward. It is clearly seen when her mother asks why she hasn’t been
attending business school and she tries to avoid the talk because it is too difficult to
her to tell her mother that she broke down and threw up in front of everybody.

Then Laura’s mother asks Laura if she has ever liked a boy. Laura starts to talk
about Jim and about how he used to call her Blue Roses. It is a very intimate name
to her. The audience feels that Laura is set apart from the society by the way she
talks about Jim and how she remembers every detail of their conversations that
they had six years ago. She prefers to live inside memories escaping the real world.

5. What is the significance of the "blue roses" that appear on the screen at the
start of Scene Two?

When Laura meets Jim, the boy she liked in high school, she tells him that she has
pleurosis. She is timid and speaks so quietly that Jim thinks she says “blue roses”.
From this time and on Jim calls Laura “blue roses”. The roses are a symbol for
Laura as they suggest that she is unique, just like blue roses would be if they were
real.

6. At this point in the play, does Amanda seem to be a weak or a strong

character? Does she arouse your sympathy, or do you think Williams wants
you to dislike her? Explain.

The first opinion you get about Amanda is that she is an old weak woman living
without a husband and only depending on her son’s financial help. However,
in fact, she is a strong woman who grew up with the traditional southern mindset
that she tries to enforce on her children. She wants her daughter to get married and
her son to always be a gentleman and do something productive with his life. She
seems to be nagging but actually she is worried about her children' future. She
wants them to have good opportunities in life. Also, she managed to cope with the
loss of a husband and during the play she never acts sad about it. Despite all the
hardships in her life she is strong and does everything she can to make her children
succeed in life.

On my opinion, T. Williams shows her in this way to make us respect her for
everything she has done and accept her personality and manner.

7. How is it shown that the boy in the yearbook was important to Laura? Why
doesn't Amanda seem particularly interested in this young man?

Laura reveals her feelings towards the boy in the yearbook when she talks about
him. When she was asked if she has ever liked him, she replies with “Yes I liked
one once”. This boy is the only one that Laura has ever liked. Moreover, she
admits that she did not like his girlfriend. She thinks they are married by now and
wishes him not to be married. This way, it is clear that the boy is important to
Laura.

On the other hand, Amanda does not share her daughter’s feelings about the boy.
He is in the past and thus cannot be Amanda’s man now.

8. In The Glass Menagerie, Tennessee Williams has created "theater poetry"

by using various arts besides language. For example, he uses the two
transparencies at the beginning of the play to enhance the idea that this is a
memory play. Check through the stage directions and dialogue to find other
uses of visual and sound effects, which, combined with words, help to create
"theater poetry." Do any of these effects add a touch of humor to the play?

T. Williams creates “theater poetry” to add symbols to the play. When Laura gives
Jim her unicorn glass figure, she says, “Hold him over the light, he loves the
light”. The unicorn becomes a symbol of Laura while the light represents self-
confidence that she lacks. The author seems to use poetry for symbolism rather
than creating comedy. However, it sometimes adds a bit of humor to the play.

9. Few people have Laura’s specific physical handicap. Do you think most
people can identify with her? Why or why not?

I think people can relate to Laura if they have had a physical injury of some kind.
Laura “has a little defect - hardly noticeable, even”. Most people can’t relate to
Laura’s personal handicap, but many people have had an injury that made walking
difficult for them.