The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams | Summary & Analysis

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Course Hero Literature Instructor Russell Jaffe provides an in-depth analysis of the plot, characters, symbols, themes, and stage direction of Tennessee Williams's play The Glass Menagerie.


Set during the Great Depression, Tennessee Williams's play The Glass Menagerie is set in the claustrophobic domestic sphere of a small family coping with personal and economic strife.

The narrator, Tom, is supporting his strident but well-intentioned mother and fragile sister in a small apartment.

His mother, Amanda, is eager to marry off his sister, Laura, whose tenuous emotional state makes this a difficult task. Laura maintains a collection of small glass animals that mirror her delicate constitution.

Tom is desperate to escape his situation but resentfully attempts to meet his responsibilities to his relatives. The three clash repeatedly and Laura's menagerie endures casualties on several occasions as a result.

As Tom dispassionately describes his life, he recounts an experience that was painful for his sister and reveals that he has deserted his family.

A parable illustrating the tension between self-definition and family obligation, the play painfully demonstrates the personal consequences of larger social forces.

American playwright Tennessee Williams’s play The Glass Menagerie was first performed in 1944 and on Broadway in 1945. The play, Williams's first major success, is derived from memories of his own family life—even his time selling shoes.

The play The Glass Menagerie contains many important symbols, including the fire escape, representing the Wingfields’s entrance to and exit from their illusionary world; the gentleman caller, representing future possibilities; the glass animals, representing Laura’s multifaceted personality; and blue roses, representing Laura’s high school crush. Important themes include abandonment, disillusionment, and living in the past.


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I love how you explained everything in a few words, "Brevity is the soul of wit"

madinafaizullina
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thank god this is here. didnt want to read the whole damn script lol

somalismurf
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I played Jim O’Connor in college. Great memories!

Mark.Rossington
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Hello fellow students who didn't prepare for the exam and are just looking it up now.

kennywelter
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You are helping me to cover my syllabus just before the exam❤

wayaniviyanga
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There are a few films available but the film that really hits the mark is the Paul Newman directed version. His wife Joanne Woodward is Amanda. If you want to watch the play then this is it.
But, there is no substitute for reading the play.
This is an excellent Summary.

joed
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Thank god this video exists. thiss so helpful thanks!!

yurachoi
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I will have an exam in Modern Drama, for Sunday, on Glass Menagerie, and the biography of its writer, Thomas Williams. So that I'm watching this video again and again 😅

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Day: Friday
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onlyislam
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Exam is in two hours this helped calm me down

ramazaza
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The glass animals reveal Laura's multifaceted personality and her fragility, her leg is psychically frail and so is her self esteemm

berfin
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When I was 14, a judge sentenced me with reading the glass menagerie. I never did but I'm curious as to why she felt the need for me to read it.

bizzwap
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I have an essay due today that I havent even started yet due today on a glass menagerie character analysis.

starshipartist
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This video saved my ass too(2)
I have end semester exam today🙂

arunabhhazarika
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Thank you very much bcz this helped me a lot in my exame a hug from Srilanka ❤️

themiyashevon
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A ❤ for the energy u hold throughout!!

sakshishukla
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danko my bru, I'm writing in a few minutes, this helped me alot

MnqobiNgcobo-ufqx
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thank you, this content is very helpful

madinafaizullina
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Thank you so much for this amazing Video! It was so helpful! ❤🙏

navodyarperera
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I am a student of 3rd semester, an English major studen from Assam। India

muklesurrahman
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Very nice lecture sir thank you so much :)

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