WILLIAMS, TENNESSEE. "THE GLASS MENAGERIE"   Term Paper ID:20414 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: (Tennessee Williams). Examples & meaning of symbolism & imagery in characters, family relations, theme.... More...

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Paper Abstract: (Tennessee Williams). Examples & meaning of symbolism & imagery in characters, family relations, theme. Paper Introduction: Tennessee Williams is a playwright who makes strong use of symbolism and imagery, and he uses a great deal of both in The Glass Menagerie, a play many feel recalls Williams' own family situation. This idea is strengthened by the fact that the brother, Tom, is a budding writer who leaves home, and the play is presented as a memory, something that Tom as narrator emphasizes at the outset. Tom in fact also emphasizes the symbolic nature of the play itself. He describes the characters to be presented and indicates that one of them is more realistic than the others, being an emissary from a world of reality that we were somehow set apart from. But since I have a poet's weakness for symbols, I am using this character also as a symbol; he is the long-delayed but always expected Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. Roger B. Certainly, the use ofthe projections (and the device is not always used in productions of theplay) sets the play further from naturalistic productions. The glass menagerie and the phonograph recordsLaura plays are means of escape for the girl: Through her timidity, her suffering from the friction between Tom and Amanda, and her retreat into a world of dreams, Laura evokes genuine sympathy; she is the one who must be cared for, loved, and understood (Falk 49). The fire escape is a different sort of symbolic device. Nearly every object has some symbolicsignificance. Laura's failure to escape from her dream world intothe real world is brought to mind throughout the play by the typewriterchart on the window--she tried to learn to type in order to get a job in anoffice but could not hold a job. The play itself hassymbolic value in the way it is presented--it symbolizes the writer's past,and as narrator Tom stands outside the action even as he will be part ofthe action. Amanda is associated withreligious symbolism, so for her the candles have a religious significance,while for Tom they represent light in the darkness and for Laura a gentlebeauty to make her menagerie more beautiful. This idea isstrengthened by the fact that the brother, Tom, is a budding writer wholeaves home, and the play is presented as a memory, something that Tom asnarrator emphasizes at the outset. Paul T. "'The Glass Menagerie' Revisited." Western Humanities Review (Spring 1964), 141-153.Williams, Tennessee. Masters of Modern Drama. Blue roses area fantastic idea from the world of illusion and dreams, much like the glassunicorn, something that sets Laura apart as special. They may appear to him to be weak or strong, heroes or villains; but the point of their interest is not what they are but what they are to the narrator (Nolan 148).The play symbolizes Tom's development as a human being and a writer, andthe incidents of the play are particularly important to his understandingof himself. The picture of the father is prominent on the set of the play, andthis picture symbolizes escape. Others are subtler andmore open to interpretation, such as the references to rainbows. The fragile glass creatures are just like Laura, and yet it is whenthe Gentleman Caller accidentally breaks one of the figures when he isdancing with Laura that Laura is contradictorily set free from her dreamworld. Twentieth Century Interpretations of The Glass Menagerie, 1 9-119. His play about the man who came to dinner and failed to satisfy the expectations of two neurotic women depends not so much upon plot or characterization as upon an undercurrent of allusion, the range of secondary associations which, instead of being in the foreground of dramatic action, serve as a background of ironic commentary on the essentially static surface of this "memory play" (Stein 143).The symbols interact and shade one another so that meaning is deepened andso that the smallest action becomes significant and essential in theworking out of the themes of this play. In a larger sense, this sets Tom free, causing him to escape fromthe home after he has a fight with Amanda because the Gentleman Caller isalready engaged. Jimcalls Laura by the name "Blue Roses," referring to his mispronunciation of"pleurosis," and the image on the screen is of blue roses. Tom's desire for adventure is highlightedby the projection of the Jolly Roger, a symbol of adventure as an icon ofpiracy. Nolan describes the play in these terms when he writes: The characters in the memory play exist only in relationship to the narrator-protagonist. The Blue Roses similarly set her apart, and the use of thescreen emphasizes that this is what is being done. some symbols are obvious and ever-present, such as father's picture on the mantel. "Two Memory Plays." In R.B. Boston: Twayne, 1961.Nolan, Paul T. Tom says at thebeginning that this play is not reality, that it is illusion and dream andmemory, and the device adds to this sense of a dream. He was a telephone man who fell in love with long distances. He hasa profound effect on Tom, affording him the excuse to leave He is theone who breaks the unicorn. For everyone, the ever-presentfire escape is a means of getting away when things become too unbearable.Ultimately Tom takes this route and leaves his mother and sister behind.As noted, this recalls Williams' own youth: The adolescent Williams escaped a nightmarish reality only through steady moviegoing, his writing, and the sympathy of his sister, whose loneliness mirrored his own. As audience, though, we know that Tom has somehow progressedbeyond this room and these people and is now remembering who he was in thepast. The Gentleman Caller is the realist in the play. The Glass Menagerie. The candles represent Laura for Tom, giving off a soft lightin the darkness. He comes from theoutside world and returns to it, and as a symbol of what the characters allwant he both fulfills and disappoints. It is anatural element in the scene, but it is made unnatural by the fact thatcharacters enter and exit through it, notably Tom, who uses it as a door.When he leaves for good, it is through the fire escape, emphasizing thatthis is indeed an "escape." The world of illusion is heightened as thereal world is not, and in this heightening symbolism is created, symbolismthat evokes ideas, attitudes, themes, and characters. Tom in fact also emphasizes thesymbolic nature of the play itself. ForLaura, the glass animals are an escape. In this regard, the sister is the most important character toTom, Laura stands in for Williams' own sister, as John Strother Claytonindicates when he writes: The central element of Williams' past, as he presents it to us in his fiction, is his sister, a sister who became for him the only person in the world who accepted him without reservation, who shared his secret world with him, who loved him, and whom he loved with all the emotional intensity of a deeply sensitive and lonely child (Clayton 1 9).Laura is a fragile creature, as fragile as the glass figures in hercollection of the title. This picture is given added prominence asTom refers to the father as a fifth character who doesn't appear except in this larger-than-life-size photograph over the mantel. and Robert G. cit., 144-153.Stein, Robert B. Thepicture on the mantel is not the only symbol of escape in the scene. He calls out to her in the end to blow out her candles(Williams 137). He is the one who sees Laura as special andyet takes that specialness away symbolically. New York: Signet, 1987.----------------------- 6 "The Sister Figure in the Works of Tennessee Williams." In R.B. Works CitedBlock, Haskell M. This is our father who left us a long time ago. Escape is in fact a recurring motif, from the escapeeffected by the father years before to Tom's escape, never to return.Escape as a theme is always bittersweet, and in addition it is nevercomplete--Tom carries his memories with him and cannot truly escape fromAmanda and his sister and the room in which they live. Stein says of the play, The means which Williams has used to give form to this vision are symbolic rather than literal. (Williams 3 ).The father is the only one who makes a complete escape, at least as far aswe know; if he remembers the family wistfully, we do not know it. All servethe totality of the play and its themes. But since I have a poet's weakness for symbols, I am using this character also as a symbol; he is the long- delayed but always expected something that we live for (Williams 3 ).The other characters have symbolic value as well, and aspects of the setare given symbolic meaning. Yet, these thingsalso set her apart as different, and when the unicorn's horn is broken,making it like other horses, Laura is free to be a human being likeeveryone else. Shedd. Parker, op. He describes the characters to bepresented and indicates that one of them is more realistic than the others, being an emissary from a world of reality that we were somehow set apart from. Tennessee Williams. . New York: Random House, 1962.Clayton, John Strother. This multimedia screen device was meant to reinforce the symbolism ofthe spoken word and to point the way to certain ideas in the course of theplay. In addition, the play uses projections toevoke certain symbols in a more direct manner. They are also seen as fragile.In addition, rainbows are a symbol of escape and of travel--we chaserainbows because there is said to be a pot of gold at the end, and Tomseeks that pot of gold when he leaves. Many symbols have a range ofassociations in this manner so that a reading of the play shows it to becomplex and dense with allusions and references. An image or a word would be projected on a screen and would thusreinforce what was being said or acted on the stage at that point. Together they brightened their bleak living quarters to set off Rose's treasured glass animals which, in their transparent luminosity, became a symbol central in Williams' poetic art (Block and Shedd 989).Tom's constant moviegoing is also symbolic of his desire to escape and ofhis particular world of illusion, different from his sister's but effectivefor him just the same. There are numerous references to rainbows, things ofbeauty that are illusions and not reality, perfect for this dream world andfor the world Laura has built for herself. Tennessee Williams is a playwright who makes strong use of symbolismand imagery, and he uses a great deal of both in The Glass Menagerie, aplay many feel recalls Williams' own family situation. . Parker. He certainly disappoints Amanda.In disappointing Laura, he also opens her to reality in a new way. Symbols abound in the play. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1983.Falk, Signi. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.