EDITOR’S NOTE: Her Campus UBC is proud to present a new series: every week, Her Campus UBC will release a “Classics” article, which looks back at the media (books, films, plays, music, etc) of the past to share interesting viewpoints and analysis which allow for our readers to learn more about the interesting media of the past, as well as place our entertainment pieces about current media into context. We hope you enjoy Jana’s analysis of Tennessee Williams’ classic play, The Glass Menagerie, the very first in this hopefully long-running series. -June Rossaert, Editor-in-Chief, Campus Correspondant.
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The Glass Menagerie is renowned for its genuine insight into the life of a dysfunctional American family, mainly because of its effective character and theme development that is expressed in concision. This is achieved in a few hours on stage, where Williams’ masterful writing techniques, including symbolism, represent and communicate expansive and elaborate themes as well as abstract ideas and concepts very succinctly.
Laura’s glass collection was a quintessential reflection of her character and although it was the most obvious symbol in the play, the revelation that it affected and represented more than just Laura’s insecurities gave it an understated depth.Most of the symbols in the play are used to convey the theme of confinement and therein escape, and symbolize the disparity between reality and illusion.
Our interpretation of Laura’s character is almost entirely based on the glass menagerie. The meaning behind this symbol is that despite the complexity of people, they can be entirely represented by something as ostensibly small and insignificant as inanimate objects. Her collection of glass represents her own fragile private world. Set apart from the restrictions/ expectations mandated by society, their aversion to diversity and her fears of ridicule because of her handicap. The glass unicorn specifically symbolizes her deformity as being an optimistic fictional incarnation she fantasizes about being.
The events that happen to Laura’s glass are clear reflections of the progressions of her emotional state or a trigger of her inner epiphanies. When Tom leaves to go to the “Movies in an angered rush, he accidentally breaks some of Laura’s glass”[1], representing Laura’s understanding of Tom’s responsibilities to her” and how he has come to damage this fragile and delicate set of circumstances.
When Jim breaks the horn of the unicorn it makes her realize that perhaps she shouldn’t strive to meet a strange paradigm of perfection, based on her illusion of what “normal” is. In the final act, Laura hands over her broken unicorn as a symbol of giving Jim her broken love and hopes that were just as fictional as her glass world.
Including such an obvious symbol, could be patronizing to the audience, as they may feel that the simplicity is overdone. It is also quite hyperbolic which could elicit sympathy or again become regarded as too exaggerated, to a point where her character is judged more subjectively and critically.
Our introduction and metaphorical entrance to the play is bleak, much like the Wingfields’ entrance into their apartment (fire escape).
The description of the neighborhood is as “hive like conglomerations of cellular living units”; which is reflective and symbolic of how Williams perceives the characters. Much like the people of that status and time (1940’s post-depression), they are regarded as monotonous drones with identical tedious lifestyles.
The audience is confronted with this play with the wall of the Wingfield tenement, as we break and enter through this fourth wall we also encounter the first symbol -the fire escape. The characters enter, ”with the slow and implacable fires of human desperation”.When both exit and entrance occurs through this fire escape it communicates antithetic ideologies. When one enters through a doorway that offers freedom/urgent “escape”, it insinuates that some might regard confinement as a means of shelter and safety. Nevertheless, it remains a doorway separating the illusory world of the Wingfields and the real world.
The way the characters interact with the fire escape tells us how they react to this confinement and foreshadows their mentality, which indicates the different interpretations that it has. When Tom stands outside on the fire escape to smoke, it shows his aversion to facing the crushing force of realism (their financial predicament and Tom’s premature responsibilities) “…Tired of the movies and I am about to move!”
His escapism is the illusion that the fire escape is an entrance into reality when in fact the responsibilities awaiting him inside are the reality.
In the scene where Laura is sent outside the house through the fire escape, her tripping on the steps symbolizes her fears and emotions aggravated by the thought of entering the ominous real world, exacerbating her physical condition.
Laura’s escape seems to be in retreating back into the cage that is imprisoning her. It’s a way ‘into’ her imaginary world of solitary and ethereal escapism, which encapsulates safety, comfort, and protection. Speculation might arise about whether or not Tom and perhaps the other characters should choose to succumb to the promise of escape.
The audience reflects upon their family circumstances and their awareness of the reality of their lifestyle and life choices. Regarding the response of the audience to Tom’s fixation on movies, I gather that they are signs of Tom’s tendency to overindulge in escapism, supporting the idea that he has the potential to make compulsive decisions that are detrimental both to his family and himself. They are symbolic of his thirst for adventure. The dramatic irony in this symbol is that it could be an example of satire of the performing arts. Condemning audiences for watching other people “moving” rather than doing it themselves.
William’s stage directions frequently require the prompts and integration of music, to underscore key moments in the scene. Both Amanda and Laura regard the Victrola player as an extension of the omnipresent Mr. Wingfield, which is symbolic of music’s’ covert and ubiquitous influence on their lives. This particular instrument provides Laura an auditory escape as well as a subconscious reminder of her fathers’ abandonment. I believe it may be a major contributing factor to her feeling of inadequacy, albeit the Victrola player plays as a contrast to the more discernable reminder of her shortcomings (failure to attend Business College), the typewriter.
Laura also associates music with Jim, whom she met in the school choir; through this aspect, music symbolizes the beacon of hope for genuine escape and the part of Laura that diverges her desire to remain confined, with the desire to find a suitor. Jim is a symbol in many ways, of her finally getting introduced to a normal environment and society, etc. The function of music, in this case, is to allow Laura to associate her willingness to love (Jim) with her willingness to express herself and feel comfortable in social and intimate contexts.
Jonquils, mentioned in the story about her seventeen gentlemen callers, are a symbol of Amanda’s golden years. The imagery of the jonquils may be beautiful and symbolic of flourishing youth yet contextually another name for the jonquil is the narcissus; therefore it represents Amanda’s delusional and selfish enthrallment in self-image.
Amanda’s jonquils are a symbolic rivalry to Laura’s Blue roses, the unchangeable past as opposed to the unpredictable future, confidence challenging the tragic unrecognized and unappreciated beauty.
The dance hall demonstrates the inadvertent control society has of Laura, much like the movies demonstrate control over Tom, through their inception of reckless, appealing concepts of adventure. It is ironic for Tom, as his intention to escape the control of his mother has been fueled by societies governing notions, as for Laura, she chooses to seclude herself from society, when it’s her social anxiety, which forced her into self-imposed exile, proving that even in its absence its looming ideals govern her thoughts, feelings, fueling her angst. The ‘looming’ music of the dance hall motivates Jim to dance with Laura, symbolically allowing her to realize her existing self-worth, a dance, which subsequently results in her unicorn being maimed, as its characteristic horn is detached. Making Laura realize she has lived her entire life without understanding the value of her difference- “Blue Roses” which turns Laura’s defect into an asset. Having Jim, her new love interest recognizes it-“They’re common as—weeds, but—you—well, you’re—Blue Roses,” gives it authenticity, eliciting that if she had embraced her difference she would have had love and the security she had craved.
The dance hall can be compared to another symbol found in another Williams Novel; Streetcar Named Desire– the blue piano reflects Blanche’s sentiments and insinuates her hope of finding love.“In Streetcar, the blue piano is revealed to be symbolizing Stanley’s victory over Blanche,” [2] Therefore it is comparable to the music from the Dance Hall because it is symbolic of society’s victory over Laura yet the hall also symbolizes the emotions of Laura’s subconscious need for companionship and love.
As with Streetcar, where Williams includes a plethora of symbols, the Glass Menagerie demonstrates equal range, with distinct similarities and points of comparison. However frank and simple the themes and symbols may be, I believe they drew on very relatable issues in society concerning family disputes that remain relevant, which is effective in eliciting emotion and involvement from the audience.
I believe that it was Williams’ intention to use symbols implicitly to ensure that a wider ranged audience were privy to and cognizant of the vital themes being communicated in the play while managing to include understated undertones that resonate with literary enthusiasts.
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[2] Novelguide- The Glass Menagerie
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