66 lines
4.0 KiB
Plaintext
66 lines
4.0 KiB
Plaintext
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The Glass Menagerie
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The play The Glass Menagerie, by Tennessee Williams, Williams uses many
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symbols which represent many different things. Many of the symbols used in the
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play try to symbolize some form of escape or difference between reality and
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illusion.
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The first symbol, presented in the first scene, is the fire escape. This
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represents the "bridge" between the illusory world of the Wingfields and the
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world of reality. This "bridge" seems to be a one way passage. But the
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direction varies for each character. For Tom, the fire escape is the way out
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of the world of Amanda and Laura and an entrance into the world of reality.
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For Laura, the fire escape is a way into her world. A way to escape from
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reality. Both examples can readily be seen: Tom will stand outside on the
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fire escape to smoke, showing that he does not like to be inside, to be a part
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of the illusionary world. Laura, on the other hand, thinks of the fire escape
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as a way in and not a way out. This can be seen when Amanda sends Laura to go
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to the store: Laura trips on the fire escape. This also shows that Laura's
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fears and emotions greatly affect her physical condition, more so than normal
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people.
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Another symbol presented deals more with Tom than any of the other
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characters: Tom's habit of going to the movies shows us his longing to leave
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the apartment and head out into the world of reality. A place where one can
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find adventure. And Tom, being a poet, can understand the needs of man to long
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for adventure and romance. But he is kept from entering reality by Amanda, who
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criticizes him as being a "selfish dreamer." But, Tom has made steps to escape
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into reality by transferring the payment of a light bill to pay for his dues in
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the Merchant Seaman's Union.
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Another symbol, which deals with both Amanda and Laura, is Jim O'Connor. To
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Laura, Jim represents the one thing she fears and does not want to face,
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reality. Jim is a perfect example of "the common man." A person with no real
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outstanding quality. In fact, Jim is rather awkward, which can be seen when he
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dances with Laura. To Amanda, Jim represents the days of her youth, when she
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went frolicking about picking jonquils and supposedly having "seventeen
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gentlemen callers on one Sunday afternoon." Although Amanda desires to see
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Laura settled down with a nice young man, it is hard to tell whether she wanted
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a gentleman caller to be invited for Laura or for herself.
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One symbol which is rather obvious is Laura's glass menagerie. Her
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collection of glass represents her own private world. Set apart from reality,
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a place where she can hide and be safe. The events that happen to Laura's
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glass affects Laura's emotional state greatly. When Amanda tells Laura to
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practice typing, Laura instead plays with her glass. When Amanda is heard
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walking up the fire escape, she quickly hides her collection. She does this to
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hide her secret world from the others. When Tom leaves to go to the movies in
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an angered rush, he accidentally breaks some of Laura's glass. The shattered
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glass repre- sents Laura's understanding of Tom's responsibilities to her.
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Also, the unicorn, which is important, represents Laura directly. Laura points
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out to Jim that the unicorn is different, just as she is different. She also
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points out that the unicorn does not complain of being different, as she does
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not complain either. And when Jim breaks the horn off the unicorn, Laura
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points out that now it is like the other horses, just as Laura has shed some of
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her shyness and become more normal. When she hands the broken unicorn to Jim,
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this might represent Laura handing over her broken love to Jim, as Jim has
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revealed that he is engaged to be married.
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As can be seen, there are quite a few symbols in this play. And a number of
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them have diverse meanings. Most of these symbols have a direct meaning in the
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author's own life. This is understandable seeing that the play is supposed to
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be "memory play." It is obvious that this memory play is based on Williams' own
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memories.
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