The Glass Menagerie By Tennessee Williams

The Glass Menagerie is a memory play that took place in the 1940’s and was retold from the 1930’s, written by Tennessee Williams. The scenery of this play is very dull and dark with awkward music that is used. This story takes place in St. Louis. Tom Wingfield is the narrator but also tells the story from his memories. Tom is the main character and is a young man who is struggling with his everyday life. His father abandoned him, his sister Laura, and Mother Amanda.

Tom’s mother is quite hard on him and expects him to work and make money for the three of them. When the family was sitting down for dinner, Amanda expressed her desire for Laura to go on dates, like she did back in the days. Ever since Tom’s father abandoned him, that left him working in an old shoe warehouse, when he really wanted to be a writer. This is partially a reason why him and his mother do not get along.

Get quality help now

Prof. Finch

Verified writer

Proficient in: Free Essays

4.7 (346)

“ This writer never make an mistake for me always deliver long before due date. Am telling you man this writer is absolutely the best. ”

+84 relevant experts are online

Hire writer

Tom wants to leave the city and start fresh somewhere without all the baggage, but he cannot leave his family behind. He believes that it is his duty to support for them, because that is what he was raised to do.

Laura one day expressed her interest in a boy at school named Jim. Laura had dropped out of her business college because she was too nervous and shy to participate in the typing course there. She had been lying and pretending to her mother that she was attending school and her classes.

Amanda went to the school one day, unexpectedly, to see how Laura was doing in her courses, and instead found out that she had withdrawn a few weeks prior. Laura also has a very severe obsession with glass animals. What’s so coincidental is that Laura is very similar to her glass figures. She is very breakable, emotionally; she freaks out at the slightest social challenge and runs away. Throughout the play, Amanda encourages Tom to help get Jim to go on a date with Laura and show her that there is more to life than just sitting around in your own comfort and being shy. After a while, Jim finally began to start hanging out with Laura and they saw each other very often. Jim seemed to really have Laura open up and go outside of her little box that she kept herself in for so long. Things were going very well when out of nowhere things took a turn for the worse. Laura found out that Jim was engaged to another woman and left Laura to get married. As they should, Amanda and Laura were righteously infuriated but blamed the event on Tom. Tom then abandons the family shortly after that night when Amanda and Laura kick him out and tell him to never return. Laura decided to haunt him, especially with guilt, for the rest of his life because she will never forgive him for leaving her.

As the reader, after reading this play, I have a desire to watch it online. The entire playwright was well written and very descriptive. While reading it, I felt as though I can imagine and visualize everything that was going on. I noticed that the protagonist is Tom and the antagonist is Amanda.