The Glass Menageri Essay, Research Paper

THE GLASS MENAGERIEA PLAY ABOUT FREEDOM Tennessee William s play The Glass Menagerie isa play in my opinion focuses on Tom Wingfieldsdesperation for a better life. Tom is portrayed as theperson who holds the household together, but throughoutthe play he is crying out for freedom. Many people whoread this play may have thought that Amanda or Laurawere the victims of the play, however I seemed to thinkthat Tom is the real victim. Even though all three ofthe characters are victims of the harsh cruelties andrealities of life. Throughout the play Tom seems togive and give until he cannot give no more and has toabandon his family. Tom s departure from the Wingfieldhousehold is slowly built up step by step from theopening scene to the closing scene. His leaving isclearly seen and anticipated by the reader way beforeit happens. I thought that his leaving was going to bewhen he left calling his mother an ugly babbling oldwitch . Amanda slowly pushes Tom and becomesdomineering in insisting that Tom face theresponsibility of supporting the family, and that hisneed for adventure can be satisfied in his warehousejob or that he can do without adventure. To me Tom isseen to be like a caged bird, so much talent andaspiration but yet he is held down by the restraintsand obligations of his family, just like a cage. The first concrete episode that shows Tom strue feelings occurs in Scene 3. Amanda has justgotten off of the phone with one of her magazinesubscribers. Apparently the customer has hung up onher and she needs someone to take out her aggressionon, so she chooses Tom. Amanda tells Tom that she tookhis Novel back to the library yesterday. Tom becomesfurious. Writing and reading were the only activitiesleft that he could call his own. Now his mother wasimposing on his private life too. Amanda said to Tom that awful book by that insane Mr. Lawrence I wontallow such filth in my house. Tom tells Amanda thathe also has a life to live. Amanda then accuses Tom ofbeing selfish. Tom then comes back by exploding on hismother about how he is giving up his dreams for his65-dollar month job at a shoe warehouse so he cansupport his family. This is the first time in the playthat Tom openly declares how miserable his home lifereally is. After this when Tom is beginning to leavefor the movies Amanda continues to quarrel with Tom bysaying that she doesn t believe that he is going to themovies. With this Tom throws his jacket and breaksLaura s Glass Menagerie ending the scene. The second example of Toms cry for freedomoccurs throughout the play, but becomes the clearest inscene 4. This would be Toms relation to his father.

Tom speaks of his father with a cynical reference; Hewas a telephone man who fell in love with longdistance; he gave up his job with the telephone companyand skipped the light fantastic out of town. Herealized that his father deserted his family and thebulk of the suffering fell on Tom, but he can t helpadmire his father s adventurous spirit. The last weheard from him was a picture postcard from Mazatlan, onthe Pacific Coast of Mexico, containing a message oftwo words – Hello —- Good-bye and no address. ToTom his father s picture represents escape. It hangsin front of him like a prize to be won. The more hebecomes like his father, the closer he is to freedom. The transformation is subtle, but steady throughout theplay. The most apparent relation to this would be whenTom returns home late one night, drunk. He lies downon his bed and wonders about the escaping from a coffin without removing one nail. This symbolizes how Tomwould like to escape from his coffin without removingone nail. Which really means that he would like toescape from his life without hurting anyone. Tomdeliberately says, I m like my father, the bastard sonof a bastard! It is no surprise, not even to Amanda,that Tom continues to follow a pattern of escape evento the very end. The third example of Tom s cry for freedom comeswith his escape. This occurs in the last scene of theplay. Jim has just left the wingfield home aftertelling laura and amanda that he has to go meet hisfiancee. Amanda reacts violently to the news that Jimis going to be married. Tom again becomes the victim. Amanda lays into him for not knowing that his bestfriend is to be married. Tom s patience finally comesto an end. He finally feels the strong desire toextricate himself from a situation he has too longendured. Tom heads to the door telling them that he isgoing to the movies, Amanda yells out Go, then! Thengo to the movies you selfish dreamer! He has stayedat home to this point because of Laura not Amanda. Tomfeels that through his act of inviting over Jim O Conner to dinner has embarrassed and hurt his sister. To him the bond and faith between brother and sister isbroken, but Amanda s unjust accusations of selfishnessand deceit are the propelling force that releases Tomfrom his family. Tennessee Williams definitely had a very dramaticplay in mind when he wrote The Glass Menagerie. Theplay was not action packed dramatic, but dramatic in away that everyone could relate to. By writing such arealistic play is what made it so interesting. Thisanalysis of my certain character in the play could beapplied in the same way to any other type of story. Character analysis plays a very important part inliterature, because it allows you to get in depth andpersonal with the work of the author. Overall, it willhelp to give you a better understanding and make thereading more enjoyable.