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| The Glass Menagerie source: John F. Kennedy Centre of Performing Arts |
Tom
Tennessee Williams
dramatizes memories into a play, The Glass Menagerie which constantly moves
between past and present in the midst of an atmosphere of congestion and
tension. The play contains certain
autobiographical elements of Williams’ life which he represents through the
character of Tom who inhabits a dual role in the play. Tom is one of the three
protagonists of the play. He is the son of Amanda Wingfield and younger brother
to Laura. He’s the narrator of the play as well as a character of his own
subjective memory which he represents on the stage. Tom, is a victim of
societal pressure who struggles to deal with reality by compensating with his
dreams.
Being a memory play, past has a very
significant role to play in its advancement, that is, there are certain events
of Tom’s life which are deeply rooted in his subconsciousness.
Memory play is a one
dimensional or subjective form of dramaturgy where a world out of memory is
constructed and audience’s perspective is shaped only through protagonists’
memory. Therefore, as we see in ‘The Glass Menagerie’ the perspective gained is
very filtered as narrative is built only by one entity, that is Tom. This is a
very unconventional mode of representation and gives a closer approach towards
truth and reality.
In the beginning of the
play, the nature of the fourth-wall is re-enforced by Tom. He breaks the fourth
wall as he addresses the audience. He is aware of the audience.
Tom’s position in the
play is conventional as he acts as a character in the play. At the same time,
he is also the narrator, therefore, he has been given a dramatic license
through which he is free to manipulate conventions according to his purpose. Again,
because it is a memory play and it is Tom’s memories which are being emoted on
the stage, therefore Tom has the freedom to utilize the conventions within the
dramatic play. He acts as a link between the audience and the dramatic action.
The play is a convoluted mapping of Tom’s memories.
Tom as a narrator always
gives his commentaries through the fire escape. The fire escape symbolises his
aspirations and dreams which are trapped in the apartment. The ‘escape’ doesn’t
really provide him with any kind of liberty or mitigates his pain. Tom stands
on this liminal space with which he is the part of the play but also outside
the play.
The play opens with a scene-setting narration and as the narrator, Tom addresses the audience and exerts his control over the play by turning the time back in the days of the Great Depression. He sets the social background and talks about his family history. With this he moves into his self-confessed nostalgia. Through his role as a narrator he tries to come in terms with his decision to abandon his family. He exorcises his pain for leaving Laura with the creation of the play.
In character list of the play, Williams says-
“His
nature is not remorseless, but to escape from a trap he has to act without
pity.”
Tom has the soul of a
poet. The gentleman caller, Jim calls him “Shakespeare” but Tom’s dreams and
aspiration are constantly dismissed and disregarded. There’s a huge gap between
what he is actually doing and what he wants to do. He has to give up everything
in order to fulfil his responsibilities and duties.
The play begins with a
nagging discourse between Amanda and Tom. The mother-son confrontations reveal
the tension between the members of the family. Tom’s frustration with his
mother due to her constant assertive behaviour is revealed only at the
beginning of the play. There exists a tension of contradiction between mother
and son.
Tom experiences a lack of
freedom because of her mother who keeps on nudging in Tom’s personal life. She
keeps on holding him back from his dreams and aspirations in order to feed the
Wingfield family through the times of the great depression. There are times
when Tom desperately tries to communicate with Amanda but isn’t able to do so
because of the confronting nature of mother and her lack of understanding
towards her children. According to Amanda, Tom lives in a dream; manufactures illusions instead of shoes and
regards him as a “selfish dreamer”. He is constantly reminded by Amanda that he
won’t be able to escape the reality.
Tom finds comfort in many
things like going to movies and smoking cigarettes. It provides him escape from
hardships of his life. It allows him to have a glimpse of the adventurous world
which he desperately seeks. Tom finds the urban space monotonous and extremely
agonising. He feels claustrophobic midst the confined space of the society.
A person like Tom, who
desperately wants to be a poet and live an adventurous life, in reality is lost
individual stuck in the mechanised society. He wants to be creative and hates
his monotonous job at the warehouse. He lives in a reality where there is no
space for adventure, emotions and creativity. He is the character with whom we
have more direct emotional access because of his soliloquies. His emotions are
chiefly expressed through his soliloquies which represents his frustration with
life. The people around Tom constantly ask him to forget his dreams as one
can’t live in illusion of such a life when the atmosphere is cloaked in
economic tensions. Throughout the play, he tries to come in terms with the
reality of life by compensating it for his dreams. He is an alienated figure
who attempts to find a space in the society, but can’t fit in.
Tom’s growing alienation
and loss of his aspirations is central to the theme of the play. It symbolises
the life of an ordinary individual within the society who is stuck in the
industrial bubble and is unable to hold onto his dreams.
Tom secretly practised
the habit of retiring to the cabinet of his warehouse washroom to work on his
poems. Instead of making shoes in the warehouse, he wants them to be on his
“traveller’s feet”.
Tom is not able to cut
the gordian knot of conflict between his personal desires and responsibilities,
and he follows his father’s footsteps.
He even pays merchant seaman’s due against their home’s electricity bill
which shows his determination towards his goals. He is taunted by Amanda at
making a fool of them by calling a gentleman caller who is committed to some
other girl. He feels burdened and pressurised, and leaves his family to pursue
an independent future.
Even after abandoning his
family, Tom never succeeds in running away from his past. He feels a sense of
guilt at having leave Laura alone when she must have needed his support and
love. The whole play is a manifestation of his guilt-ridden memories which keeps
on torturing him till the end. He looks at Laura with fond nostalgia but also
with haunted guilt.
Laura
Laura is one of the three protagonists of the play. She is the daughter of Amanda Wingfield and elder sister to Tom. She is a character of Tom’s subjective memory of past which he represents on the stage. Laura, is a victim of societal pressure who struggles to deal with reality and constructs a totally different world for herself accompanied by her glass objects.
Laura suffers from social anxiety disorder. She is self-conscious and leads a reclusive life with her family. She is a sociophobe.
A childhood illness made her suffer from a crippled leg for which she wore leg braces that clumped loud when she walked. Due to the illness, she contemplates herself to be different from others and fails to interact with people around her. Her lack of social interaction and nervousness is evident from her behaviour which impacts her ability to function properly in the society.
Her shy nature contrasts
with the assertive and forceful nature of her mother. She isn’t like her brother who dreams of living an
adventurous life. Laura lives in her own reality which contains her glass
collection. Like her glass collection, Laura is exquisitely tender and fragile.
Her other favourite possessions include the old victrola player left behind by
her father. Her another precious possession is her high school yearbook. The
book is close to her heart as it contains the picture of her childhood crush, Jim.
Amanda for the first time
exerts the voice of sanity when she asks Laura if she liked any boy. Laura
being a reserved person, gathers up the courage to tell her mother about Jim. Laura
is a deeply isolated person and lacks faith in herself. Her physical deformity
and chronic nervousness impact different outlooks of her life.
Laura being sensitive is
terrified by fight that takes place between Amanda and Tom. She is distraught
by the idea of a gentleman caller.
As Williams mentions in
his character description of Laura-
“Amanda,
having failed to establish contact with reality, continues to live vitally in
her illusions, but situation is even graver.”
Her crippled leg becomes
the reason for her self-consciousness and acts as a stumbling block to have
access to a normal life. She escapes reality by tending her favourite
possession of glass menagerie.
The episode of Laura in
scene II in which she lies to her mother about going to business school tells
us about the weak mother-daughter relationship. Amanda is not able to
understand Laura and pushes her to do things according to Amanda’s will. Laura
refrains from social interaction as it makes her physically ill. Laura is
terrified by the memories of
She constantly has to
face anger and confronting nature of her mother. She also tries to hide things
from her mother which is suggestive of the distrust between the two characters.
Blue roses don’t exist in
nature and that’s why are often seen as symbol of unrequited love. Laura being
referred to as blue roses by Jim represents the null possibility of any amorous
relationship between the two. Laura is never able to cope with pressure. She is
never able to stand up to her mother’s expectations and fears the
disappointment her mother has to face. She is unable to confront the outer world.
She combined extreme vulnerability
with an overly sensitive understanding
of reality. With no hope for a miracle, her life was a gradual and irreversible
withdrawal from external reality, lity, until she was flung into a final and
irreparable despair.
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