THE GLASS MENAGERIE TENNESSEE WILLIAMS

Quick Write What vivid memories do you have?  What senses are most affected by this memory (sight, hearing, taste, touch, smell)?  What/Who is the focus of this memory?  What part of this memory stands out the most in your mind?  How does your own perception of what happened influence the memory? (Did it really happen exactly as you remember?)

What is a glass menagerie? noun 1. a collection of wild or unusual animals, especially for exhibition. 2. a place where they are kept or exhibited. 3. an unusual and varied group of people. On the back of your paper – what do you think a “glass menagerie” is? Make sure you look at all parts of the definition.

BACKGROUND Tennessee Williams born Thomas Lanier Williams in 1911, Mississippi. His mother, Edwina Dakin, was daughter of a minister. His father Was a “violent and aggressive Traveling salesman” (Gussow). He was very close to his sister Rose who suffered from mental illness and was forced to have a lobotomy, which altered her personality

“Hive-like conglomerations of cellular living-units that flower as warty growths in overcrowded urban centers . . .” He wrote to escape from his mundane existence as a clerk with a shoe company. There are autobiographical parallels in the play The Glass Menagerie

CHARACTERS Laura Wingfield - She is the crippled and very shy daughter of Amanda who nags Laura about finding a husband.

Tom Wingfield - The narrator and actor As Laura’s brother, he is also pressed by his mother to find his sister a gentleman caller and to keep the job at the shoe factory to support the family.

Amanda Wingfield - She is the mother of Tom and Laura and often digresses back to memories of her former days on the southern plantation farm and her night with 17 gentleman callers.

Jim O’Conner - He is a friend of Tom from the factory who Tom invites to dinner and Amanda treats as Laura’s first gentleman

MINOR CHARACTERS Mr. Wingfield - He is Amanda’s husband who deserted the family about 16 years ago and is only seen in the play as a large photograph hung on the wall, but he is often referred to.

SETTING 1930 St Louis (Great Depression) The Wingfield apartment- This takes up most of the stage and the different room are separated by curtains.  There is the living and the kitchen. The fire escape - This is on the side of the stage and is what the characters use to get into and out of the apartment.

SYMBOLS Victrola Jonquils Fire Escape

Symbols Magic Show Glass Menagerie Blue Roses

Symbols Unicorn Candelabrum Scarf

SYMBOLS gentleman caller - father’s portrait -

Topics – what themes develop around these topics Escapism/Imprisonment Dreams and reality Responsibility / duty Family dynamics Abandonment

Method of Narration Tom is narrator and a main character. He tells the story as memory. What does this technique contribute to the play? How does this technique help to convey Williams’ message and ideas? Describe his character in the play. Describe his “traps.” What are his means of escape? Describe his relationship with Amanda. Describe his relationship with Laura. Respond to how the play ends in relation to Tom.