Glass Menagerie Scene 3-5

Summary for Scene 1&2 Billy

Scene 1 At a dining room Amanda repeatedly tells Tom to chew his food Laura wanted to fetch something but was stopped by her mother: “ I want you to stay fresh and pretty---for gentlemen callers! ” Amanda recalled the memory : One Sunday afternoon in Blue Mountain. Laura said she is not as popular as her mother once was

Scene 2 Laura is polishing her collection of glass figurines As Laura heard Amanda approaching, she hides her ornaments and pretends to be studying a diagram of a keyboard. A teacher informed Amanda that Laura has not come to class since the first few days Laura explained where she had been Amanda ask if she has ever liked a boy

Scene 2 Laura had a crush on a boy named Jim, who had a wonderful voice “ Blue Roses ”, how the boy called Laura Laura told her mother: “ I ’ m---crippled! ” Amanda told her daughter to develop charm

Plot summary

Scene 3 The image of a gentleman caller becomes a obsession in the house. The quarrel between Amanda and Tom. Tom's rage about given no privacy by Amanda. The accident which destroyed Laura's beloved glass menageries. Eddie

Scene 4 The symbolic meaning of Mr. Wingfield's photograph. Tom's reluctant reconciliation with Amanda Another quarrel caused by the sentence Tom said “Man is by instinct a lover, a hunter, a fighter.”

Scene 5 Tom announced to Amanda that he has already found a gentleman caller for Laura. Amanda's worry about Laura's future. Tom holds a negative attitude about it and tell Amanda not to expect too much. Amanda's reaction to what Tom said.

Characters Angus and Thomas

Tom Wingfield Who is he? What kind of man he is? What is the function of this character in The Glass Menagerie?

Tom’s Double Role in the Play As a character whose recollections the play documents As a character who acts within those recollections  Where can we sense memory’s emotional distortion of truth? A narrator and also a character Address the audience directly & Demonstrates the real emotions  Is he reliable?

The Character Who Is Full of Contradiction Care for his family Indifferent and even cruel toward them. Rational Sometimes emotional Dreamer Breadwinner Dreams of higher things Stuck in reality, the lower class, lower job and endless household

The Man Who Intensifies the Relation Between Wingfields A character also a narrator → points out the tension between truth and memory's distortion of truth → Intensifies the relation between Wingfields and clearly shows their personalities → Amanda’s nostalgia for her past and demands for the family’s future → Laura’s social and physical handicaps

Conflicts & Characteristics of Amanda and Laura Who’s in charge of this? Well, it’s… Thomas!

Conflicts as the Key to Explore Their Characteristics Three Conflicts ： 1. The conflict between Amanda and Tom. (Scene 3) 2. Laura(shrilly). “My glass! -menagerie…” (Scene 3) 3. The role of peacemaker between Amanda and Tom (for the follow-up effect after the first conflict. (Scene 4)

The Quarrel between Amanda and Tom Cause: Legend on Screen: “You Think I’m in Love with Continental Shoemakers?” –the cause The great difference of their thoughts toward values and life between Amanda and Tom. →Tom is always thinking of superior things, quite unsatisfied with the status quo, especially for his mother. →Amanda affords him no privacy. →She also arbitrarily returns his book, to which she calls a kind of “filth”.

The Emotional Quarrel Lack of Privacy Amanda: What is the matter with you, you-big-big-IDIOT! Tom: Look-I’ve got no thing, no single thing- … Tom: In my life here that I can call my OWN! Everything is- ‧ Different thoughts Tom laughs wildly when Amanda is speaking… Amanda: …BUT I WON’T ALLOW SUCH FILTH BROUGHT INTO MY HOUSE! No, No,no,no,no,no! ‧ Tom’s Point Tom: House, house! Who pays rent on it, who makes a slave of himself to- (He means himself, the one who pays the rent)

The Emotional Quarrel Tom’s Attempt to Escape Tom: No, I won’t hear more. I’m going out! Amanda: You come right back in- Tom: Out, out,out! Because I’m- … Laura (desperately): Tom! ‧ Amanda’s Point Amanda: I think you’ve been doing things that you’re ashamed of. That’s why you act like this. I don’t believe that you go every night to the movies. … Oh, I can picture the way you’re doing down there. Moping, doping, because you’re in no condition. Tom (wildly): No, I am in no condition! →Amanda thinks Tom’s misbehavior is endangering his job and, hence, the family’s security.

The Emotional Quarrel ‧ Tom’s Rage Tom: Listen! You think I’m crazy about the warehouse? (He bends fiercely toward her slight figure.) You think I’m in love with the Continental Shoemakers? You think I want to spend fifty-five years down there in that- … Every time you come in yelling that God damn “Rise and Shine!” “Rise and Shine!” I say to myself “How lucky dead people are!” But I get up. I go!... For sixty-five dollars a month I give up all that I dream of doing and being ever! And you say self-self’s all I ever think of. Why, listen, if self is what I thought of, Mother, I’d be where he is-GONE! (pointing to father’s picture) … Tom says: You ugly-babbling old-witch… →He passionately expresses his hatred for the factory, and seems to envy the dead people for Amanda’s morning slogan’s sake. →He also says how he has abandoned his dreams to work day after day for them. And if he is exactly a selfish person as Amanda claims, he would have deserted them long ago.

Overview of This Conflict ‧ She desperately tries to seize his son, whom she considered as the backbone of great importance to both the future and present, in the family. →Therefore she may unintentionally ignore her son’s feelings. ‧ When Tom starts past her (for he wants to leave immediately), Amanda grabs his arm. →She fears to lose again- first her husband, now the son. ‧ Amanda is willful in doing what she deems as righteous. →She presumptuously returns his book by the insane (in her opinion) Mr. Lawrence. Have you noticed Laura’s existence in this conflict? There is only one line. →Laura’s painful shyness and silence is completely shown.

“My glass! -menagerie…” …His arm catches in the sleeve of the coat as he struggles to pull it on. For a moment he is pinioned by the bulky garment. With an outraged groan he tears the coat off again, splitting the shoulders of it, and hurls it across the room. It strikes against the shelf of Laura’s glass collection, there is a tinkle of shattering glass. LAURA cries out as if wounded. LAURA (shrilly): My glass!-menagerie…(she covers her face and turns away) (TOM is left with LAURA. LAURA clings weakly to the mantel with her face averted. TOM stares at her stupidly for a moment. Then he crosses to shelf. Drops awkwardly to his knees to collect the fallen glass, glancing at LAURA as if he would speak but couldn’t.) →A conflict between Tom and Laura. Tom accidentally breaks her glass menagerie, and seems to say something to Laura but couldn’t.

Laura and the Glass Menagerie The glass menagerie stands for a symbolic meaning -Laura’s personality. →Like these fragile, beloved glass animals, Laura is also delicate, flighty. →Laura’s first response to her broken treasure is sorrow, not anger. →Tom’s speechlessness toward Laura may suggest his own self-contradiction, and Laura’s pathetic personality.

Laura the Peacemaker In Scene 4, Tom returns home… The conflict among the three. Due to his indignant departure, Amanda says: “ I won’t speak to you- until you apologize!” Laura plays an role as peacemaker between Amanda and Tom. In the possible complete silence between them, Laura becomes dramatically active (compared to the former scenes) in speaking, for she wants to recover the atmosphere in her family. Amanda sends Laura out to buy groceries on credit. On the way down the fire escape, Laura slips and falls but is not hurt. →Both Amanda and Tom instantly show their care for her. But as soon as Tom apologizes, Laura’s play becomes again unimportant. →Why Laura becomes a successful peacemaker?

Characteristics of Amanda and Laura Through analyzing the conflicts

Characteristic of Amanda Through the quarrel between Amanda and Tom, we know that they have quite different thoughts and values. Amanda’s Background and Change Amanda, who has a quite traditional upbringing, is from a prominent Southern family. But things have changed- everything she was once taught to value is now with a wholly new aspect. She does indeed suffer from this significant change, of economic and social status. We can perceive that Amanda is still sticking to the old ways, about genteel manner and values. ‧ Amanda is seemingly quite demanding and dominant, yet we should not forget her love and willingness to sacrifice for her children.

Characteristic of Amanda Evidence: Before the quarrel between Amanda and Tom, she is working on subscription sales. What for? In fact, she is preparing for Laura’s marriage without much complaint. Due to the sharp turn of her life, which has alienated her from modern society, hardships are expected in her engagements with people. But she still does the hard work, with strange confidence. ‧ Amanda’s Psychological Defects Throughout the conflicts, we see that her perspective and values are different from Tom’s.  Affords no privacy  Over-concerned with Tom’s future prospect.  Over-concerned with Laura’s marriage, she is always arranging, planning for it.

Characteristic of Laura Laura: crippled, wears a brace, walks with a limp. Twenty-three years old and painfully shy. She is far away from the reality outside the house. Throughout the conflicts… From the obvious fewest lines in this play, we know that she is indeed “painfully shy”, almost selfless. The broken glass menagerie represents her fragile world. The existence of a mere pitiable figure of compassion, for Amanda and Tom never demand anything of her; they deem Laura as the innocent one.

Characteristic of Laura Laura, who is crippled both in mind and body, is almost totally alienated from the outside world. But yet no one ever blames Laura for her dependence, or her helplessness to support the family. →Her selflessness somehow brings a sense of guilt upon Tom and Amanda, for their selfishness. That is, when Amanda and Tom are in embarrassment, she becomes strangely active to recover the family bond. →In this play, she is the one who never hurts anyone. She really cares for other- she cries for Tom’s unhappiness.

Stage Direction Joe Wang

The Stage Dim Lights Soft Music Projection of Images and Captions

Dim Lights Purpose: The scenes are memories = Non-realistic Effect: Poetic

Soft Music Delicate / lovely / sad Purpose: to bring out the “fragility” of the glass / Laura.

Projection of Images and Captions Purpose: To emphasize the important parts of each scene. Effect: Make strong impressions

Themes

Disappointment Escape Expectation

disappointment (scene III) Tom is disappointed with his life because he feels trapped. He must work in the warehouse to support his family (mother and sister). In spite of his sacrificing his own dreams, Amanda insists on he acts selfish and jeopardizes their security by going to the movies every night. His sacrifice is overshadowed by Amanda's belief that he is selfish.

disappointment (scene V) Although Amanda is optimistic at the prospect of the gentlemen caller for Laura, Tom reminds Amanda not to expect too much from Laura because she is very peculiar.

Escape Tom goes to the movie as a way to escape.(scene III) After seeing the magician escape from a coffin w/o removing a nail made Tom very impressed, and he believes that it parallels with his situation at home. He has to find a way escaping without destroying the family like his father did.

Escape Amanda demands an explanation of why Tom spends so much time watching movies in the night, and he tells her that it's because he seeks adventure. The movies are his escape from the mundane reality of his warehouse job and his apartment Amanda mentions the letter Tom receives from the Merchant Marines. To sail away with the Merchant Marines seems to be the most adventurous way to escape.

Escape Tom calls to Amanda's attention that it is not normal for a young girl to live wrapped up in a world of glass ornaments without real human interaction. The glass menagerie is Laura's escape from the harshness of reality. Her disability and lack of confidence has led to shyness. Her escape isolates her further from the society. She dotes with the glass ornaments to avoid interactions with others.

Expectation Amanda tries to tell Tom about how much she loved his father and how she never expected him to abandon them and disappear for good. She expects Tom to help her find a way to establish a stable future for Laura. At the same time, Tom tries to explain that he dreams of more than just a warehouse worker. Amanda expects the gentleman caller would instantly fall in love in Laura. Her expectations of people and life is that everyone would bend to her if she just presents in the right way.

Symbols

Scene 3 The beginning of the scene “Annunciation” Williams’s reference to thee birth of savior and fairy-tale

Scene 4 Mr. Wingfield’s photograph The landing on the fire escape The use of “Blue Rose”

Scene 5 The coffin trick The rainbow-colored scarf