Thomas Lanier Williams III (Tennessee Williams) was a famous American playwright, who earned fame from his play The Glass Menagerie. He was born on March 26, 1911, in Columbus, Mississippi, U.S.A. The main character, with the exclusion of his incest motif, represents Williams’ past. Therefore, this memory play can be considered as autobiographical and represents the experiences the society at the time.
The play does not have a single protagonist but all three
main characters have certain character traits to be regarded as the protagonist
in one way or the other. The all-main characters reflect the social environment,
the challenges faced by youth, single parents and fatherless children. All the
characters are vulnerable throughout the play and at the end of the play too
their fate is undecided and open ended.
Amanda Wingfield is the mother of Tom and Laura is her
daughter. Mr. Wigfield is physically absent in the drama who has left the
family for unknown reason. Jim O’Connor is a cameo character who appears at the
end of the play – He is a friend of Tom working in the same warehouse. All the
three characters shows limited development throughout the play. All three
characters are paralyzed by the socio-economic system around them.
Amanda
Amanda, the mother faces the reality of the life in the way
she should not being an escapist like the other two characters. According to
her, she has been very well-liked by young men before her marriage. She had
been dreaming to be a wife of a gentleman and settled man, as most of the young
gentleman callers were planters or sons of planters. A planter is normally a
person who resides in one place. However, she married a telephone man enchanted
by his good look and enchanting smile. She had to be a single parent - quite
young as her husband left her for an unknown reason. Amanda is a sacrificing
woman although she perhaps looks a nagging mother. She badly wants her children
live better in society. She wants her daughter Laura to be employed and married
and Tom, her son to be more responsible without dreaming, smoking and drinking.
Sensing her son’s fascination to race after adventure leaving the family, she
lays a condition to wait until Laura get somebody to take care of her. However,
her intention blurred at the end of the play as her son whom she has had great
expectations, leaves suddenly leaving her to struggle as a single mother
struggling further with a cripple daughter.
Laura
Laura, is a slightly crippled shy, coy and naïve girl. She
suffers from inferiority complex, so tries to hide herself from the world. She
has given up typing classes because she finds it difficult to cope with the
challenge of learning, not because she wants to cheat her mother. She is the
most sensitive and the most understanding person in the family. She is the one
who sense about the impending departure of her brother and tries to stop it
through her mother. She understands that her brother is not happy at home.
Laura is constantly worried about the arguments between her brother and mother,
and the fatherlessness may also play a part because she often plays with the
photograph records of her father. She lives with her glass menagerie as a way
of escaping her reality moving into a world of imagination. To her brother
Laura is a very different from other girls but Amanda thinks Laura is a normal
girl with average capacity and Laura’s shy and homely nature is an advantage a
girl possesses. Her sudden gentleman caller Jim O’ Conner identifies that she
suffers from inferiority complex and helps her to ease herself from the issue.
However, Laura is at the center of attention in the play because of the title.
Tom
Tom is the narrator and a character in the play. In the
absence of the father, he has to play the role of the breadwinner of the
family. He is completely trapped in unpleasant circumstances mainly due to the
nagging nature of his mother. He seeks adventure, first only in movies later he
finds watching movies is not the reality; to have real adventure he needs to
leave the family setup. Family responsibility becomes a burden for him as he is
badly torn between his desires and obligations.
So, he leaves the family like his father has done. His only worry is his
sister’s fate after his departure.
Jim O’Connor
Jim O’Connor is a symbolic character who enlivens the
American dream. Jim had been a promising boy in his school days and everybody
expected him to sit in the vineyard of White House. However, he ended up with
Tom in the warehouse. He, unlike the other characters in the play, is positive
and optimistic. He is understanding about Laura’s character and his sincerity
encourages Laura to be more confident to believe in herself.
Mr. Wingfield
Mr. Wingfield is the most notable absentee in the drama.
Although he is not a character in the play, his photograph, larger than
life-size dominates the living room of the Wingfield apartment. He is very
handsome in the photograph and has a very enchanting, heart winning smile.
Wingfield however abandons the family for unknown reason, making the family
fall into a turbulence.
The play ends with a gloomy mood leaving all three main
characters to face an uncharted, blurred future. The audience may feel sad
about Laura’s predicament and the plight of the mother, Amanda. One might feel
angry about the action of Tom who has left his mother and sister
unceremoniously. However, one should be empathetic about his dreams and
ambitions. The Glass Menagerie is about the life of most in contemporary people
in the world who run after an American dream. Once you understand you pursuit a
mirage, you tend to escape the reality – to a dreamy world of fantasy. What do
you think about the characters in the play? Kindly leave a comment in the
comment section.
Source: The introduction, The Glass Menagerie, 2017 by
Swarnananda Gamage
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