The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams - Book Report/Review Example

work] The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams This paper tries to answer seven questions regarding Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie, as written before each discussion. What it means to be feminine in the world of each play. Women in the Glass Menagerie were modeled after women of the Victorian age, reflecting a Victorian culture in the South that required ladies be charming but not a breadwinner. They were said to live in a world of their own imagination and unable to cope with a highly competitive, commercial society. Moreover, they are not raised to be simple housewives but to be prim and proper. The play revolves around Amanda Wingfield, one who has been abandoned by her husband. The play depicts the dependency of women on men and the seemingly unjust and segregated roles of men and women. The men were at liberty to actualize themselves, but the women were not. The play is said to typify pre-World War II America, but more women remained in the workforce after the war. Williams is said to be making a commentary on Western culture by dramatizing his belief that men and women find reality and meaning in life through satisfactory sexual relationships. The main focus of both Amanda and Laura is to find that a mate who will rescue them. The difficult task is put on the shoulders of Tom. Amanda constantly nags Laura to stay pretty for her gentlemen callers for without them she will not be able to escape her current situation. The glass menagerie refers to feminine qualities of fragility and delicacy, flawless beauty and grace. Such qualities are found in Laura. The unicorn as a symbol signifies chastity and purity, and even devotion - characteristics that are also shared by Laura. Constraints on what a woman can and can't do. There are a lot that a woman can't do on the basis of her gender. The setting of the story was in St. Louis during the Depression era. Given the circumstances, it was difficult to be just a woman. At times like this where employment would be streamlined, being a woman would take second place. This has important implications for earning a living. Without a man in the house to earn, life would be hard. This was very visible in the case of Amanda who would hold on to his son, Tom, by all means, when her husband left their home. With the limping Laura to take care of besides, Amanda needed Tom to take care of them. Gender, therefore, limits a woman's capability, but more importantly, the absence of a husband. Amanda burdened Tom with a husbands' responsibility of supporting them. In the case of Laura, if she could have a husband, too, then she may lead a more normal life and would not depend on her brother, Tom. It was difficult for a mother then, like Amanda, not to be scheming for the future of her daughter, Laura. If she had no husband to take care of her, she would be stuck to her mother who also had no means of income. First, she had asked Tom to look for a husband material for Laura. Then she set up Laura as presentable to the man caller, Jim. Next, she brought Tom with her and intentionally left Laura with the man. Since the man did not give any hope of visiting again, that was the end of the attempt for a husband- hunt. While she can be beautiful and comely, a woman cannot do anything if the man does not favor the interest. Women's possible sources of power. These may be youth and beauty as exemplified in Amanda's frequent gentleman callers as she reminisces about her times living in the South. Being an authority figure is also a source of power. Amanda as a mother was domineering over her children. Her being domineering has also led her to notice more her children's weaknesses rather than their strong points. She also constantly downplayed her children about what they had become. "Sounds to me like a fairly responsible job you would be in if you just had more get-up." (Act 1, Scene V, pg. 54.) One of Amanda's weak points as an authority figure is in making decisions for her children's life. Both Tom and Laura did not like her decisions for them. Eventually, Laura gave up her studies and Tom hated his job. But she made it appear that as if it was all Laura's fault. "Fifty dollars' tuition, all of our plans-my hopes and ambitions for you-just gone up the spout, just gone up the spout like that." (Act 1, Scene II, pg.17.) Amanda had explained to Tom that her intention for Laura is a life for herself that Tom may be free. "I mean that as soon as Laura has got somebody to take care of her, married, a home of her own, independent - why, then you'll be free to go wherever you please, on land, on sea, whichever way the wind blows you!" (Act 1, Scene IV, pg. 42.). Amanda had clearly used her parent authority as a source of power. A woman's fragility can be a source of power, too. It has the capacity to set someone to remain strong in order to provide the balance. This can be seen in Tom's unwillingness to leave Laura, his crippled sister. Tennessee Williams wrote of her, "She is like a piece of her own glass collection, too exquisitely fragile to move from the shelf." How feminine characters, either overtly or covertly, attempt to achieve that power or authority. Youth and beauty cannot be had permanently, but while they have them, women can use them for power or authority. Amanda had her time in her youth where she had many suitors and she could afford to be choosy. But time may not be always too kind. Women cannot always use youth and beauty to achieve power since ultimately, it is the men who make the last decisions. It is the men, for example, who propose marriage. In the case, for example, of Laura meeting Jim O'Connor, Laura's love interest, Jim told her of an engagement at the end of their meeting - a thing which may be true or not. Power or authority can come from women in just being women. Amanda's authority over Tom is her being the mother who can dictate her wishes over Tom. Likewise, the helplessness of his crippled sister, Laura, makes Tom stay and work for them. Both of them were not successful. Amanda, in all her nagging, all the more drove Tom away in her insistence that Tom only thought of himself and accusing him of thoughtlessly bringing a man already engaged to somebody. On the part of Laura, her helplessness cannot hold someone forever if that someone also has other stronger needs. It is not Tom's' fault that she could not hold a man. What men of the plays expect of the feminine characters. Tom had obviously expected women to be chaste and pure and devoted, obedient, and submissive, just as Jim O'Connor did of Laura. It seems that Laura was Tom's ideal as shown in the last part of the play, in his manifestation of his affection for his sister. Tom also had wanted a better life for her sister although he seemed to have thought of himself as the provider. In Jim O'Connor's case, although he did not return Laura's interest, he had coached her to rise above herself and be more confident. Both of these men expected then higher ideals for women, rather than just being themselves. In Tom's derision for her mother, there is also an expressed desire that women should be strong should the husband leave. There is the implication that they should also equip themselves to be able to stand on their own and not completely rely on men. How they anticipate them to behave and how the females act. The men anticipate women to be saintly and angelic as in the way Williams often described Amanda and Laura. Laura could act saintly and angelic, but not Amanda. She had to be scheming and assertive, and goes beyond being hateful enough for Laura whom she constantly nags to amount to something, and Tom whom he pressures with her decisions including what career to take. Passages from the plays one offer as evidence for conclusions. I find a scheming Amanda because of their situation in the family. In Scene 2, we find out that she had discovered that Laura has dropped out of her secretarial schooling, risking in the process her mother's dreams for her. Confronting Laura, she finds out that she has been visiting the art museum and the birdhouses at the Zoo. "I visited the penguins every day! Sometimes I did without lunch and went to the movies." The mother then decides that the only way for her daughter to pull through is through marriage. At the end of Scene 2, mother asks daughter if she has ever liked a boy. She has, and she tells mother the story of Jim O'Connor and how he used to call her nicknames. From there, Amanda uses Tom for a set-up. This is Amanda's belief: "All pretty girls are a trap, a pretty trap, and men expect them to be." (Scene 6). I find a Tom who has not grown normally in terms of man-woman relationships. He is strongly attached to her sister, Laura. Consider these suggestive comments at the end of the play: "Oh, Laura, Laura, I tried to leave you behind me, but I am more faithful than I intended to be!" (Scene 7). Tom, like his mother Amanda and his sister, Laura all live in illusion. This is more highlighted with Tom's words as he addresses the audience: "I give you truth in the pleasant disguise of illusion." Tom, however, is normal as he repulses his mother's idea about his career: "Man is by instinct a lover, a hunter, a fighter, and none of those instincts are given much play at the warehouse!" (Scene 4). Read More