The main themes in The Glass Menagerie are
memory and nostalgia, filial piety and duty, and gender roles
. Memory and nostalgia: The Glass Menagerie takes place in Tom's memory. Tom, Laura, Amanda, and Jim each feel the pull of both painful memories and nostalgia.
How is memory a theme in The Glass Menagerie?
As is fitting in a play that is itself a memory of the past, in The Glass Menagerie the past haunts all the characters. Tom the character (the Tom who Tom is remembering as he “creates” the play) feels
trapped by memory
. He sees the past as a physical and emotional restraint that prevents him from living his life.
What is The Glass Menagerie What does it symbolize?
The title of the play, and the play's most prominent symbol, the glass menagerie represents
Laura's fragility, otherworldliness, and tragic beauty
. The collection embodies Laura's imaginative world, her haven from society.
Why does Jim Kiss Laura?
Why does Jim kiss Laura?
He is politely telling her good by
. Tom has paid him to do it. He is showing his contempt of Amanda and her silly ideas.
What does Blue Mountain symbolize in The Glass Menagerie?
The color blue in the name Blue Mountain further represents and
underscores Amanda's sorrows
. Hence, one thing the mountain symbolizes is Amanda's feeling of isolation as she longs for her past.
Why is The Glass Menagerie called a memory play?
According to Tom, The Glass Menagerie is a memory play—both its
style and its content are shaped and inspired by memory
. … Thus, the fact that the play exists at all is a testament to the power that memory can exert on people's lives and consciousness.
What is the climax of The Glass Menagerie?
Climax. It turns out that
James is the Jim Laura used to know, and she becomes paralyzed by fear during their dinner and has to be helped to the sofa
. Tom confesses to Jim that he's paid his dues in the Union of Merchant Seamen rather than the electricity bill that month, and he will be leaving soon.
What is the main conflict in The Glass Menagerie?
The central conflict in “The Glass Menagerie” seems to me to be
the struggle of the individual trapped between his instincts and his thinking capacity which prevents him from being what he really wants to be
.
What two mementos from high schools does Laura show Jim?
What two mementos from high schools does Laura show Jim? What does he sign and why?
A yearbook and the program that was in
. He signed the program because Laura wanted him to.
Why does Laura give the unicorn to Jim?
Laura presents the broken unicorn to Jim
as a souvenir
. The figurine becomes a memory of Laura that Jim can bring with him when he leaves Laura and returns to his life, but it also signifies the normal woman that Laura will never become.
Why does Amanda blame Tom for the evening's failure?
Why does Amanda blame Tom for the evening's failures?
Because Jim is Tom's “best friend” at the warehouse, she thought he would know that Jim would be engaged
. What do we learn about tom and Laura in the first scene? In the play, how does Amanda treat her children?
How is Laura physically handicapped?
Laura has a slight physical defect —
a limp
— but she has magnified this limp until it has affected her entire personality. Laura's oversensitive nature makes her think that everyone notices her limp; it becomes for her a huge stumbling block to normal living. She cannot get over it and into the real world.
What are the 3 components of a memory play?
The three main stages of memory are
encoding, storage, and retrieval
.
What makes a memory play?
A memory play is a
play in which a lead character narrates the events of the play, which are drawn from the character's memory
. The term was coined by playwright Tennessee Williams, describing his work The Glass Menagerie.
Who is the antagonist in Glass Menagerie?
Amanda
is only the antagonist if you think that Tom is the protagonist. Even then, she's more a pain in his side than that a villain.
What is the conclusion of The Glass Menagerie?
In the end, the glass menagerie, Laura's ideal symbolic of a happy life like the one in her mother's stories,
is damaged twice, first accidentally by Tom and second by Laura's first “gentleman caller
,” Jim, who turns out to be engaged.
