Essay Tennessee Williams Life and The Glass Menagerie

Tennessee Williamsamp;#8217; Life and The Glass Menagerie The Glass Menagerie first opened on March 31, 1945. It was the first big success of Tennessee Williamsamp;#8217; career. It is in many ways about the life of Tennessee Williams himself, as well as a play of fiction that he wrote. He says in the beginning, amp;#8220;I give you truth in the pleasant disguise of illusion; (1147). The characters Tom, Laura, and Amanda are very much like Williams, his sister Rose, and his mother Edwina. We can see this very clearly when we look at the dialogue, and the relations between the action in the play and the actions in Tennessee Williamsamp;#8217; life. The first character that we will look at is Tom, the narrator. It can be interpreted†¦show more content†¦He called me Shakespeare; (1168). Both Tom and Williams wanted to go away from their real life into their art. Tennessee Williams also had a great depression, like Tom. He managed his depression by writing poetry and plays that we just talked about. He left home to live in New Orleans when he was 28. Tom is a little bit younger than this when the play is in action. But he is also deeply depressed by the life around him at home and at work. And like Williams, he leaves home in the end because it is so sad for him there. amp;#8220;His nature is not remorseless, but to escape from a trap he has to act without pity; (1146). nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;The father in The Glass Menagerie amp;#8220;was a telephone man who fell in love with distances; he gave up the job with the telephone company and skipped the light fantastic of this town.; (1147). Tennessee Williamsamp;#8217; father was a traveling salesman. He was also not often home and the children were brought up mostly by the mother, like in the play. We will look at this later in relation to the character Amanda, who represents Edwina. While he was growing up, Tennessee Williams and his family moved to some amp;#8220;tenements; in industrial St. Louis. The front door of their house was opening up to look at some kind of an alley. In the play Tom tells where his family lives. He says,Show MoreRelated Comparing the Life of Tennessee Williams and Glass Menagerie707 Words   |  3 PagesParallels in the Life of Tennessee Williams and The Glass Menagerie   Ã‚  Ã‚   Tennessee Williams is one the major writers of the mid-twentieth century. His work includes the plays, The Glass Menagerie and A Streetcar Named Desire. One theme of The Glass Menagerie is that hopeful aspirations are followed by inevitable disappointments. This theme is common throughout all of Williams work and throughout his own life as well. It is shown through the use of symbols and characters.    I haveRead More Essay on The Glass Menagerie and the Life of Tennessee Williams957 Words   |  4 PagesThe Glass Menagerie and the Life of Tennessee Williams The Glass Menagerie closely parallels the life of the author. From the very job Tennessee held early in his life to the apartment he and his family lived in. Each of the characters presented, their actions taken and even the setting have been based on the past of Thomas Lanier Williams, better known as Tennessee Williams. Donald Spoto described the new apartment building that Williams and his family relocated to in St. Louis, MissouriRead MoreTennessee Williams: His Life in quot;Suddenly Last Summerquot; and quot;The Glass Menageriequot;2784 Words   |  12 PagesIn the study of Tennessee Willliams plays: Suddenly Last Summer and The Glass Menagerie, we can find a great deal of autobiographical connections. The Glass Menagerie is particularly considered the authors most biographical work. It is described by the playwright as a memory play; indeed, it is a memory of the authors own youth, an expression of his own life and experiences. Similarly, Suddenly Last Summer includes many of Tennesse Williams real life details. First and foremost,Read MoreThe Glass Menagerie By Tennessee Williams985 Words   |  4 Pages  ¨Life is all memory, except for the one present moment that goes by you so quickly you hardly catch it going. ¨ This quote by the author of The Glass Menagerie, Tennessee Williams, describes both The Glass Menagerie, a memory play, and the life of Tennessee Williams himself, for whom memories played a large role in his life. Within the play, many parallels can be drawn between the life of Williams and the life of Tom, the main character, such as a disdain for factory work. In addition, several charactersRead More Comparing Tennessee William’s Life and Streetcar Named Desire and Glass Menagerie1551 Words   |  7 PagesWilliam’s Life and A Streetcar Named Desire and Glass Menagerie  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚   Tennessee Williams is one of the greatest American playwrights. He was constantly shocking audiences with themes such as homosexuality, drug addictions, and rape. He broke free from taboos on such subjects, paving the way for future playwrights. He also was a very good writer. One of the things he is famous for is his dialogue, which is very poetic. Williams wrote about his life. The Glass Menagerie is a veryRead MoreIllusion Vs. Reality In The Glass Menagerie By Tennessee Williams1022 Words   |  5 Pagesillusions on someone. In The Glass Menagerie Tennessee Williams uses metaphors, the fire escape, and Laura’s glass menagerie to emphasize how the characters retreat to their world of illusion to escape from reality. Williams uses Laura’s glass menagerie to exemplify how the characters retreat into their private world of illusion. Because of Laura’s defects, she feels as if others do not accept her. She makes a world of illusion to escape from reality. Her glass menagerie represents this kind of worldRead More Essay on the Symbolism of the Menagerie in The Glass Menagerie1002 Words   |  5 PagesThe Symbolism of the Menagerie in The Glass Menagerie      Ã‚   Tennessee Williams play, The Glass Menagerie, describes three separate characters, their dreams, and the harsh realities they face in a modern world.   The Glass Menagerie exposes the lost dreams of a southern family and their desperate struggle to escape reality. Williams use of symbols adds depth to the play. The glass menagerie itself is a symbol Williams uses to represent the broken lives of Amanda, Laura and Tom Wingfield andRead MoreSymbolism In The Glass Menagerie By Tennessee Williams822 Words   |  4 Pages A play based on the power of memory, The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams is a story told from Tom Wingfield’s point of view and depicts Laura’s imaginary world, a place where she can retreat and escape the reality of the present, and live in a â€Å"perfect† world. Laura’s memories from the past shape her personality, such as the name, â€Å"Blue Roses,† which illustrates her fragile nature, much like the fragility of the glass menagerie. In order to symbolize Laura Wingfield’s fragile behavior dueRead More Essay on Stagnant Lives in Streetcar Named Desire and Glass Menagerie1196 Words   |  5 PagesStagnant Lives in Streetcar Named Desire and Glass Menagerie   Ã‚  Ã‚   The Stagnant Lives of Blanche DuBois and Amanda Wingfield  Ã‚  Ã‚   All of Williams significant characters are pathetic victims--of time, of their own passions, of immutable circumstance (Gantz 110). This assessment of Tennessee Williams plays proves true when one looks closely at the characters of Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire and Amanda Wingfield in The Glass Menagerie. Their lives run closely parallel to one anotherRead More Escape Mechanisms in The Glass Menagerie Essay1333 Words   |  6 PagesEscape Mechanisms in The Glass Menagerie In Tennessee Williams’ play, The Glass Menagerie, all four members of the Wingfield family have chosen to hide from reality. Amanda tries to relive her past through Laura, and denies anything she does not want to accept. Laura is terrified of the real world, and choses to hide behind her limp, her glass menagerie and the victrola. Tom hides from his reality by going to the movies, writing poetry, and getting drunk. Mr Wingfield hides from his