Tennessee Williams The Glass Menagerie

The theory of method acting as described by Vineberg began with Konstantin Stanislavski in Russia. Today, in the United States, Vineberg says that

American culture has led our actors straight to it.

. . . The Method, because of its link with realism, its affirmation of Freud, and its focus on adolescent rebellion as the core of much adult behavior, is a natural dramatic expression of the way Americans understand and define themselves (Vineberg xii).

Williams' play is mainly about Laura's search for love and her fragileness. She is an extremely emotional character, and it is important for the success of the play that her emotions are expressed in a realistic and believable way. In the college production of the play which I saw, the actor playing Laura was not able to express the character's emotions realistically, and the result was painful and embarrassing. If she had been trained in the Method, she would have more likely been able to do so. The techniques of the Method help the actor express emotions through the character which let the audience believe that they are seeing a human being under

. . .
Williams' play is about how the world can be a very cruel place for human beings who are very sensitive. Such sensitive people need to have certain illusions that they use to protect themselves from the cold cruelty of the world. When the illusions of fragile and romantic people meet the harsh reality of society, the romantic character will either be able to defend himself or herself (Amanda, Tom) or will be unable to do so and will be destroyed (Laura). The play is set up to keep us aware of the illusions of sensitive people and the harsh world in which they live. Williams wants us to have sympathy for these people, and he does so in part by having them live in a situation of the "lower middle-class" which he considers "this largest and fundamentally enslaved section of American society" (Williams 9). The harsh reality of the setting is meant to stand in contrast to the romantic illusions of Laura, Tom and Amanda. In other words, Williams has carefully set up the play so that the audience connects emotionally with the characters, but if the actors fail to show realistic emotions, all other preparation will not matter. The title of the play refers to the collection of glass animals of Laura Wingfield. This collection is a symbo
. . .

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Approximate Word count = 2545
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page)

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