The Glass Menagerie

The story takes place in St. Louis, Missouri, in the apartment of the Wingfields, which is located next to an alley. The location is important because it makes us think about the theme and the contrast between the illusions of sensitive people and the harsh world in which they live. Williams wants us to have sympathy for these fragile 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" (1343). The harsh reality of the setting is meant to stand in contrast to the romantic illusions of Laura, Tom and Amanda.

The title of the play refers to the collection of glass animals of Laura Wingfield. This collection symbolizes the fragile nature of her mind, body and spirit. The fragileness of the glass animals relates to the theme because in the end we see that all of the three main characters are very fragile and have very fragile connections with reality.

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eman caller reveals he is already engaged. The foreshadowing of tragedy takes place through the irony of people who are trying to put a nice face on a harsh world. There are four characters in the play. Amanda is the mother of Tom and Laura. Jim is Laura's gentleman caller. Laura is the main character in the play, although Tom plays an important part in narrating the play and also in grounding the play in some sort of reality. Amanda and Laura are the most purely romantic of the characters. Jim is the symbol for the world of complete reality. When Jim and Laura meet, the worlds of romance and realism meet head-on, and the world of romance is destroyed by the meeting. Tom is a character who lives in both worlds. He is able to make his way in the world of reality, through his work in the warehouse, although he hates his job. At the same time, however, he is a poet. He loves and adores his sister, but he cannot protect her from the tragedy that is coming. She is too fragile for this world. Tome, however, is able to take the action he needs to take in order to survive in the world. He is able to protect his fragile side, whereas Laura is not able to protect herself. Amanda is able to be cruel at times, but mainly as a way of las
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Laura Wingfield, Laura Jim, Jim Laura, Amanda Laura, Louis Missouri, Tom Tom, Glass Menagerie, Jim Laura's, Laura Laura, Tom Amanda, gentleman caller, glass animals, harsh reality, harsh world, broken unicorn, world reality, amanda laura, able express, glass menagerie, illusions sensitive people, laura jim, unicorn glass animals, laura's gentleman caller, laura main character,
Approximate Word count = 2273
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page)

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