Amanda Wingfield: A Woman on the Brink Amanda Wingfield, described by Preston Fambrough (100) as an "embattled mother," is a woman desperately anxious to ensure that her daughter, Laura, will ensnare a suitable husband and that her son, Tom, will provide the support that Amanda needs for herself and for her family. The entire Wingfield family "lives in a world of illusions or hopes" (Straumann, 203). The thesis to be addressed herein is that in Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie there are many different personalities living in the same household, causing enormous stress, and leading invariably to the breakdown experienced by Amanda Wingfield herself.
Amanda Wingfield is a bitter woman whose own marriage failed and whose son "more and more (you) remind me of your father" (Williams, 65). A Southern belle fallen on hard times, Amanda is utterly disenchanted with the life symbolized by "a fire escape landing" that she regards as "a poor excuse for a porch" (Williams, 71). For her handicapped daughter, Laura, Amanda is convinced that a husband and a hom
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