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The Glass Menagerie

The Glass Menagerie

List Price: $18.00
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: "What shall I wish for, Mother?"
Review: This drama of the Wingfield family is one of the twentieth century's great American plays, and it is no surprise that it is still taught throughout the country as an example of fine theater. The characters are psychologically true for their 1930's setting, and they reveal themselves brilliantly through their dialogue. The story is simple, the symbolism is obvious and readily understandable, the claustrophobic and depressing atmosphere is heightened by the fact that all the action takes place in a small apartment, and the line between reality and dream world, while clear to the audience, is tragically unclear to the players on stage.

Though the play may be structurally and aesthetically satisfying to an older audience familiar with this period, it may be less successful, after sixty years, to a contemporary audience. Amanda is so meddlesome that her good heart, her dreams for her family, and her control over Tom are unrealistic by today's standards. Tom, with his sense of obligation toward the family, sometimes appears personally weak. Most difficult, however, is Laura, so pathologically shy and introverted that she is happy to stay indoors all day, polishing her glass animals and remaining completely dependent on her brother and mother to support and protect her.

This has always been one of my favorite plays, but reading or watching it now feels a bit like watching a costume drama. Though it is brilliantly written, its characters and dramatic situations are so different from our twenty-first century lives, that the play and characters really come alive only when analyzed in conjunction with the social context in which they were originally presented. For a modern audience, Laura may be more pathetic than tragic. Mary Whipple

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: "The Glass Menagerie" Book Review
Review: This timeless play has been studies and performed around the world since 1945. Tennessee Williams', "The Glass Menagerie" has been classified as legendary for decades and will continue to appear in classrooms and theaters for decades to come. This play is still so popular today because it can still be related to today. It has effective description, realistic characters, and modern language so it is easily understood.
This play seems ageless although it was written over a half of a century ago. There are several similarities with today's society. In the play, tom, the narrator and main character is less than satisfied with his life. He works as a shoemaker but has big dreams for himself. He complains about his job and life when he says, "Listen! You think I'm crazy about the warehouse? You think I'm in love with the Continental Shoemakers? You think I want with-fluorescent-tubes! Look! I'd rather somebody picked up a crowbar and battered out my brains-than go back mornings"(page 23). Tom wants to be a poet and experience adventure. We can all relate to this. At times we are not satisfied with life and it's good to dream a little and have goals for yourself.
Another good aspect of this play is how realistic the characters are. The main characters Tom, Amanda, and Laura don't lead a perfect life. They all have weaknesses. Tom hates his job; Amanda has problems raising and supporting Laura and Tom; Laura has a physical disability. The family goes through real life situations and problems.
The description and overall narration of the play is a key role in its effectiveness. The characters and plot are described so you can get a picture in your mind of the people and the apartment they lie in. The narrator being a character helped a lot with getting a visual of things. This description of the Wingfield's apartment is an example of the detailed description in the play. "The Wingfield apartment is in the rear of the building, one of those vast hive-like conglomerations of cellular living-units that flower as warty growths in overcrowded urban centers of lower middle-class population and are symptomatic of the impulse of this largest and fundamentally enslaved section of American society to avoid fluidity and differentiation and to exist and function as one interfused mass of automatism"(page 3).
Sometimes when reading plays it can be difficult to fully grasp a good sense of the plot. However, it is not the case in "The Glass Menagerie". The plot is fully developed through the characters actions and dialogues. Also, the vivid description Tom gives is very helpful. It is easy to understand because Tom comes right out and tells you what to expect like when he tells us, "I am the narrator of the play, and also a character in it. The other characters are my mother, Amanda, my sister, Laura, and a gentleman caller who appears in the final scenes"(page 5).
Not only is this a well written play, but also it is an easy read. It uses everyday language. It's not difficult to comprehend as it uses modern speaking and dialogues. It's a short play that will grasp you attention and be over before you know it. "The Glass Menagerie" is so popular for a reason. It's a classic play that will be studied and referenced for years to come. It's amazing how a play written so long ago is not obsolete and still relates to today's society.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: "The Glass Menagerie" Book Review
Review: This timeless play has been studies and performed around the world since 1945. Tennessee Williams', "The Glass Menagerie" has been classified as legendary for decades and will continue to appear in classrooms and theaters for decades to come. This play is still so popular today because it can still be related to today. It has effective description, realistic characters, and modern language so it is easily understood.
This play seems ageless although it was written over a half of a century ago. There are several similarities with today's society. In the play, tom, the narrator and main character is less than satisfied with his life. He works as a shoemaker but has big dreams for himself. He complains about his job and life when he says, "Listen! You think I'm crazy about the warehouse? You think I'm in love with the Continental Shoemakers? You think I want with-fluorescent-tubes! Look! I'd rather somebody picked up a crowbar and battered out my brains-than go back mornings"(page 23). Tom wants to be a poet and experience adventure. We can all relate to this. At times we are not satisfied with life and it's good to dream a little and have goals for yourself.
Another good aspect of this play is how realistic the characters are. The main characters Tom, Amanda, and Laura don't lead a perfect life. They all have weaknesses. Tom hates his job; Amanda has problems raising and supporting Laura and Tom; Laura has a physical disability. The family goes through real life situations and problems.
The description and overall narration of the play is a key role in its effectiveness. The characters and plot are described so you can get a picture in your mind of the people and the apartment they lie in. The narrator being a character helped a lot with getting a visual of things. This description of the Wingfield's apartment is an example of the detailed description in the play. "The Wingfield apartment is in the rear of the building, one of those vast hive-like conglomerations of cellular living-units that flower as warty growths in overcrowded urban centers of lower middle-class population and are symptomatic of the impulse of this largest and fundamentally enslaved section of American society to avoid fluidity and differentiation and to exist and function as one interfused mass of automatism"(page 3).
Sometimes when reading plays it can be difficult to fully grasp a good sense of the plot. However, it is not the case in "The Glass Menagerie". The plot is fully developed through the characters actions and dialogues. Also, the vivid description Tom gives is very helpful. It is easy to understand because Tom comes right out and tells you what to expect like when he tells us, "I am the narrator of the play, and also a character in it. The other characters are my mother, Amanda, my sister, Laura, and a gentleman caller who appears in the final scenes"(page 5).
Not only is this a well written play, but also it is an easy read. It uses everyday language. It's not difficult to comprehend as it uses modern speaking and dialogues. It's a short play that will grasp you attention and be over before you know it. "The Glass Menagerie" is so popular for a reason. It's a classic play that will be studied and referenced for years to come. It's amazing how a play written so long ago is not obsolete and still relates to today's society.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: The first Tennesee Williams I ever read will be the last
Review: Why is it that in order for a book, play, or piece of literature to be considered "Great" it has to make you feel like you just walked through an emotional meat-grinder and rolled around in broken glass for a few hours? I can easily cite several pieces that illustrate this, from the style of "yanking the rug of hope out from under you" types ("The Crucible" by Arthur Miller, "1984" by George Orwell), to stories of extremely sick, obsessive people ("Wuthering Heights", Emily Bronte), to stories that just bring out the absolute worst human traits available, and builds upon them literal skyscrapers of the bad aspects of humanity. It is in this last group that I include the "The Glass Menagerie", where it sits glumly next to Hawthorne's tepid "The Scarlett Letter" and George Eliot's equally insipid "Silas Marner".

Now don't get me wrong...Mr. Williams has a real gift with writing, putting you practically in the story and taking off with it. I have never seen a stage production of "The Glass Menagerie" but the play itself is written in such a way that it's very easy to visualize as you read along. Pertaining to Mr. Williams style of writing, his use of the "memory play" is among the most unique tools I've ever seen in a story and he works it to great, surreal effect. The protaganist of the story is Tom, a guy stranded in a seemingly hopeless cycle of life that has him as the family's main breadwinner, working a thankless job and living his desired life of high adventure vicariously by going to the movies. His mother, the overbearing Amanda Wingfield, is a woman literally from another time who cannot seem to break out of the idea that she no longer lives in the old, antibellum South, but rather in a seedy tenement in central St. Louis. His older sister Laura is a shy and reclusive 24 year old woman who has a condition that makes one leg shorter than the other and so she's considered "crippled."

Laura in particular is more the central focus of the story, or rather finding a man that will court and marry her is definitely the main goal of the mother, Amanda. Tom on the other hand, while sympathizing with his sister's status, really on the whole has larger dreams and just wants none of the whole thing, only to escape his lowly job at the shoe warehouse and avoid his overbearing mother. He brings home a coworker one night (after being codgered to death by good ol' Mom) which introduces the character Jim O'Connor to Laura. A surprisingly good rapport occurs between the two, and just as you think the story might have a hopeful ending it turns out ol' Jim is already engaged to the enigmatic Betty. The scene ends, Jim departs, Laura is left devastated with a half broken collection of glass animal figurines (the titular "Glass Menagerie") and Tom makes his big escape to the merchant marine by way of the fire escape, all while having deprived the whole family of electric because he spent the money to register with the service(lights go out right after dinner, what timing). Nice guy, eh?

This is allegedly a semi-autobiographical reminiscing by Tennessee Williams on his childhood, and the end of the play has Tom remarking how his sister Laura still haunts him. And it's about the only inkling of conscience that you get out of this play. That he writes so well only leaves you feeling more robbed at the end. The whole fiasco might have gotten 2 more stars out of me had he taken Laura with him when he escaped, but with no more presence but to fish out a cigarette and head for the hills (like father, like son) I think this one will stay at 2.

This play should be issued with a bottle of St. John's Wort. Thanks Tennessee!


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