The Glass Menagerie

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Summary: Overview of The Glass Menagerie
Review: The Glass Menagerie, by Tennesse Williams is a tale of desperation and a longing for something more. The characters within this incredible stories pages yearn for more than the mundane facts of life. Amanda, who plays the mother, grew up a pure southern belle. As she describes it, men practically kissed the ground she walked on. Wouldn't you think her daughter Laura would be the same? The answers no. Laura is a shy, crippled girl who is forced to wear braces on her legs. Unlike her mother, Laura rarely has gentlman callers and this bothers Amanda. Her mother, not knowing what to do with Laura, signs her up for business classes which Laura secretly skips. Her brother Tom is an aspiring poet who is forced to work in a shoe warehouse so he can support his family. Their father ran out on them at an early age and the only thing they have recieved from him in years is a single postcard.
The Glass Menagerie is one of the few books that has ever caught me by surprise. You can't help but feel the agony of repression these three main characters feel. The novel, which was originally written for the stage, only takes place over a very short period of time in late 1930's. It was a time of change and growth of the human spirit. The beliefs of youth and age clashed and no matter who you were you longed for something different. But as our character Tom figures out at the end, change isn't always what you need.
I feel the most interesting quality this novel contained was it's use of symbolism. The fire escape had so much meaning behind it, it was practically impossible to miss. It was their only way of escaping the pain that was inside the walls of their home. The music that was often cued in the play took a major part in creating the essense behind the story. Music relates to memory and that is what this play comes down to, memories of how it should be, or should I say, the delusions the Wingfield family created.
Overall this book impressed me. It had all the elements a good story should have,(pain, pleasure, humor, distruction and healing). I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking to sit down and sink into a well written story. After all, everyone lives within their own glass menagerie.

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Summary: My thoughts on the book
Review: The Glass Menagerie is about a disfunctional, low-middle class family living in St. Louis. Amanda, the mother, once a wealthy debutante who dreams of always being young and beautiful again, instead, got left with two children and a postcard from her husband. Laura, the oldest and only daughter is a shy young girl with a brace on her leg. Tom, the son, helps out by working in a warehouse while dreaming of becoming a poet and traveling around the world. Amanda, is worried why Laura hasn't found anyone to marry; so she asks Tom to find someone for her at the warehouse. Tom asks Jim O'Connor to comeover for dinner. When Jim comes over Laura realizes they went to school together and she used to like him. After dinner, Laura and Jim spend time alone and she shows him her collection of glass menageries. At the end, Jim kisses her but quickly leaves becuase he has to meet his fiancee. Amanda get very angry at Tom for not telling them he is getting married. Tom leaves and never comes back. Years later, Tom still feels guilty for leaving Laura alone.
I liked how realistic the book was because it didn't have a typical ending and the characters were very human like. The characters were especially good, because their personalities were all different and like a family they tried to get along as much as possible. They made mistakes and they didn't display any act of heroism or any type of change. They were normal people living their lives which made them very realistic. I also like how the narrator was also a character in the play, because he explained why the people in the play acted the way they did.
What I mostly disliked about the novel was the plot structure and how the novel is like a play. I think that plays should be performed not read. I also think the books progress was very slow. I like the dialogue, but in between the that they had the comments about where the actors should enter or exit the stage and all these details which made me want to skip those parts. Overall, I don't think I would read the book again but I would definitely watch the play. I find that it was difficult to decipher between the important information and the nonimportant information because the book was inconsistant. These minor details over shadowed the story.

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Summary: Review of The Glass Menagerie
Review: The Glass Menagerie is a gripping tale of three family members trying to make it through life. Amanda, the mother of the family, is a caring mother that, in her days of youth, had men adoring her much of the time. However, much to Amanda's dismay, her daughter Laura is not so great with the guys. She has a disease, called pleurosis, that leaves her in leg braces. Her brother Tom is an aspiring poet, but works in a shoe warehouse to support his mother and sister. He doesn't like his job and hates that he has to support everyone.
I think that The Glass Menagerie was a wonderful book which took you in and let you get to know the characters. You feel like you are very close to them. Laura is an intersting character that I felt for. It is sad that she is stuck in leg braces. Also when Tom's friend Jim joins the family for dinner, she at first is very shy. Then she talks to him and enjoys his warm comfort. She ends up dancing with him and he actually kisses her. At this point in the story you feel a connection between the two. I felt very happy for Laura that she could finally get over her shyness and get to really know someone. He even tells her a nickname he thought up for her in highschool, "Blue Rose". I felt like Laura finally found the person for her. While they are dancing Jim accidentally knocks over a glass unicorn that was Laura's favorite. She is forgiving and explains that now the unicorn is a normal horse. This symbolizes that Laura was different from other girls because of her disease, but Jim made her feel like "a normal horse". This means she felt like a normal girl and that made her feel great. They finally kiss and Jim apologizes. He goes on to explain that he is in a serious relationship and he can't be doing this. Laura's heart is broken, but she gives him the broken glass unicorn as a souvenir. Jim then tells the family that he has to leave because he is meeting his fiancée. When Jim leaves Amanda is very upset with Tom for bringing Jim over when he was engaged. Tom explains that he didn't know that. Then, Amanda goes to Laura and comforts her. At this point in the story your heart goes out to Laura. She finally met someone she liked being with and could talk to and have fun with, and he has a fiancée. The story ends with Tom talking about how he can never forget what he did to Laura, and no matter where he goes he is always reminded of the incident. At this point in the story, at the end, I did not feel content with the way it ended. I was left longing for Laura to find a man for her and wondering what would happen to Tom. I guess I'll never know.

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Summary: Brilliant
Review: Quite simply, The Glass Menagerie is the very reason you read a book. For the passion, the pain, the happiness, that indescribable feeling you get when you've finished the very last sentence. Tennessee Williams doesn't disappoint. The Glass Menagerie tells the story a family trapped in the ruthless battle of life, struggling to survive their circumstances and the memories that plague the Wingfield apartment. So subtlety and tenderly does Williams weave the reader within the words of his play that we too are left like his characters, gasping for a breath away from the intoxicating despair that inhabits their existence. The Glass Menagerie's brilliance lies in Tom as narrator, Williams continues symbols (eg. the Paradise Dance Hall, the gentlemen caller, the fir escape) and his ability to create characters so real you can almost hear their heart beat. Basically if you haven't read The Glass Menagerie you should, it's an unforgettable experience.

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Summary: From the Golden Age of American Drama
Review: THE GLASS MANAGERIE, written in 1944, is a painfully poignant drama about a crippled girl, Laura Wingfield, who is so shy and insecure that she spends her days in her mother's house, playing old phonograph records left by her father, who deserted the family long ago, and caring for her collection of glass figurines ("the glass managerie"). Laura's mother, Amanda, is an old-fashioned "southern belle," charming but emotionally weak; though she finds fault with Laura and her shyness, Amanda lives in her own world of illusions. She dreams of a business career for Laura; when this fails, she dreams that Laura will find a handsome "gentleman" to marry. Aside from the "gentleman caller," the other character in the play is Laura's brother, Tom, who also dreams - of being an artist, another "Shakespeare." Tom is both a character in the drama and its narrator; in this way, THE GLASS MANAGERIE is a "memory play": its action is RECOUNTED by a narrator, Tom.
The similarities between this play and both A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE and Arthur Miller's DEATH OF A SALESMAN are striking. All three of these works deal with the contrast between illusion - dreams -and reality. In STREETCAR, Blanche du Bois is a delicate, refined "southern belle," who prefers to live in a dream-world; in this way she is like both Laura and Amanda Wingfield. But I find the parallels with SALESMAN even more interesting. These begin with the opening stage directions, which describe the set of the Wingfield's house as having transparent walls (so that Tom can narrate, then walk through the walls into "the past" to become a character in the play) and as being located in an overcrowded section of town. In SALESMAN, the Lomans' home has transparent walls for the very same purpose - so that the characters can exist both in the present and in the past - and is at the same time shown to be "boxed in" with many other houses, showing the desperation and helplessness of the family's situation. Like Willy Loman, Amanda has great but unrealistic hopes for her children. And like Biff Loman, Tom Wingfield is bored with his menial job and dreams of being free to create and to go where he likes. Jim, the gentleman caller, also resembles Biff in that he was a success in high school but now, six years later, is only a shipping clerk - yet he believes in the myth that a winning personality will eventually make him a success. That MANAGERIE and the later SALESMAN resemble each other in so many respects means that Miller must have admired and learned from Williams. Indeed, the twentieth century was extremely fortunate to have had these two great dramatists writing practically simultaneously. THE GLASS MANAGERIE is certainly one of the jewels from that golden age -- the 1910's to the 1950's -- of American drama.

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Summary: His best
Review: This was the first play I ever saw in my life and it made a deep impression on me. There are so many things to relate to in this tale of deception, control, dysfunction, co-dependency, and family life, that even if you don't live in St. Louis, have a crippled sister, or a nagging mother (who doesn't?) you'll find yourself in one of the characters.

This is the brilliance of Williams. Like other writers out there (think Styron in his "Sophie's Choice," McCrae in "Bark of the Dogwood," or Arthur Miller in everything he ever wrote),Williams manages to give us several examples of "everyman" without reducing them to stereotypes and clichés.

The sheer power of "Menagerie" is overwhelming. Like his "Night of the Iguana" or his "Cat," he is marvelous at letting us inside his character's heads.

In recent years Tennessee William's plays have seen something of a decline, both in production and sales. Nothing like the forties, fifties, or even seventies when he was still very much in demand. But this will change as each new generation discovers this master theatre builder.

If you like good writing, well-developed characters, dialogue that leaps off the page and follows you home, try any play by Arthur Miller, "Proof," McCrae's "Bark of the Dogwood," or "Angels in America." All highly recommended.

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Summary: The Glass Menagerie
Review: The Glass Menagerie, by Tennessee Williams, really makes your mind think. It's about a family of a mother(Amanda), her daughyter(Laura), and her son(Tom). They live by themselves in a small house together. Laura is a shy, young, crippled girl, who doesn't get out much, at all. Her brother, Tom, and mother try to get a gentleman caller for her. Amanda asks Tom to bring home a nice young man from his workhouse for Laura to meet. So, Tom asks a man named Jim O'Connor over for dinner. The rest of the book is about Laura's time with Tom.
Some things I didn't like about this book was athat it wasnt very long, so it didn't have much time to describe anything in great detail. The Glass Menagerie is an easy read and very short. I also didn't like how it didn't say very much about everyone's feelings. You didn't really know how anyone felt about anything.
There were many things I did like about this book too. I liked that it was in the form of a play, and that there were only four characters total. It made it very easy to keep track of who was talking.
I also really liked how the book ended. The way that Laura comes across Tom again, and he tells her that she needs to "Blow out her candles and say good-bye." By this, I got hte impression that he ment to say good-bye to her glass menagerie and go explore the world.
Over all i really liked The Glass Menagerie. The plot was very interesting, because it showsyou that sometimes, you need to forget about certain things and move on.

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Summary: "Charm....Vivacity.....and...CHARM!!!!"
Review: For my theatre class we were split up into groups of two and told to pick a scene from a play, so my partner and i picked Scene two from Glass Menagerie. It was my first time to ever read this play and as im reading it i was like oh jeez could this be anymore predictable, but then the end came and i was like......wow that was sooo not what i was expecting.... and about two weeks later when my partner finally finished the play (needless to say she wasnt exactly interested in this assignment) she was also in shock at the climax of this play i highly recomend this book to ppl that have short attention spans (its wicked short) and to those who like surprise endings.

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Summary: A Timeless Play
Review: The Glass Menagerie is the play that brought Tennessee Williams his long-awaited and well-deserved first taste of success. In the more than half a century since the play was first written and performed, it remains an enduring classic -- not only on the stage, but also on the page. Williams, one of the most literary playwrights to ever hoist a pen, created a classic play that also makes for great literature. His love of the literary is made clear primarily through his stage directions, which are sometimes quite lengthy -- whereas many playwrights, including Shakespeare, have barely any at all -- and also quite poetic. Like his later play, Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, The Glass Menagerie is a family drama. The title is apt: the characters in the play live, as, no doubt, many of us do, in a virtual glass menagerie, living out their pathetic lives from day to day. This "memory play" is a window into their world. No one in the family is happy; indeed, they are so engrossed in their own pathologies that they seem to forget that they are a family -- that the other people they live with have thoughts and dreams and hopes and visions of their own. They seem, at times, nearly oblivious to reality, as another reviewer quite rightly put it. Many of the scenes are, no doubt, familiar to anyone who has had to live with other people. The Wingfield's existence, sad and pathetic as it is, can probably be related to by many: everyone who reads the play probably sees a little bit of him or herself in every character; individual scenes may stir long-forgotten or repressed memories. This play is William's wake-up call to us all: he is telling us, as Neil Young later sang, to "open up those tired eyes", see the world, embrace reality, and, above all, LIVE. Don't let your unicorn's horn break.

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Summary: Disturbing, realistic, intriguing.
Review: "The Glass Menagerie" is an excellent play but also disturbing. It opens ones eyes to how pathetic we are, and some people may have a hard time dealing with that - also known as denial. It's been a long time since I've wanted to scream at the character's to change, and this play broke the drought. I saw a little of myself in each character, and although it made me sad, I think it took guts for Williams to fully inject himself into a play. I recommend.