All of the plays I have read or
watched, both in this class and outside of it have been relatively clear in
terms of purpose and even structure. Typically there is a narration of some
kind or soliloquys that allowed the audience to understand what is happening,
relatively clear of bias. However, Williams introduces a new structure to the
world of drama that I know of in that he has the story told in an extremely
slanted view. While other plays may have biased views, Williams has the main
character, Tom, directly address the point, saying “the play is memory…it is
dimly lighted, it is sentimental, it is not realistic” (Scene I, line 16-17).
With this knowledge, the audience has to constantly remind themselves that not
everything that happens is completely true. Every event that comes next has to
be understood that it is being told through a very particular lens that of a
frustrated and weary young man, who is forced to provide for his family at an
age that is far too young.
The
Glass Menagerie debuted in 1944, during the height of World War Two, a time
full of hate, chaos, and disruption. Many artists and writers tried to express
the world as they saw it at the time, breaking traditional artistic norms,
leaving us with many important works like this play. I think that Williams
chose to have The Glass Menagerie be
told through an explicitly biased lens because it reflected the way people in
every country saw the world around themselves. The play serves as a lesson to
anyone, regardless of nationality, to understand that the way they see the
world is not necessarily the way things happen. To one person, like Tom, going
out may be his only escape, but to his mother Amanda, she sees it as an insult.
In the same way, an American may have viewed the Germans in one way, while the
Germans felt the same way towards the Americans but in reverse. The play helps
to break down certain prejudices that everyone in this era of newfound
nationalism felt.
As a reader, the biases point of
view had more of an impact on me. When he talked about the magician, saying “We nailed him into a coffin and he got out of the coffin
without removing one nail, [He has come inside.] There is a trick that would
come in handy for me - get me out of this 2 by 4 situation!” (Scene IV, line 28-32). The coffin here is a
symbol for death, something he almost longs for to breaks his monotonous life. Knowing
that the story is told through the eyes of Tom, it makes the symbol that much
more powerful. The gravity of everything that happens to Tom is multiplied
because we are exposed to his view of the world, rather than inferring from
clues as a third party audience to a normal play that doesn’t know how the
character’s understand what is going on.
I
think that the author did achieve his goal because even today, 70 years after
the play was written, I felt like I learned the lesson Williams tried to put
forth. In one dimension, it helped me understand that literature is usually
unbiased and that without the characters’ admission of bias, we can only guess
at motive and intent. More important; however, I think the bigger message was
that Williams wanted the audience to understand that everyone has a completely
different take on what is going in front of them. Just because we see something
in one way does not mean that that is the way it is. We all bring our own
biases to every situation and we must understand that when we interpret what is
going on in our world.
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