The most interesting aspect of “The Glass Menagerie” is the
way it is presented to the audience.
Tennessee Williams opens with a lot of stage directions, including:
“The
scene is memory and is therefore non-realistic. Memory takes a lot of poetic license.
It omits some details; others are exaggerated, according to the emotional value
of the articles it touches, for memory is seated predominantly in the heart.
The interior is therefore rather dim and poetic.” (Online text)
The indication that the play is a memory defies what a
regular play of the time would do.
Through flashbacks, Williams shows the obligation to family
rather than telling a moral and leaves the reader hanging at the ending.
Williams, living through the Great Depression, depicts life as it was rather than
how things should be done and since he narrates, we get no closure with Laura or
Amanda.
From the very being inning of the play, there is a tension
between Tom and his mother. The strain on their relationship is in part due to
Tom being the provider during the Great Depression (although Amanda does sell
occasionally). To get away with this harsh reality, Tom often goes to the
movies where he seeks excitement in his monotonous life. In scene 6 when
talking to Jim, Tom states:
“TOM: People go to the movies instead of moving! Hollywood
characters are supposed to have all the adventures for everybody in America,
while everybody in America sits in a dark room and watches them have them! Yes,
until there's a war. That's when adventure becomes available to the masses... But
I'm not patient. I don't want to wait till then. I'm tired of the movies and I
am about to move!”
This illustrates how life was for ‘the masses’. Ordinary
people had no chance of adventure because they were making ends meet. Through
constantly going back and forth and referring to the movies, Tom illustrates
how miserable life was, which was a stark contrast to previous plays.
For example, in “A Doll’s House”, Nora stands up for herself
and there is a moral to the story; there is a take away. In this play, there is
no take away. It provides an insight rather a theme.
Further, Tom’s monologue at the end states that he left his
family.
“TOM: Oh, Laura, Laura, I tried to leave you behind me, but I
am more faithful than I intended to be! I reach for a cigarette, I cross the
street, I run into the movies or a bar, I buy a drink, I speak to the nearest
stranger -anything that can blow your candles out… and so goodbye.”
Because this is all of Tom’s memory, we get no closure with
the other character and we don’t know what became of Laura or Amanda. There are
many unanswered questions, which is peculiar because it is a full length play,
compared to “Endgame”
I think Williams did this to form a new style. In this, we
only know what Tom remembers. We don’t know what truly happens. I think he did
this because it’s similar to how people recount a story. I also think he did
this to make the reader think about the ending. We feel for Laura, but we don’t
know what will come of her, similar to how things are in real life.
I think it’s frustrating, in a good way. When reading a
novel, readers want to know every last detail. However, with this, it is like
you really knew Laura and you drifted apart and you don’t know how her life
turned out. It’s true. In that respect, I do believe Williams achieved his
goal, for I can only think about what happens to Laura and Amanda.
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