Blog Post #5

Tennessee Williams really did create a new theatrical genre when he created memory plays. In a previous drama class, one of the biggest aspects of theatre was the common, agreed-upon notion that the everything is unfolding before the audience's eyes for the first time. It is clear that this is not the case in The Glass Menagerie because we know Tom is recollecting memories. While we, the audience, are all experiencing these events for the first time, Tom's prologue breaks the 4th wall and informs the audience that this is not occurring in real time. While it is not uncommon for characters to break the 4th wall, it is interesting that the character breaks the 4th wall in order to become the narrator. Tom tells us that we will experience an illusion in which we think these events are unfolding in real time.

Williams defines memory plays as being selective since the the past is being retold from a primary source. Thus, objectivity has been removed from the story and our interpretation of the events that occurred can be really misconstrued. This conscious choice by Williams, along with his very specific stage directions, distinct characterizations of the characters and the screens pronouncing the main idea of every scene, pushes readers to believe that Williams had a distinct "point" of the play or a story that he did not misinterpreted.  It is believed that The Glass Menagerie closes resembles a time in Williams' life and that the character Tom represents Williams. Williams' provides a sample story of how the Great Depression affected families and influenced their values. He wants the audience to pity the situation that Tom is in: the Great Depression has trapped Tom in the unfulfilling lives of both Amanda and Laura, crippling his dreams and ambitions and forcing him to seek refuge elsewhere. The theme Williams is trying to personify is that desperate times cause of desperate measures. Similar to Amanda trying to downplay Laura's disability and make it irrelevant, Williams sister had medical illness that convinced their mother seek controversial treatment. Also, like Tom, Williams worked in a factory in order to help out his family; college did not work out well for him so his father put him to work. Relating this to Laura, once Amanda knows Laura has dis-enrolled from school, Amanda puts all her eggs in the marriage basket for Laura. 

I think Williams achieves his goal of trying to bring the audience closer to the truth and reality he is trying to exhibit with the memory play. Williams creates an unrealistic setting for the audience to try and forge a truth and reality from. The lighting, music, screens, and narration create an active engagement with the audience that accurately demonstrates lives of the Great Depression.