The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams

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 The Glass Menagerie 

by Tennessee Williams.


This is a tragic, classic play that I had to read in high school. Yet the only thing I remembered about it was that the daughter Laura was shy and introverted and was comforted by her collection of glass animals. But as I reread it as an adult I now see and feel so much more than I did through the eyes of a teenager. I see how impossibly trapped all three characters were.

 

The 23-year-old daughter, Laura, is “ crippled,” not just in having one shorter leg than the other and having to wear a brace, but because she's emotionally crippled with an inferiority complex. She's terrified of everything—even of going to business school. 

 

The mother is trapped in a life where she has no resources. She was taught to be a housewife with no outside job, only to serve the family, completely dependent on her husband for financial support—just like Project 2025 is trying to bring us back to. The play takes place in the 1930s and her husband has left them stranded. Amanda is trying to stay afloat in time when she can't even get a bank account, when she's a second-rate citizen. 

 

Then there's Tom, the 21-year-old son, who is saddled with providing for them. He's resentful and hates that he's yoked with being responsible for them, and he hates his job, too. His mother Amanda nags at him to bring a nice guy home for Laura to meet, because if she marries then their future is secure and Tom will be free. 

 

The play highlights desperation and hopelessness resulting from compartmentalized gender roles. Definitely worth rereading as an adult!


Happy Reading!

 

#theglassmenagerie #socialissues #tennesseewilliams #classicplay #classicreading

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