Major Works Data Sheet

APIB English Literature and Composition
Major Works Data Sheet
Title: The Glass Menagerie
Author: Tennessee Williams
Date of Publication: 1944 (premiere)
Genre: Drama, Memory Drama
Historical information about the period of publication:
As the play premiered in 1944, that means that it
was written during the beginning of World War II
and perhaps even the end of the 1930s, or the
period of the Great Depression in the United
States, which could have significantly affected the
themes, as The Great Depression created a
decade of failure, unemployment and isolation,
themes that are all present in works by Tennessee
Williams. Many events surrounding the period of
publication were included in the drama to better
emphasize key themes, including the World’s Fair
and the painting Guernica.
Biographical information about the author: Williams lived a long
and hard life. Born in Mississippi to a once wealthy and prestigious
family (once politically successful, they had now collapsed into a
shadow of what-has-been). Many of his struggles manifested as
components of his key works. He became very close to his sister
Rose growing up, who suffered from mental illness and anxiety. It
was her that Williams modeled the character “Laura” after from
The Glass Menagerie after. Growing up, Williams struggled with
success in what his parents deemed and their demand for him to
drop out also greatly impacted his life, leaving him at a shoe
company doing menial work and not following his own desires,
writing and journalism, for another 3 years. This paralleled the
struggles that Tom (The Glass Menagerie) also struggled with.
These events, as well as his struggles with addiction, mental
disease, social repercussions of his homosexuality and other
components of his life led to his inclusion of themes of loneliness,
depression, thwarted desires and insanity in his numerous works.
that led him to success before his death in a drug-related incident.
Characteristics of the genre: Drama is the literary genre concerned
with the telling of a story through performance. While the dialogue
and plot are still pivotal, the playwright has the ability to use many
dramatic techniques to further emphasize a theme, better establish
a tone or emotion, or drive forward the piece. These include, but
are not limited to, stage direction, speed of performance, pauses,
and physical movement. Memory dramas, specifically, stem from
the memory of a main character, creating the performance as one
sees it from memory.
Plot summary: The plot begins with Tom telling us about his family and the life they life, including the lack of
father after he left them family many years earlier. The plot of the drama begins as Amanda Wingfield is
instructing her children during dinner, seemingly an everyday occurrence, on everything from eating habits
to her daughter, Laura, and her inability to find a suitor, as she reminisces about her youth as a southern
belle. In the second scene, the audience watches as Amana confronts Laura about dropping out of her
keyboarding class, which Laura refused to tell Amanda about as she did not want to bring her mother shame.
Amanda follows with a lecture regarding what will come of her family, while Laura reminds her that Laura is
crippled, which Amanda nearly refuses to acknowledge. The third scene watches as Tom has an emotional
outburst with Laura about his unhappiness in his job, and unintentially throws his coat into Laura’s glass
collection, which brings her pain. Tom is noticeably upset, but remains anger at his mother. In the next
scene, mother and son finally make up after Laura cries at breakfast because she believes Tom is unhappy
living with them. After breakfast, Amanda tells Tom of her fears that Laura will never find a suitor, and Tom
tells her that he will do what he can. This is confirmed in the next scene, after a touching moment where
Amanda and Tom bond in the moonlight as Amanda tells Tom that she simply wishes that her children will be
successful, and Tom informs her that he has found a caller for Laura. The caller, Jim, is unintentionally Laura’s
high school crush, a sweet and successful man who plays into Amanda’s southern flirtation when he attends
dinner with the family. After the power goes out, Jim gets Laura to open up and they dance, inadvertently
breaking Laura’s favorite glass unicorn, which she is ultimately complacent about. We then learn that Jim is
unavailable and will be married soon, after he leaves on good terms with Laura. Amanda’s anger erupts on
Tom, and their final confrontation ends in his final departure from the home and what held him back.

Major Works Data Sheet Page 2
Describe the author’s style, incl narrator/point of
view, metaphors/similes:
The narration is done with a significant amount of
pretentiousness and grandious idioms. Amanda’s
remote Southern accent and idiomatic expressions
(from her Southern decadence past) contrasts with
the others’ more urban colloquialism. Because Tom
is the narrator, his point-of-view is the most
significant as it shadows everything that is done.
Examples that demonstrate the style:
"A blown-up photograph of the father hangs on the
wall of the living room, to the left of the archway. It is
the face of a very handsome young man in a
doughboy's First World War cap. He is gallantly
smiling, ineluctably smiling, as if to say, "I will be
smiling forever." (Scene I, stage directions)
"Oh! I felt so weak I could barely keep on my feet! I
had to sit down while they got me a glass of water!
Fifty dollars’ tuition, all of our plans – my hopes and
ambitions for you – just gone up the spout, just gone
up the spout like that." (scene II, line 16).
Memorable Quotes*continues at end; couldn’t fit without messing up whole template
Quote
“The Wingfield apartment is in the
rear of the building, one of those
vast hivelike conglomerations of
cellular living-units[. . .] in overcrowded
urban centers [. . .] [that is]
symptomatic of the impulse of this
*… + enslaved section of America”
(scene I, 1868)
“Well, in the South we had so many
servants. Gone, gone, gone. All
vestige of gracious living! Gone
completely! I wasn’t prepared for
what the future brought me. All of
my gentlemen callers were sons of
planters and so of course I assumed
that I would be married to one and
raise my family on a large piece of
land with plenty of servants.” (scene
VI, 1789)
“LAURA: Oh, be careful –If you
breathe, it / breaks! JIM: I’d better
not take it. I’m pretty clumsy with
things / LAURA: Go on, I trust you
with him!” (scene VI, 1905)
Significance
-The opening stage description is very significant as it
reflects many key themes of the drama. The enclosed, hivelike
homes and “enslaved” description describes the overall
theme of being stuck in their reality, wishing for an escape
-This quote represents Amanda’s past of southern
decadence, and her thwarted desires and dreams regarding
what her life would be. This quote exposes the motivation
behind all of Amanda’s pressures on her children, especially
the pressure she places on her daughter, Laura, to find a
suitor.
-This quote represents Laura and her willingness to please
not only her suitor, but her mother. Like her glass, Laura is
fragile and beautiful, but wants Jim to take her, in terms of
marriage. Jim admits to being clumsy, as he ultimately is by
unknowingly leading Laura and Amanda on.

Name
Tom
Wingfield
Amanda
Wingfield
Laura
Wingfield
Characters
Role in the story Significance Adjectives
Narrator of the drama,
as it is his memory that
is the Drama. Tom
works at a menial job at
a shoe company, and
escapes afterwards
through literature,
alcohol and movies. He
desires to become a
writer, but feels held
back by and an
obligation to his family.
The mother of Tom and
Laura Wingfield,
Amanda wishes for the
best for her children as
she holds onto her past.
Growing up, she was
the belle of her
Southern youth, with
male-callers at her door
quite frequently, and
she now wishes the
same for her daughter,
struggling as a singlemother
after the loss of
her husband roughly 16
years prior.
The female counterpart
to Tom, Laura is his
sister and the daughter
of Amanda. Slightly
disabled, Laura has a
very gentle soul and
very fragile mental
health. She is frequently
anxious and afraid. Her
secret failure at Typing
class causes her pain, as
she refuses to inform
her mother and instead
spends her time
elsewhere. Failing to
have a male-suitor,
Laura is pushed by her
mother to impress a
man enough to secure
marriage.
It is through Tom’s memories that we
see everything, so it is with any bias
that he contains that we see his world;
However, this bias appears to be little
or none. It is through Tom’s role in the
plot that many themes are brought out,
as well as the manifestations of
William’s reality: thwarted hopes and
dreams, menial work due to familial
obligations, and a struggle with
addiction due to a lack of known
purpose in life.
Amanda is the foil to both Tom and
Laura’s character development. It is
Amanda who pushes her children to be
successful, and through that making
them unhappy in who they are and who
they are becoming, as they are neither
following their heart nor happy in their
journey of life. However, it is Amanda
who shows the most generous display
of love for her children, as she works a
hard life in subscription sales while
attempting to keep up her social life
and prestige and attaining a successful
suitor for her daughter, Laura, all
without neither a husband to help nor a
single complaint.
Laura presents pure, raw and fragile
emotion. She is very empathic, as she
cries when her brother and mother are
upset, showing pure compassion
without any other motive. She is
represented as a rarity, and this is
further emphasized with her slight
disability. She represents a childhood
innocence, and is pushed by her mother
to reach womanhood and find a suitor.
Unfortunately, her failure simply brings
her mother and herself pain. However,
she is shown to have a very strong will
in her determination not to bring shame
to her mother or family by walking for
long periods of time in the winter while
she is supposed to be in class, to
prevent her mother or anyone else from
finding out what is really occurring.
Real, Strong, Dreaming,
Potential-filled, Lost,
Addicted, Held-Back,
Aspiring, Hopeful,
Loving, Caring.
Strong-Willed, Faded,
Determined, Hard-
Working, Loving,
Careful, Flirtatious,
Courteous
Fragile, Raw, Pure,
Innocent, Strong-
Willed, Caring,
Compassionate, Shy,
Gentle, Empathic,
Emotional, Fearful

Jim
O’Conner
Mr. Wingfield
The potential suitor
brought home by Tom
for his sister Laura, Jim
is in reality Laura’ high
school crush. He is
seemingly a dream
come true for the
family, and Amanda
flirts with him in an
attempt to secure a
marriage for her
daughter Laura
The lost husband of
Amanda, and father of
Laura and Tom. His
picture hangs above the
mantel place
The drama takes place in the Wingfield’s apartment
in the urban-landscape of St. Louis, MO. The
apartment is described as a part of a beehive of
apartments, better emphasizing the inhumanity of
their existence and their home, and emphasizing the
feeling of being trapped that many characters feel.
The existence of the fire escape in the apartment is a
crucial addition, as it provides a singular escape from
the set of the apartment, and foreshadows a
method of escape existing for Tom. Lights, actions
and sounds are routinely heard through the play
from the surroundings around the apartment,
emphasizing the potentiality of life and freedom that
exists outside of the apartment.
Jim is the representation of many
things. First of all, he is everything that
Amanda wants for her family, and she
finds it her goal to capture him. For
Laura, Jim embodies all of her wants
and desires, as he is everything Laura
ever wanted in high school. However,
the fact that the Amanda and Laura fail
to secure him due to another girl he has
been seeing is a representation of the
theme of thwarted hopes and dreams.
His portrait represents a lost-perfection
and lost-hope that Amanda had, as he
was a promising husband that
ultimately resulted in her struggles as a
single mother.
Hopeful, Sweet, Strong,
Capable, Successful,
Promising, Nice,
Courteous
Not Present, Lost
Setting Significance of the opening scene
Symbols
The Glass Menagerie (Specifically the Unicorn) –
These represent Laura’s fragility and yet unique
beauty. When the horn breaks, the Unicorn
becomes damaged yet beautiful (like Laura) and
ultimately she gives it to Jim
Flowers (Specifically Jonquils/Blue Roses) – This
symbol is used when describing Amanda’s past,
being beautiful in her days of southern decadence.
The Fire Escape – The singular avenue out of the
apartment, the escape represents Tom’s ability to
leave his situation and escape to the sounds and life
of the city around their apartment.
The opening of the play introduces the
audience to the family dynamics that exist
within the Wingfields. We are introduced to
Amanda as she instructs Tom regarding things
such as his eating habits and Laura regarding
how to remain pretty and wait for gentleman
callers (who Laura knows will never come).
Amanda introduces her past of being the most
called upon girl of her southern society at
Laura’s age. Finally, we watch as Amanda tells
each of her children what to do after dinner,
showing her controlling and demanding
parenting style.
Significance of the ending/closing scene
The closing scene is of the repercussions of Jim
O’Conner already being engaged and him
leaving. Amanda and Tom get in a fight, and
Amanda tells Tom that he is worthless,
incapable of taking care of his family, and that
he does not care about them. Tom ultimately
leaves, following his heart and dreams and
experiencing the world on his own. However,
he laments that he could never forget about his
sister Laura, who will always be a part of his
memory and his existence.

Works Cited
SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on The Glass Menagerie.” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2003. Web.
______13 Apr. 2011.
Roberts, James L. CliffsNotes on The Glass Menagerie. 19 Apr 2011
______.
"The Glass Menagerie." Shmoop: Study Guides & Teacher Resources. Web. 19 Apr. 2011.
______.
Possible Themes: Use 3 text examples for support. Document correctly.
1) When is one confined in their existence?
1) Tom’s relationship with his family
2) Amanda, and her being confined to her role as a single-mother
3) Laura, and being confined to her disabled body
2) Can one ever escape their past and memory?
1) The fact that the entire drama is Tom’s memory
2) The recurring role of Amanda’s past in her life and in the raising of her children
3) The reappearance of Jim, a high-school crush of Laura’s that she falls back in love with
4) The role of Mr. Wingfield in the entire piece
3) Is the ability for one to reach their dreams ever, truly, possible?
1) Tom had to escape his reality to find his dreams
2) Laura’s dreams are to be happy in her world, which typically means isolating herself
3) Amanda’s dreams for the success of her children, which she has very little control over
**I was not sure which boxes to use: the ones from the raw template, or the ones from Rocky Stone.
I ultimately tried to follow the raw template as it covered everything the Rocky Stone example did,
however my final Theme box is a little convoluted mix of the two.
Quote
“TOM: All right, I will! The more you
shout about my selfishness to me
the / quick I’ll go, and I won’t go to
the movies! AMANDA: Go, then!
Then go to the moon – you selfish
dreamer!” (Scene VII, 1910)
“LAURA: Now it is just like all the
other horses. / JIM:It’s lost its - /
LAURA: Horn! It doesn’t matter.
Maybe it’s a blessing in disguise.”
(Scene VII, 1906)
(Continuation from Above)
Significance
-This quote occurs as Tom decides to leave the apartment
and leave behind the restrictions that hold him back.
Amanda’s taunting, telling him to go to the moon, is very
ironic, as Tom chooses to leave to follow his dreams and the
greater world around him.
-This quote references the loss of the uniqueness of the
unicorn, and Laura’s complacent reaction to it. Like the
unicorn becoming a normal horse, while Laura was dancing
she felt normal, and this glee was the reason she was happy
after the loss of the unicorn’s horn.