When people don’t like the situation they’re in, their first instinct is to escape it. In The Glass Menagerie, by Tennessee Williams, Tom Wingfield narrates the memory of a time when he worked or ran off to the movies, and when Amanda, his mother, was on a desperate hunt for a gentleman caller for his sister, Laura. While Tom struggles with his insatiable need for a change in life, his mom clings to the chance of reliving her convivial past through her daughter. Amanda escapes the present through memories of her past, Laura separates herself into the safe haven of her illusions, and Tom attempts to run away from responsibility. To stay sane in her disillusioned world, Amanda desperately clings to the vitality of another time and place.
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Out of all the men Amanda could have married, she chose one that eventually left her for a better life. Recalling the times of when a perpetual stream of gentlemen callers reached out to her, helps her to forget the heartbreaking loss of her husband. The inner turmoil of the unhappy outcome of Amanda’s life is clumsily stitched back together with lighthearted recollections. While escaping to her former glory, Amanda disregards Laura’s words and actions and continues on about how “It’s almost time for our gentlemen callers to start arriving. [She flounces girlishly toward the kitchenette] How many do you suppose we’re going to entertain this afternoon?” Initially speaking of the gentlemen callers for Laura, she is actually picturing them arriving for herself. Amanda’s girlish behavior reveals how she confuses the reality of the situation with her preferred memories. In believing that she is still the young and attractive girl of days gone by, she abandons some responsibility as a mother. When Jim, …show more content…
He explains to Amanda that he goes “to the movies because — I like adventure. Adventure is something I don’t have much of at work, so I go to the movies.” He fantasizes about escaping the insipid chore of working at the warehouse and the confines of the dysfunctional apartment. In retreating to the movies, Tom is attempting to fill the void in his heart that longs for everything his life lacks. He doesn’t think to make his own adventure possible and seeks the easy way out through films, where everything has a happy ending. In the beginning of the play, the fire escape is described as “a structure whose name is a touch of accidental poetic truth.” It is literally and figuratively Tom’s only means of permanently escaping the prison which holds him captive in his adventureless world. His frequent visits allow him to picture a dream that could eventually become reality. Tom’s desperation subsequently leads him to escape the frustrations of the apartment and follow in his father’s footsteps. Tom introduces his father’s picture as a “larger-than-life-size photograph over the mantel.” The father’s success in abandoning his drab life looms over Tom, taunting him with the idea of passing through the illusion filled walls of their apartment and into a world free of constraints. This largely influences Tom’s decision to desert the ramshackle life of
Out of all the men Amanda could have married, she chose one that eventually left her for a better life. Recalling the times of when a perpetual stream of gentlemen callers reached out to her, helps her to forget the heartbreaking loss of her husband. The inner turmoil of the unhappy outcome of Amanda’s life is clumsily stitched back together with lighthearted recollections. While escaping to her former glory, Amanda disregards Laura’s words and actions and continues on about how “It’s almost time for our gentlemen callers to start arriving. [She flounces girlishly toward the kitchenette] How many do you suppose we’re going to entertain this afternoon?” Initially speaking of the gentlemen callers for Laura, she is actually picturing them arriving for herself. Amanda’s girlish behavior reveals how she confuses the reality of the situation with her preferred memories. In believing that she is still the young and attractive girl of days gone by, she abandons some responsibility as a mother. When Jim, …show more content…
He explains to Amanda that he goes “to the movies because — I like adventure. Adventure is something I don’t have much of at work, so I go to the movies.” He fantasizes about escaping the insipid chore of working at the warehouse and the confines of the dysfunctional apartment. In retreating to the movies, Tom is attempting to fill the void in his heart that longs for everything his life lacks. He doesn’t think to make his own adventure possible and seeks the easy way out through films, where everything has a happy ending. In the beginning of the play, the fire escape is described as “a structure whose name is a touch of accidental poetic truth.” It is literally and figuratively Tom’s only means of permanently escaping the prison which holds him captive in his adventureless world. His frequent visits allow him to picture a dream that could eventually become reality. Tom’s desperation subsequently leads him to escape the frustrations of the apartment and follow in his father’s footsteps. Tom introduces his father’s picture as a “larger-than-life-size photograph over the mantel.” The father’s success in abandoning his drab life looms over Tom, taunting him with the idea of passing through the illusion filled walls of their apartment and into a world free of constraints. This largely influences Tom’s decision to desert the ramshackle life of