Despite thousands of history books about the Great Depression throughout the years, the readers could hardly comprehensively realize the sufferings from the unprecedented crisis unless they had experienced. However, about seventy years ago, Tennessee Williams, who was an American playwright, orchestrated a vivid literacy masterpiece that combined his personal experience with his distinguished and influential memory play, The Glass Menagerie, which transpired in St. Louis in 1937, and primarily depicted the difficulties of the Wingfield’s family during the period of the catastrophic economic collapse. In this way, this play not only generated a mirror of the crucial society that embedded a sense of fear, desperation, and frustration, but also
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Although Tom, who was the narrator and the central character of the play, eventually escaped from his family for seeking his temporary freedom, in most of the time of the play, Tom’s freedom was restricted that he perceived obligated to taking care of his family, especially his sister Laura, who was obsessed with the glass menagerie and isolated herself from the outside world. Throughout the play, he wandered several times around the tenement’s fire escape. This action symbolized that he was willing to break away from his family for pursuing his own freedom. By the time that Tom mentioned the magician performance to Laura, he told Laura “get me out of this 2 by 4 situation”(Williams; Scene 4) that he anticipated he could get away from the house just like the magician escaped from the coffin. In addition, the collection of the glass creature was referring Laura’s short of freedom. As Tom mentioned, Laura frequently uncluttered and polished her collection of glass menagerie that she endeavored to preserve the glass creature as best as she could. Likewise, Amanda, treated her daughter in an analogous way. In particular, Amanda emphasized that “girls that aren't cut out for business careers usually wind up married to some nice man,” that required Laura to evolve into either a married woman or a college student. Thus, Laura was undoubtedly at the mercy of Amanda and she lost all of her freedom for deciding her road. Therefore, during the Great Depression, people were more likely to sacrifice one’s freedom in order to fulfill one’s
Although Tom, who was the narrator and the central character of the play, eventually escaped from his family for seeking his temporary freedom, in most of the time of the play, Tom’s freedom was restricted that he perceived obligated to taking care of his family, especially his sister Laura, who was obsessed with the glass menagerie and isolated herself from the outside world. Throughout the play, he wandered several times around the tenement’s fire escape. This action symbolized that he was willing to break away from his family for pursuing his own freedom. By the time that Tom mentioned the magician performance to Laura, he told Laura “get me out of this 2 by 4 situation”(Williams; Scene 4) that he anticipated he could get away from the house just like the magician escaped from the coffin. In addition, the collection of the glass creature was referring Laura’s short of freedom. As Tom mentioned, Laura frequently uncluttered and polished her collection of glass menagerie that she endeavored to preserve the glass creature as best as she could. Likewise, Amanda, treated her daughter in an analogous way. In particular, Amanda emphasized that “girls that aren't cut out for business careers usually wind up married to some nice man,” that required Laura to evolve into either a married woman or a college student. Thus, Laura was undoubtedly at the mercy of Amanda and she lost all of her freedom for deciding her road. Therefore, during the Great Depression, people were more likely to sacrifice one’s freedom in order to fulfill one’s