A Southern Belle Imagined
It’s been said that Tennessee Williams was very well known for the complexity of his characters in his writings. The Glass Menagerie is an intricate example of the effort that Williams puts into bringing his characters to life. Amanda Wingfield is a perfect example of Williams’s complexity. Amanda has a psychological battle within herself. Once a Southern Belle in her youth, Amanda refuses to see the realism of what her life has become. She constantly badgers at her son Tom and struggles to cope with the handicaps of her daughter Laura. Amanda chooses to withdraw from the everyday stresses of reality, but she continues to relive the fond memories of when she was in her prime. Amanda likes to relive her youth. She boasts to her children how she had many gentlemen callers lining up at her door to wisp her away on dates. “One Sunday afternoon in Blue Mountain your mother received seventeen gentlemen callers! Why, sometimes there weren’t chairs enough to accommodate them all.” (Williams 926) This shows …show more content…
Williams gave readers a person that many can relate too. Amanda is a very difficult person and her personality throughout the play is very intricate. Amanda is an emotionally scarred person which makes the Story come full circle. Amanda lives in the past wishing that her life could have been more then what it became. Even though she loved her husband and father of her children, she criticizes him and in some ways holds Tom accountable for the action of his father. She wants more for both of her children especially Laura, but cannot cope with the fact that Laura has disabilities that make it difficult for her to be an outgoing person. Amanda has so much emotion and insecurities of her own she has a hard time expressing what’s appropriate at times. Amanda however is not an evil person she is just deeply flawed and struggles to do what is best and what fits the needs of her
It’s been said that Tennessee Williams was very well known for the complexity of his characters in his writings. The Glass Menagerie is an intricate example of the effort that Williams puts into bringing his characters to life. Amanda Wingfield is a perfect example of Williams’s complexity. Amanda has a psychological battle within herself. Once a Southern Belle in her youth, Amanda refuses to see the realism of what her life has become. She constantly badgers at her son Tom and struggles to cope with the handicaps of her daughter Laura. Amanda chooses to withdraw from the everyday stresses of reality, but she continues to relive the fond memories of when she was in her prime. Amanda likes to relive her youth. She boasts to her children how she had many gentlemen callers lining up at her door to wisp her away on dates. “One Sunday afternoon in Blue Mountain your mother received seventeen gentlemen callers! Why, sometimes there weren’t chairs enough to accommodate them all.” (Williams 926) This shows …show more content…
Williams gave readers a person that many can relate too. Amanda is a very difficult person and her personality throughout the play is very intricate. Amanda is an emotionally scarred person which makes the Story come full circle. Amanda lives in the past wishing that her life could have been more then what it became. Even though she loved her husband and father of her children, she criticizes him and in some ways holds Tom accountable for the action of his father. She wants more for both of her children especially Laura, but cannot cope with the fact that Laura has disabilities that make it difficult for her to be an outgoing person. Amanda has so much emotion and insecurities of her own she has a hard time expressing what’s appropriate at times. Amanda however is not an evil person she is just deeply flawed and struggles to do what is best and what fits the needs of her