The Glass Menagerie Character Analysis

“She lives in a world of her own-A world of little glass ornaments…” (1.5.132) is how Laura Wingfield was described by her brother, in the play “The Glass Menagerie” by Tennessee Williams. In this play there are many significant objects that have a deep underlying meaning. “The Glass Menagerie” is not just the title of this play; it is also the foreground for it, and a major part of understanding Laura Wingfield’s character. Laura Wingfield is one of the main characters of Williams play in which she is the older sister, and only daughter. One of Laura’s hobbies is to collect, as the title of the play states, glass menagerie, or glass figurines. Her collection is numerous and varied, yet, one particular figurine stands out the most. A small unicorn is her most prized and favorited out of the rest of her menagerie collection. This small figurine is also brought up various times through-out the play. This unicorn has an array of semblances and significance to Laura, besides just being her favorite thing. The main significance of the unicorn to Laura is that the miniature, carved piece of glass represents her. …show more content…
As easily as the glass unicorn can break, so can Laura. “If you breath, it breaks!”(2.7.198) as Laura warns about the physical fragility of the unicorn. Laura breaks just as easily as the unicorn, however, while the unicorn is broken is only physical, her breaking is mental and emotional. “Her hands shook so that she couldn’t hit the right keys! The first time we gave a speed test, she broke down completely – was sick at the stomach and almost had to be carried into the wash room! After that morning she never showed up any more.” (1.2.29-32) this is the worst incident that is explained during the play of Laura’s social anxiety. She had a meltdown over a typing test, and was so embarrassed by her actions that she couldn’t face her classmates