Tennessee Williams' play The Glass Menagerie is a story that follows three characters' lives while living in St. Louis. The characters Amanda Wingfield, Tom Wingfield, and Laura Wingfield, are overlooked and called failures due to their failed attempts at reaching the goals they have set out for themselves. The majority of people set intentional goals for themselves to reach, but setting goals and successfully achieving them is easier said than done. This essay intends to use a persuasive argument against the assumption that Amanda, Tom, and Laura are failures, by showing their personal growth despite the disadvantages caused by their situation.
The protagonist Tom Wingfield is constantly labelled as a failure because he is not able to escape his family situation. His mother Amanda and sister Laura interfere with his goal of joining the merchant marines because he is the main income source of their household, without Tom's salary, they would be left struggling. As the play's narrator, Tom expresses his aching for adventure and hatred for his job. But Tom regularly
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Amanda is known for her constant memory repeating and inability to accept reality. However, she only acts like this because of her love for her children and her desire to protect them from the world outside of her plans. Amanda's goal was to see her son Tom become a successful businessman and for her daughter Laura to attend school and find a partner. Amanda constantly escapes into self-delusion that she takes part in to avoid reality and her children's desires that disobey her. At the end of the play, Amanda blankly stares at her husband's photo and says no lines which leads the reader to believe that she will continue to avoid reality and be incapable of achieving her and her children's goals. Although Amanda's goal was achieved, her ability to single-handedly raise her children despite economic struggles showed her determination as a