Suong Dang
The Glass Menagerie
Tennessee Williams
New Directions Publishing Corporation
80 Eighth Avenue, New York, NY 10011
Copyright 1973
The Glass Menagerie The play “The Glass Menagerie”, written by Tennessee Williams, depicts each of the Wingfields’ struggles against the hopelessness in their lives, more so Tom’s as he is the narrator. Throughout the play, Williams uses different elements to develop the characterization and also emphasize the battles that the Wingfields have to get through, such as diction, syntax and details included in the play. As for Tom, he is the character that is trapped in a materialistic world, eager to escape, illustrated by Tom’s actions towards everyone and everything around him. Williams uses diction throughout
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As a result, most of the night, Tom finds his great escape through movies. According to the text: “I go to the movie because –I like adventure. Adventure is something I don’t have much of at work, so I go to the movies” (Pg. 3l). This references Tom’s thirst for adventure, to escape from his own dull life, filled with Amanda’s constant nagging and commanding. Even though Tom clearly cares for his family, he is sometimes cruel to them. Tom says: “You ugly-babbling old-witch” (Pg. 24) to his own mother a witch when she points out that he goes to the movies too often. This indicates Tom’s control over himself once Amanda nags at him, which shows he is a ticking time bomb. In the end, Tom finally moves away after realizing that movie is only a psychological escape, however Tom couldn’t escape Laura. In scene Seven, Tom says: “Oh, Laura, Laura, I tried to leave you behind me, but I am more faithful than I intended to be” (Pg. 97). Tom was haunted by the memory of Laura everywhere he goes, thus demonstrating his deep love for his