The Glass Menagerie Compare And Contrast Essay

Tennesse Williams wrote the play The Glass Menagerie and Lorrain Hansberry wrote the play A Raisin in the Sun, which both similarly talks about families that are very much alike and different consecutively. Two characters really caught the attention of being different and similar in many aspects. These two characters are Laura Wingfield, from The Glass Menagerie, and Beneatha Younger, from A Raisin in the Sun. Laura and Beneatha both live in a fatherless household where their mother’s reign above the household and where their brothers are a primary source of income along with their mother’s income. Though I concede that both Laura and Beneatha are capable of working hard and achieving goals, I still insist that Beneatha has a brighter future

She shows her low self-esteem referring to her leg when she tells Jim, “To me it sounded like-thunder!” (The Glass Menagerie 1.7.35-36). Not only does she have low self-esteem, but her self-esteem is so low that she could not handle finishing Business School as she drops out. Through Laura’s small lies to Amanda, her mother, Amanda finds out and explains while quoting Laura’s teacher, “ And she said, “…..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!...”.” (The Glass Menagerie, 1.2.42-47 ). This quote supports the characteristic of low self-esteem. Self-esteem is how one shows themselves to society. Positive self-esteem shows confidence and optimism while low self-esteem prohibits individuals from knowing their full potential and they make their self believe that they are unworthy or incapable of many things (Self-Esteem). In The Glass Menagerie, Laura clearly shows low self-esteem as she is not confident and holds back from doing many things, including finishing Business School, because she believes she has a