Tom Wingfield's The Glass Menagerie

Tom Wingfield narrates Tennessee William’s timeless memory play, The Glass Menagerie. Set in the pre-war depression era, Tom, an unsuccessful poet, is a major character within the play alongside his mother, Amanda, who is far too caught up in the past and his sister, Laura, that, similarly to her glass collection, is too fragile to function. William’s creates a meaningful and alluring play through the use of various literary techniques – arguably the most significant of these is symbolism. Although filled with symbolism, even within the title, there are three noteworthy examples of this literary technique, the fire escape, Laura’s glass menagerie and the rainbows that were mentioned throughout the play. Through symbolism, the audience is able

In scene three, Tom and Amanda have an argument, amongst the rage, as Tom is leaving ‘His arm catches in the sleeve of the coat as he struggles to pull on it… with an outraged groan he tears the coat off... and hurls it across the room… it strikes against the shelf of Laura’s glass collection, there is a tinkle of shattering glass… Laura cries out as if wounded.’ (pg. 252-253). Her reaction shows highlights her fragility. Her reaction also causes tom to immediately re-enter the room, this is a metaphoric symbol to the impact Laura would suffer if Tom was to leave, like the glass menagerie, she too would

Jim accidentally bumps into the table, knocking off the glass unicorn which loses its horn, making it no different to the other horses. Jim also shatters Laura’s hopes; after he kisses Laura, he tells her that he is engaged she is then heartbroken and less unique to everyone else. The innocence that made Laura so different, like the unicorn’s horn, is gone. Both Laura and the glass menagerie break when exposed to the uncaring, outside world. Before Jim leaves, Laura gives him her broken unicorn which symbolises her broken heart that Jim will take with him. Like her, the unicorn is no longer unique; rather, alike to Jim, its common and alike to the other horses. And like the shattered horn, Laura’s hope that held her different to everyone else thus allowing Jim to leave Laura a little bit of