The Glass Menagerie

In the Glass Menagerie (1945), a play by Tennessee Williams, the author describes the life of the Wingfield family in the 1940’s and their inevitable fate as they go through life and take on challenges that are present societally and within their family during that time period. The author often begins each scene of the play with vivid descriptions of both the characters and their surroundings. In scene one, the author describes the Wingfields’ home surroundings as “vast hive-like conglomerations of cellular living-units” that appear as “warty growths in overcrowded urban centers.” The author’s imagery allows the reader to clearly visualize the scenery, giving them a more involved feeling. Additionally, the author frequently utilizes rhetorical questions to present ideas that were not previously mentioned. Amanda, Tom and Laura’s mother questions Laura and her plans after realizing Laura dropped out of business school.  “So what are we going to do the rest of our lives?” she asks, a question that was not meant to be answered. The rhetorical question also foreshadows events that occur later in the play. To conclude, the author uses Tom’s character to deliver sarcasm into the play. After Amanda’s inquisitions of Toms whereabouts, he sarcastically responds by saying that people refer to him as “Killer, Killer Wingfield” he suggests that he is “leading a double-life” as a “simple, honest warehouse worker by day” and by night a “dynamic czar of the underworld.” This sarcasm reveals the genuine issues of unhappiness and deception that are occurring in the Wingfield family, and specifically the tension between Tom and Amanda. The tone of the play is predominantly suspenseful because of the uncertainty of what will occur next, and how the play will conclude. The purpose of the play is to provide inspiration to those who are unhappy with the situation they are in, and confidence and hope to those who are unsure of themselves. Since the play was written in the 1940’s the authors intended audience is people that were living in that time period, because it discusses issues and societal norms that were present in the 1940’s.

Vocabulary:

•Conglomerations- To form or gather into a mass or whole

•Automatism- The performance of actions without conscious thought or intention

•Implacable- Relentless; unstoppable

•Ineluctably- Not to be avoided or escaped; inevitable

•Menagerie- A collection of wild animals kept in captivity for exhibition

•Emissary- A person sent on a special mission

•Temperament- The tendency to behave angrily or emotionally

•Portieres- window treatment used in cased door openings made of two separate drapery panels tied back, utilizing identical or contrasting fabrics

•Martyred- (of an attitude or manner) Showing feigned or exaggerated suffering to obtain sympathy or admiration

•Precipitated- Cause (an event or situation, typically a bad one) to happen suddenly, unexpectedly, or prematurely

•Gesticulating- Use gestures, esp. dramatic ones, instead of speaking or to emphasize one's words

•Insolence- contemptuously rude or impertinent behavior or speech

•Inquisition- A period of prolonged and intensive questioning or investigation

•Querulous- full of complaints; complaining

•Supercilious- Behaving or looking as though one thinks one is superior to others

•Unobtrusive- Not conspicuous or attracting attention

•Quinine- A bitter crystalline compound

•Negligence- Failure to take proper care in doing something

Tone(s):

Suspenseful/uncertain, Inspiring/influential

Rhetorical Strategies:

•Imagery- “The Wingfield apartment is in the rear of the building, one of those vast hive-like conglomerations of cellular living-units that flower as warty growths in overcrowded urban centers…”(21)

•Telegraphic Sentences- “The play is memory.”(23) “Come in stumbling.”(41) “Don’t say peculiar.”(66)

•Compare and Contrast- “In Spain there was revolution. Here there was only shouting and confusion. In Spain there was Guernica. Here there were disturbances of labor…” (23)

•Rhetorical Questions- “So what are we going to do the rest of our lives? Stay home and watch the parades go by?”(34)

•Metaphor- “…encouraged by one in-law to visit another-little birdlike women without any nest-eating the crust of humility all their life!”(34)

•Sarcasm- “They call me Killer, Killer Wingfield, I’m leading a double-life, a simple, honest warehouse worker by day, by night a dynamic czar of the underworld, mother.”(42) “I’ll rise-but I won’t shine.”(46)

•Onomatopoeia- “Knowledge-Zzzzzp! Money-Zzzzzzp!-Power!”(100)

Discussion Questions:

•What is the meaning of “screen legend” or “legend on screen”?

• Why does the author frequently se telegraphic sentences? How does it add to the tone of the play?

• How is the author’s description of beauty through Jim’s Character similar to societies idea of beauty or “being pretty” today?

“The power of love is really pretty tremendous! Love is something that-changes the whole world’ Laura!” (108)

“I didn’t go to the moon, I went much further-for time is the longest distance between two places.”(114)