When reflecting upon Tennessee William’s play of “The Glass Menagerie”, we are introduced to a memory of a character. Tom’s memory shares a short period that he shared with his mother, Amanda, and his sister Laurie. The audience is taken from the present and is placed in the past. This past consists of an emotional environment. Many of the scenes, that the audience witness, leave them wondering whether they should laugh or cry. Tom’s narration guides his listeners through the present time of his memory and we then, share his experience with him. In his memory, it is learned that the past of other characters and how it has developed their present. Parts of their past and present beings draw them towards a desire to escape. However, no matter what their past may be, their present always reminds them of their responsibilities they hold.
The past represents a deep meaning for each character in the play. When Amanda, the mother of Lorie and Tom, is introduced; she is telling stories of her past that she clings to. They tell the audience the story of a loud and boisterous woman, who was once young and pretty with many gentlemen after her. Tom’s memory shows how Amanda ended up with Tom and Laurie’s father. It is in this beginning scene that the audience learns of how Amanda is still holding on to her past and that she dwells too much on her past. Like older women who have lost their attractive side or their appeal to men, Amanda misses her younger years. We can see that Amanda is always drawn to her younger days because she has fallen into a trap with her family. Abandoned by her husband, she relies on Tom to support the family. In a way, we can say that Amanda relies on Laurie for support as well. Amanda pursues Laurie to go out and meet men. Amanda uses her teenage past as a reference to show how she had many gentlemen callers. She encourages Laurie to go to business school, so that she may have a career. Amanda also ignores her own daughters crippled leg, which frustrates Laurie. This represents how she resents the reality she lives in. In all that Amanda does throughout the play, she reflects her past and her desire to escape from her life.
When comparing the awareness of responsibility to the play, Tom is brought to mind. In this time period, the man is thought of as the head of the house no matter what. With his father gone, Tom has had to step up and support his sister and mother. Day after day, he slaves in a warehouse and like his mother; he has strong desires to escape his present. Tom believes that there is more to life than just working from pay check to pay check. As he works and works, he finds that his only escape his drinking. Many nights he goes out and drinks to have his time from his responsibilities for his family. Tom boldly reflects the theme of escape for a better reality.
Through Lorie, we are presented with another character that is hungry for a new present and escape from her present reality. Even more specifically, Laurie is a hungry for a new everything. It seems that Laurie wants to abandon herself. She is very self conscious about the physical state of her body. She is the least of all characters who has an awareness of responsibility. Laurie has an awareness of her image. Although, she is a cripple, she is finally beginning to realize how she is able to live a normal life in her present. It is through the character of Jim that Laurie finally breaks out. Laurie has been caught up on a past experience with Jim. He had made a nickname for her and to Laurie; it was as if he had hung the moon. Only because he recognized her and treated her well, she had never removed him from her past. After him and Laurie spend time together, she is able to focus more on her present and let the past go.
The play is full of a comparison between the themes of escape, awareness of responsibilities, and reflections of the past. Each character displays his or her own representations of a theme that develops their own character. The memory of Tom provides us with an understanding of how the family has become what it is at the present.
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