In Tennessee Williams’s The Glass Menagerie, Tom and Laura have certain obligations to fulfill within the Wingfield family. However, despite these responsibilities, each of them has their own dreams and desires which conflict with the true reality of the family that faces them. Laura finds solace in her glass animals––which comprise the “menagerie”–– instead of attending Rubicam’s Business College. Likewise, Tom often goes to the movies as a way of expressing his desire to escape to a more fulfilling life, devoid of the monotony of his life at the warehouse. Williams uses glass to represent Laura’s fragile nature and her attempt to escape reality while he uses both the movies and Tom’s repeated references to his father to represent Tom’s desire to avoid his responsibilities at home by living in his own fantasy world. Throughout the play, Williams associates glass to depict the fragility that Laura has due to her social anxiety and how she confides in her glass animals as a way of detaching herself from reality. Laura is unable to face the harsh realities in life and seeks refuge in her collection of glass animals. An instance where her fragility is highlighted in the play is when Jim, her supposed gentleman caller, questions what she has done for the last six years since they graduated high school. In response, Laura says business college did not work out very well and she had “to drop out, it gave [her]––indigestion––” (80). This is consistent with the excuse that Laura had provided Amanda earlier on in the play as she went “walking” instead of attending classes at college (13). Perhaps due to the extent of her social anxiety and fear of being judged in
an environment such as the business college, Laura makes up these excuses and does not address what her obstacle truly may be. Instead, in that scene, Laura quickly pivots to her glass collection. This is to save her from the fear of Jim judging her on how “little” she has done since high school. Laura says, “Oh please don’t think that I sit around doing nothing! My glass collection takes up a good deal of time. Glass is something you have to take good care of” (80). She suffers from a deep sense of insecurity about her appearance, and can be easily broken, just like the glass in the play. She even further goes on to talk about how her favorite animal part of her collection is the glass unicorn, a testament to the desire that Laura has to escape her reality. Jim says in response, “Unicorns––aren’t they extinct in the modern world” (83). The unicorn is the only glass animal with a horn, just like Laura is the only character in the play with a disability. Additionally, as Jim points out, the unicorn does not truly exist in the “modern world” and by relating Laura to a unicorn, Williams alludes to the fantasy and imaginative world that Laura finds herself in. It is clear that she seeks a great deal of comfort in her collection and the imaginative world she devotes herself to––detached from true reality. Additionally, when Jim accidentally breaks the horn to the unicorn on page 85, Laura addresses it in response by saying, “I’ll just imagine he had an operation. The horn was removed to make him feel less–freakish” (86). It is worthy to note that Laura says she would imagine that the horn was removed. She does not have any true desire to make an effort to leave her fantasy world and stop confiding in her glass animals––she can only imagine it. Furthermore, Tom has an inherent desire to escape his responsibilities, which is clearest by his constant decision to go to the movies and Williams’s choices to bring up to his father. When Amanda asks Tom where he goes so late at night, he says in response that he goes to the movies to seek adventure as it “is something I [he] don't [doesn’t] have much of at work, so I
[he] go[es] to the movies” (34). By going to the movies and viewing others’ lives, Tom is effectively able to view the life he is not able to achieve and can only imagine. Ultimately, Tom must return back to his own life, something he is not able to “go” to the movies to escape. He neglects his simple responsibilities such as paying the light bill which Amanda asks him repeatedly to do (which he pays the consequence for, as the light ends up going out at the beginning of scene 7). Additionally, when Tom tells Amanda and Laura that he goes to the movies, he often uses that as an excuse to go out drinking. This is evidenced in the stage notes at the beginning of scene 4 which state, “The unsteadiness of his advance make[s] it evident that he has been drinking” (26). Tom often confides in alcohol––by lying to Laura and Amanda––as a coping mechanism to neglect his responsibilities and live in a fantasy world, similar to how Laura lives in a world of her own through confiding in her glass animals. Moreover, when Jim comes to the Wingfield house in scene 6, Tom explains how he paid his dues to The Union of Merchant Seamen––an organization Laura’s and Tom’s father was a part of––instead of the light bill. Tom says, “I’m like my father.... Did you notice how he’s grinning in his picture in there?... Mother is not acquainted with my plans!” (62). By referring to his father , he effectively foreshadows his own desires––to leave the family just like his father did. Tom notes that his father is grinning in the picture, suggesting that he is happy to have left his family behind. It is also important to address how Tom reveals that his mother is unaware of his plans to leave as well, which is a testament to his deception and continued desire for delusion. Like his father, Tom feels trapped by his family and yearns to escape their stifling environment. Additionally, there are even moments in the play where Williams adds in moments to elucidate the father’s portrait. For instance, in response to the individual who was able to free himself from the family, the stage notes state, “As if in answer, the father’s grinning photograph lights up” (28). This
further foreshadows Tom’s desire to detach from the Wingfield family, break free from the burden of family responsibility and be like his father. In conclusion, both Tom and Laura share a desire to escape the reality they struggle to live through in the Wingfield household. Williams also displays Laura’s fragile nature by using glass. Williams further portrays Tom’s craving for living in his own world and neglecting his family responsibilities by using movies and references to his father. Both characters are stifled by Amanda, who prevents them from engaging in activities they want to do. In the end, neither Laura nor Tom are truly able to fulfill their wishes, which is a testament to one of the overarching themes Williams attempts to convey. Tom is forced to revert back to his reality, going to the movies whenever he wishes to escape it; and Laura continues to display her fragility, finding consolation in her glass menagerie. Sometimes it is important to fulfill familial responsibilities, improve confidence, and only then will dreams and aspirations come true.