Tennessee Williams' problematic childhood influenced the subjects and themes he uses in The Glass Menagerie. He focuses on modernism, including the failures of capitalism, the failures of the family structure, the failures of fathers (perhaps even God), the failure associated with broken promises, and individual failure and reconciliation. Using textual evidence, show how events from Williams' childhood are reflected in at least two (2) of the aforementioned themes in The Glass Menagerie.The following links will be useful: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennessee_Williams
http://www.imagi-nation.com/moonstruck/clsc9.htm
- Grant DeMello & Will Russell
One of the major themes in modernist literature is the focus on the individual. “A Glass Menagerie” by Tennessee Williams clearly fits into this genre of literature because of the theme of individuality in the play, mostly caused by family issues causing people to only rely on themselves for protection. Williams writes about these family issues most likely because of his own family problems. Williams’ most prominent correlation of his own life to “A Glass Menagerie” is the image of Williams’ father and Mr. Wingfield. Williams’ father was a drunken traveling salesmen who was not very close to Williams and therefore did not have a very close relationship with him. This is seen in “A Glass Menagerie” when Mr. Wingfield abandons his family for a new job revealing the lack of love in their relationship. Also Williams mentions the effects of alcoholism when Amanda notices that Tom “had been drinking” quite much recently and wants to deter Tom from becoming an alcoholic, obviously revealing Williams’ negative opinion on alcohol from his own childhood (1992). Williams also correlates the broken family structure in his childhood in “A Glass Menagerie”. Williams’ family was quite unreliable as already discussed and his mother was on the verge of hysteria. Basically, the children had to defend much for themselves whether emotionally or physically. This broken family structure is obviously seen in the play through the abandonment of Mr. Wingfield leaving the family fragmented. Also, the contrasting views between the lively Amanda and “home girl” Laura contrast each other creating even more fragmentation (1993). Tom, the financial supporter of the family, does not even want to be a part of the family and wants to abandon the family to become a mariner, much like his father. All of these contrasting views on the family obviously add tension to the family. With the abandonment of Mr. Wingfield and fragmented family, each member turns toward inward for protection knowing that they are the only one who understands their specific viewpoint, relating to the modernist theme of individuality and William’s own childhood experiences.
ReplyDeleteModernist literature makes it a point to point out some flaws in the human race, or even personal issues. Tennessee Walker made no exception in his play “The Glass Menagerie”. Walker did not only portray flaws of the human race, but he focused on his past and what hurt him in his life. He spends a large amount of time focusing on the failure of the father figure in his play because it seemed to be a rather cumbrous issue in that household. Walker and his father butted heads and never seemed to sort things out. Then his father forced him to work in the shoe factory, and did not allow him to fulfill his dreams as a writer. Tom undergoes the same experience in this play as Walker did. Tom’s father may not have forced him directly into the warehouse, but by the fathers leaving, Tom had to support the family. Tom is not “crazy about the warehouse” he has no ties to it other than supporting his family. He hates everything about that place he really wants to be a writer, and if he “had to spend 55 years” there he would see to it that his “brains” be “battered out” with a “crowbar”. (1988). Walker also portrays the failure associated with broken promises. He always protected his sister, but after she became schizophrenic she underwent surgery she became incapacitated. Walker portrays this broken promise of protection, as Tom breaks the promise to find Laura a suitor. “the fact” is “the future becomes the present, the present the past, and the past turns into everlasting regret if you don’t plan for it!” (1998). Tom still thinks of Laura as his regret and Walker believed his sister’s incapacitation was his fault. Walker portrays many failures in his life through the modernist play “The Glass Menagerie”.
ReplyDeleteTennessee Williams based his works off of the idea of the failure of the "American Dream," which he found to be consistent with his own childhood. Within that failure of the American Dream, the failure of the father-figure seems to be particularly important because of the father being the breadwinner and considered the head of the household. With the failure of the head during this time period, often came the failure of the family structure, both financially and societally. Neither of his parents were emotionally supportive, with his father being an alcoholic who favored Williams' younger brother and his mother suffering from an anxiety disorder. Since his father was a traveling salesman, there was most likely an absence of him in the home, as is seen with the father in "The Glass Menagerie." In the play, Tom, as the only man left in the house, is forced to take on the father-figure role, be the main financial provider, and take care of his sister and mother. As is seen with many writers with poor father-figures, Williams grew very close with his sister as opposed to his brother. This was probably due to his father favoring his brother and the patriarchal idea that women need to be taken care of. The mother, Amanda, gets out her frustration with her husband on Tom and lives vicariously through her daughter's pursuit of a husband. She expects Tom to bring home enough money to help them get out of the poverty they live in and get upset when he drinks every night, whereas her husband abandoned her with two children, but she still isn't openly angry with her husband. Instead, she puts all of the paternal duties on Tom, getting angry when they are not performed to her satisfaction. One night when Amanda is arguing with Tom about him going to the movies, she says, "Don't think about us, a mother deserted, an unmarried sister wh's crippled and has no job! Don't let anything interfere with your selfish pleasure" (2020). Tom is already doing more than what would be expected of a young man his age for his mother and sister, but his mother still finds more fault with Tom than in her absentee husband. With the father's absence, Tom is forced to take on an unnatural role. Amanda hopes that Laura will marry soon and thinks of Laura's marriage as a second chance for her (Amanda) to get marriage right, since she is basically selecting Laura's suitor. Such emotions are seen in the excitation in Amanda compared to the anxiety and apathy of Laura, when it comes to suitors. When Amanda suggests that Laura get married, since she dropped out of business school, Laura "(...twists her hands nervously)" (1985) and says, "(in a tone of frigtened apology): I'm - crippled" (1985). When Williams' sister, Rose, became scizophrenic, his parents tried to have a lobotomy performed on her, which left her incapacitated. Similarly, Amanda's forcing of Laura to be something she isn't does more harm than good and ends in Tom leaving the family. Like Tom, Williams basically left his family emotionally, which is seen by when he began to drink heavily and abuse pills. The family in the American Dream is a machine - when one part works, nothing else can work. When one famly member fails, the entire family fails. Williams saw it with his own family and used it as inspiration for the dysfunctions of the family in "The Glass Menagerie."
ReplyDeleteTennessee Williams grew up in a situation that can at times mirror the themes he incorporates in his works, especially in the case of A Glass Menagerie. He focuses on the clash between internal and external, particularly zeroing in on human desperation, and emotional and physical suffering. Much like Zora Neale Hurston, he incorporates vast elements of his own life into his writing, yet he distorts it to a certain degree as it is written from memory; hence the nomenclature: “memory play.” Like Tom, the narrator of A Glass Menagerie, Williams’ sister was a delicate, dysfunctional young girl suffering from schizophrenia. Her troubles more than likely prompted and fueled his alcohol/substance addiction. This dynamic alone represents a character relationship in A Glass Menagerie; a profound example of the emotional stress and turmoil that Williams implanted in his writing, becoming the foundation of his literary delivery, “he drops awkwardly on his knees to collect the fallen glass, glancing at Laura as if he would speak but couldn’t” (1989). Likewise, Williams utilized Tom to express the confinement and depression he felt throughout his life. Williams’ mother was overprotective of him, a natural response to his near fatal encounter with dysentery as a child, “I haven’t enjoyed one bite of this dinner because of your constant directions on how to eat it” (1980). Additionally, he was forced to drop out of college, for unknown reasons, to work in a shoe factory. All of these relationships manifest themselves through his work A Glass Menagerie, though they take on new forms thanks to the distortion induced by the memory aspect of the play and the emotional focus of the work.
ReplyDeleteTennessee Williams’ “The Glass Menagerie” is largely an autobiographical work of literature. In many ways, Williams’ dysfunctional family is portrayed through the Wingfields in the play, and this contributes to the theme of the failure of the family structure. The author’s father was a heavy drinker, his mother was borderline hysteric, and his sister was schizophrenic. In “The Glass Menagerie” Tom is surrounded by a family of societal failures: his father left, his mother is single and domineering over her children, and his sister Laura is handicapped, single, and cannot work to support herself. For this reason, Tom is restricted from doing what he wants to do because he has to take care of his mother and sister, just as Williams felt “held back” by his condition. Tom clearly demonstrates his frustration when he says to Amanda, “‘For sixty-five dollars a month, I give up all that I dream of doing and being ever! And you say self-self’s all I ever think of’” (1988). As a male figure who has taken over paternal responsibilities, Tom is required to stay home instead of becoming a writer, which is his true desire. Tom feels trapped, just as Williams did in real life. Williams also focuses on individual failure and reconciliation in the play. There are examples of individual failure throughout the work, such as Tom having to stay home or Jim working at the warehouse six years after high school when it appeared he would be doing more with his life. However, the greatest example of individual failure and reconciliation is Laura. Because of her condition and her nervous problems, Laura cannot work and has not found a husband. Therefore, she has failed in the eyes of her society. Laura’s reconciliation comes during her conversation with Jim, as she finally realizes that she cannot allow her differences to dictate her life. Jim’s nickname for Laura is “Blue Roses”, which are a representation of Laura: different from the rest of the world. Despite of this fact, Jim tells her that she is “‘all the nicer because of the difference, too’” (2017). It finally occurs to Laura that her disabilities can no longer ruin her life. This again relates to Williams because although he failed early in life because of his family situation, he overcame this and became a very successful writer.
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ReplyDeleteTennessee Williams’ "failure of the American Dream," is caused by uncontrollable circumstances. During Williams’ childhood, he was constantly controlled by his father’s alcoholism. Being a small child, he was unable to change anything. His mother is described as a “borderline hysteric.” Therefore, every action around is mother must be carefully monitored and guided. These unfortunate circumstances were out of Williams’ control. But because his grandfather was a priest, he knew people with morals did exist. I believe that Williams works reflect, the uncontrollable circumstances people face, and how these trials are worsened by the actions of others, or actions of those around them. For example, Laura’s uncontrollable circumstance is her lame leg. She cannot move past this physical handicap. But when she does not want to go to school, she is still able to walk around the streets. She does not worsen her problem, but her mother does. Her mother can be classified, like Williams’ mother, a borderline hysteric. She is constantly seeking to have Laura have gentlemen callers. Laura will never be able to have those. Leading to Laura’s sense of failure in life. Another example of an uncontrollable circumstance is Amanda’s destroyed marriage. She strives to hold the ideal southern family, but her husband left her, with children. She is never going to be able to have an ideal American family. Tom had the American dream; he’s engaged and capable of have “happiness.” However he stifles himself, because he is an alcoholic. His uncontrollable drinking governs his life. Williams’ faced many inner and outer hindrances; therefore, his characters also have problems.
I agree with Natalie: "the failure of the father-figure seems to be particularly important because of the father being the breadwinner and considered the head of the household." Not only is their actual father missing, but Tom, the only other man in the house, leaves. Tom said, " I didn't go to the moon, I went much further - for time is the longest distance between two places..."(2021). I would not compare the father figure to god. I believe it would go under all men are evil: their father left, Tom left, and Jim "cheated" on his fiance. Each man in the women's lives was corrupt in some way.
ReplyDeleteMany critics consider The Glass Menagerie to be an almost autobiographical work for Tennessee Williams. Williams suffered through a dysfunctional family. As an alcoholic traveling salesman, Williams father was rarely present, as Shane said. His mother most likely expected Young Tennessee to take on the role of the prominent male figure in the household. However, Williams was homosexual, and his early effiminacy caused him to lose his mother's favor. Amanda from The Glass Menagerie also pushes unrealistic expectaions on her children. She decrees, "Girls that aren't cut out for business careers usually end up married to xome nice man." (scene II). Laura will most likely achieve neither as she suffers from severe shyness. This familial let down is too painful for Amanda to handle, so she creates her own reality and rejects the truth. Williams had a mentally disabled sister, who, as a result of her parent's decision, underwent a lobotomy. A section of her brain was removed in an attempt to make her less agitated, a common practise back then. Tennessee was close to his sister, and hopelessly unable to prevent her destruction. Tom felt a similar closeness to Laura, and was likewise unable to prevent her being manipulated by Amanda. Tom, in his hoplessness, ultimately abandons his family, but, as we can gather from the structure of the play, never casts off the guilt of leaving Laura.
ReplyDeleteTennessee grew up trying to live up to his parents ideals. In "The Glass Menagerie" Amanda wants laura to be just like her. In forcing her ideals on Laura she loses sight of what Laura is really like. Amanda expects Laura to be surrounded by suitors; she sees her as "lovely and sweet and pretty" and ignores her flaws living in a dream world Tom tries to point out that they are family and biased, used to her being "peculiar", but she is unwilling to face reality (scene five). instead she calls out to Laurs to come make wishes on the moon while Tom leaves to go to the "movies". the family, unwilling to face reality can never come together, they can't be completely open or trust each other, they all just pretend to make each other happy, but ignore all the real issues. Like Shane said Drinking was a problem Tennessee's father had and is reflected in the play, Tom hides his addiction by saying he's going to the "movies" but Amanda knows he isn't. Their father had a drinking problem and Amanda is very touchy about it she questions Tom to make sure Jim "doesn't drink", when she was young normally it was the father that made sure there was nothing wrong with their daughter's suitor, but since the father's gone Amanda has to do it (scene four). Her father failed to see the problems with her own suitor before she married so both father's failed in their duties.
ReplyDeleteGreat comments as always. I'm really impressed at how in-depth you guys went with your research to answer the prompt. Great job, especially to Natalie. Your comment sparked a response from almost everyone who commented after you. Well done everybody.
ReplyDeleteTennessee Williams was definitely putting some of his background into the characters of the Glass Menagerie. Maybe the most obvious being the fact that his sister was diagnosed with schizophrenia and Laura in the play has a gimp foot. He and Tom both display a sympathetic approach to their sisters while also dealing with the hardships of growing in an unsteady world. I think that Williams took the image of Amanda, a single parent living somewhat vicariously through her daughter, as a tangent to his life during his parent’s decision for their daughter to receive the controversial treatment of prefrontal lobotomy. It seems that he may have some blame and distain toward his parents for his sister’s death, and he shows that Amanda may soon have the same emotional effect on Laura. Instead of a show of respect, I believe Williams is voicing his frustrations through the actions and attitudes of the family.
ReplyDeleteTennessee Williams' childhood greatly effected the plot of "The Glass Menagerie". I agree with Shane about the story focuses on the individual. The novel zones in on Tom's relationship and values towards his family much like Tennessee Williams' lifestyle. Williams' grew up having a bad relationship with his father much like Mr. Wingfield and his children. Williams' father was always away from home and never had a chance to gain the bond a father is supposed to have with his son. Mr. Wingfield's dream is to become a writer, so when he receives the opportunity to take a new job, he takes it, leaving his family behind. Mr. Wingfield goes against his moral values and then shows his selfishness. Williams' relates Mr. Wingfield to his father. Also, Williams father was a drunk and throughout the play Williams mentions scenes where Mr. Wingfield is drinking. This shows Williams' opinion on alcoholism that he experienced through his father during his childhood. Also, because of Mr. Wingfield abandoning his family, the family separated emotionally and some what physically. The children basically took care of themselves even Tom, who supported the family financially, but eventually wanted to leave his family to fulfill his dream. "The Glass Menagerie" is basically a re-cap of Tennessee Williams' childhood.
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