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The Glass Menagerie

3.59 of 5 stars 3.59 · rating details · 46,250 ratings · 938 reviews

The Glass Menagerie was Tennessee Williams's first great popular success. It won the New York Drama Critics Circle Award and enjoyed a long Broadway run with the incomparable Laurette Taylor in the starring role. Since then it has become one of the most-performed plays in the repertory of American community theaters.

New Directions is proud to make this classic of the moder...more

Paperback, 115 pages

Published 1970 by New Directions (first published 1944)

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Sep 04, 2010 K.D. Oliveros rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Early this month, my 15-y/o daughter, Jillian. who is studying in an all-girls school, asked me to write a monologue for the 7-y/o Noli Me Tangere character, Crispin. Each of them in the class was given a character in the novel with the objective of introducing all the characters to the class.

I used to write drama scripts in high school (Alamat ni Mariang Makiling) and college (The Silent Mourner) but those were a 2-3 decades ago. So, to help out, I read that chapter in Noli and wrote one. Jill...more

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Tina I remember reading the Cliff's Notes (or at least something similar to that) version of this when I was young for my brother's paper. I remember the s...more
Sep 06, 2010 12:21am

K.D. Oliveros Thanks for liking this review, Tina.
The book is my first drama. I liked the movie A Streetcar Named Desire and I still have an original DVD of that. S...more
updated Sep 06, 2010 12:30am

Mar 23, 2011 Mariel rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: savage night at the movies

Recommended to Mariel by: I was a late bloomer I moved in flourishes

The Glass Menagerie is a weird one for me. There's a better word for it than weird. I'm a crap writer though. I'll leave it at that. There's no thesaurus/mindreader thing for what I'm feeling.
There are stories that we know every word of before we've ever read, seen or heard them. The Glass Menagerie is one of those for me. We'd act out scenes and make references like we actually knew what we were talking about. (My mom especially loved the "rise and shine" routine.) Remember that scene in Joe Ve...more The Glass Menagerie is a weird one for me. There's a better word for it than weird. I'm a crap writer though. I'll leave it at that. There's no thesaurus/mindreader thing for what I'm feeling.
There are stories that we know every word of before we've ever read, seen or heard them. The Glass Menagerie is one of those for me. We'd act out scenes and make references like we actually knew what we were talking about. (My mom especially loved the "rise and shine" routine.) Remember that scene in Joe Versus the Volanoe when Tom Hanks didn't know it but he knew it that he couldn't possibly have a "brain cloud"? (He runs his hands back and forth over his head to gesticulate that he KNEW it.) [Once upon a time Tom Hanks was really cool. This was before anyone ever told him that he resembled Jimmy Stewart in bad lighting.] My mom bought us freaking glass figurines to encourage it. It was all part of her sick thing to encourage my social anxiety like how some moms encourage obesity by overfeeding and then afterwards picking on their fat kids. (The Brando Street Car was a frequent run in our house too. My brother was given ciggies and wife beater shirts. No lie!)
The times when I'd beg not to go to school 'cause I was being bullied during volleyball practice? A reference to Laura's embarrassment to arrive to school late and limp in front of everyone. I could go on and on. (My mom's sympathies were with the mom, Amanda.)
I felt like I already knew Laura's displacement.

If my twin were here right now I'd ask her if the Paul Newman directed version was one of those filmed from the stage John Malkovich movies like True West and The Death of a Salesman (both are superb if you've never seen 'em). I'm thinking it was filmed for tv. I'm probably wrong and Lauren will later tell me that I am soooo wrong. Anyway, I love this version.
Anyway, it was Tom who killed me when I watched the Newman version over and over again. It was his escape that I felt was being shown back to me. More than Laura's painstaking care of her self-built world I loved the one that Tom reached out to in outside sources like films. I love Killer Wingfield. Let's go to the movies, Shakespeare.
The weird thing is that I'm having difficulty coming up with a whole for this. I know how I feel about their day to day. How the hell did it end? I'm coming up with nothing. Should it feel like that? I KNEW it.
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May 13, 2009 Anca rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 10, seen-on-stage

First, I've seen the play. That helped a lot in my figuring out Williams' detailed directions. I loved the play when I saw it, meaning I loved loved loved it. Although it added to the Tom-Amanda relationship a more ironical shade and left out the dramatic part in favor of the comic, it didn't (for me) left out possible mind-playing with the actors while reading (I'm probably not making much sense here). Anyway, I rarely meet a piece of writing whose characters' point of views I can totally under...more

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May 09, 2011 Eric Sonnenschein rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Glass Menagerie is a great domestic tragedy with three very distinctive characters--the strong, proud Amanda, the weak and innocent Laura, and the realistic dreamer, Tom. One finds in this play an elegiac portrait of misery, rather than a scalding enactment of taboo. There is no one tragic event here, but a general condition of pathos. Instead of a classic conflict, The Glass Managerie depicts a lack of cooperation. We find in the Wingfield home no crime, but a chronic, aching social and eco...more The Glass Menagerie is a great domestic tragedy with three very distinctive characters--the strong, proud Amanda, the weak and innocent Laura, and the realistic dreamer, Tom. One finds in this play an elegiac portrait of misery, rather than a scalding enactment of taboo. There is no one tragic event here, but a general condition of pathos. Instead of a classic conflict, The Glass Managerie depicts a lack of cooperation. We find in the Wingfield home no crime, but a chronic, aching social and economic woe.

This archetypal modern family, the single-parent, broken home, implodes under its own grief and slow-moving, yet inexorable catastrophe. The reader/audience has an impending sense that the situation can never improve nor the relationships grow. There is no break in the clouds, no sun on the horizon. These characters are locked into their fates. Any recognition, peripatea, must inevitably lead not to hope and acceptance, but abandonment and dissolution.

If tragedy always documents a change, the only changes that can occur in The Glass Menagerie are hard-wired and inevitable: the escape of the son (imitating the absent father), the insitutionalization of the mentally ill sister, and the death of the aging and increasingly delusional mother. This pervading and gnawing sense of the Wingfields' doom counters Mother Amanda's brave and delusional hopes and optimism. Perhaps this collision of Amanda's futile optimism and displaced gentility with the family's sordid present constitutes the primary conflict in the play.

I always admired The Glass Menagerie because it reinvented the tragic form for the modern condition and sensibility. This is the no-fault tragedy for a random, no-fault universe. There is no nemesis here and no unadulterated protagonist, unless Amanda, the matriarch, qualifies as one. Amanda is the one character who, like her or not, propels the family forward toward its reckoning. When she schemes to snare a beau for her disabled daughter, Amanda can seem desperate and disingenous to the point of being annoying. But as she makes her unsolicited telephone solicitations, using her southern belle gift for conversation, one aches for her and recognizes how courageous and determined she truly is.

The final message of the memory play, although never stated, is that there is a price for Amanda's brand of optimism. Living in one's dreams can be dangerous. Like all perishable things, optimism can rot. Hope degrades to delusion and bitterness. Denial of reality ultimately is a death factor like denial of air.

Glass Menagerie reads very well. It also can play well. I have seen it with different actors, including Jessica Lange, who seemed a bit too young and sexual to play Amanda. It is a difficult play to stage, demanding great concentration and energy. Ultimately it demands from actors and director a fidelity to the spirit of the play: it cannot withstand gimmickry. In fact, a beautiful set and great production values defeat this play.(less)

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Feb 15, 2009 Nancy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A modern play, to me, about disillusionment. Main characters include Amanda (delusional, childish, dependent, desparate mother), Laura (inhibited, painfully shy daughter), Tom (restless, dreamer, poet, narrator/son), Jim (optimistic, hopeful, gentleman caller). A play about misdirected dreams and ambitions. Amanda places her dreams in her children. Tom places his dreams in adventure and traveling the world like his absentee father. Laura places her dreams of happiness in her glass menagerie coll...more

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Jan 19, 2009 Vanessa added it · review of another edition

A window into the delicate and often tragic complexity of family dynamics.

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Aug 20, 2008 Núria rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: los que se sienten atrapados en una vida que no les gusta

Recommended to Núria by: Maria

Shelves: 2008, literatura-en-ingles, mios, teatro, 3-buenos, siglo-xx

Da toda la impresión que Tennessee Williams tenía que ser una persona muy pesada y muy cursi. Toda mi impresión proviene de las acotaciones de 'El zoo de cristal' que me han parecido las peores que he leído en mi vida, por plastas y por cursis. Yo estaba todo el rato en plan "¡Cállate ya y deja hablar a los personajes!" Si tantas ganas tienes de divagar, dedícate a la narrativa a tiempo completo (por cierto, después de esto no creo que nunca tenga ganas de acercarme a la narrativa del bueno de T...more Da toda la impresión que Tennessee Williams tenía que ser una persona muy pesada y muy cursi. Toda mi impresión proviene de las acotaciones de 'El zoo de cristal' que me han parecido las peores que he leído en mi vida, por plastas y por cursis. Yo estaba todo el rato en plan "¡Cállate ya y deja hablar a los personajes!" Si tantas ganas tienes de divagar, dedícate a la narrativa a tiempo completo (por cierto, después de esto no creo que nunca tenga ganas de acercarme a la narrativa del bueno de Tennessee Williams). Y si tantas ganas tienes de dejarlo todo explicado de una forma irritantemente detallada dedícate a ser director teatral y/o escenógrafo. Las acotaciones cuando más breves, mejor. Creo que cuánto más margen de libertad se deja a los que tienen que montar la representación mejor.

Servidora no deja de ser algo friki, así que siempre que leo una obra de teatro me imagino como la montaría yo y si tuviera que montar 'El zoo de cristal' me olvidaría de todas las cursiladas de usar una pantalla, y de las birguerías con la música y la luz, y del recurso de tener un narrador que hable directamente al público, porque son detalles que no sirven para nada al texto, sólo sirvieron en su época para darle un aire moderno e innovador a la obrita. (Por supuesto siempre se podrá decir que lo que me pasa es que soy una naturalista retrógada.) Cuando en realidad si la obra es moderna e innovadora es por el texto, por el retrato que hace de una familia disfuncional regida sutilmente con mano de hierro por una madre dominante de una forma pasivo-agresiva, por el ambiente cerrado y claustrofóbico que recrea, y por el pesimismo y sentimiento de culpa que desprende. Con esto quiero decir que me ha gustado. No tanto como me esperaba, pero me ha gustado.

Como en todas las buenas obras de teatro da la sensación que no ha pasado nada. Los personajes son Amanda (la madre), Tom (el hijo), Laura (la hija) y el pretendiente. A Amanda su marido la dejó, vive en el pasado (un pasado que probablemente se ha ido inventando y se lo ha creído: ¡17 pretendientes dice que tuvo, anda ya!) y quiere que su hijo sea un hombre de provecho y que su hija encuentre un marido que la mantenga, sin tener en cuenta lo que quieren sus hijos o cómo son realmente. Tom es un aspirante a escritor que trabaja en un almacén de zapatos que se refugia en el alcohol y la evasión que le proporciona el cine. Laura es una chica patológicamente tímida e insegura que sólo quiere quedarse en casa cuidando de su colección de figuritas del cristal y aún sueña con el chico popular que le gustaba cuando iba en el instituto.

Laura y el pretendiente me han parecido demasiado Mary-Sues, demasiado buenos y demasiado perfectos y que cuando tienen defectos incluso se trata de defectos hechos para que los queramos o compadezcamos más. Demasiado planos. (Menos mal que al menos no ha habido happy end para estos dos.) Amanda es un personaje mucho más interesante, a veces parece una bruja y a veces una pobre mujer ridícula. Pero quién me ha gustado más ha sido Tom. Creía que me iba a identificar irremisiblemente con Laura, pero es con Tom con quien me siento más identificada, con Tom y su deseo de huir y su sentido de la responsabilidad y sobre todo su sentimiento de culpabilidad. Oh, Tom.

Y si yo montara esta obra también cambiaría el final. No haría que Tom huyera finalmente, dejaría a los espectadores que creyeran que viviría toda la vida amargado sin atreverse a hacer el paso. Este cambio es sólo porque me siento tan identificada con Tom y supongo que querría usar la obra de una forma catártica y expiatoria. Tennessee Williams hizo lo mismo pero a su manera. Él se sentía culpable por haber abandonado a su hermana a la que acabaron practicando una lobotomía cuando él no estaba en casa (y luego dicen que los personajes de Tennessee Williams sólo existen en las obras de Tennessee Williams...) Así que dejó que Tom cargara también con la culpa de abandonar a su hermana y la obra se convirtió en un acto de contricción público.
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Jul 04, 2007 Jennifer added it · review of another edition Recommends it for: anyone without a lot of spare time

My life has been a bit frought recently and I've been wanting to sit down and read something but haven't had the inclination to dive into anything too big. The Glass Menagerie was on my shelf - it's a short play by Tennessee Williams - it couldn't be more than 100 pages in paperback.

Anyone who knows of Tennessee Williams from seeing his plays will really enjoy reading his work. I thought he was extremely tuned into the characters - and the stage direction was really comprehensive. I got the impr...more

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Nov 08, 2008 Emily rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I read this play in high school, and now that I'm preparing to student teach English at a high school, I reread it to make plans. I enjoy the play and feel like we can learn a lot from it about illusion, living in the present - even while learning from the past and planning for the future, the American Dream, etc. It IS kind of depressing - but I want to analyze/ teach it in a positive light, even if that light is simply: how can we learn to avoid the sadness these characters choose? Or how can...more

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Mar 19, 2009 Shannon rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

YOYA Code: 5Q 5P

A) Pre-Reading/Anticipatory Thoughts
Most teachers in the secondary English Language Arts classroom that I have observed do not teach plays. Rather, teachers tend to rely on the traditional novel and turn to Shakespeare when teaching a play. While I understand the benefits from reading a novel and teaching Shakespeare, I also notice the benefits from reading other genres from other authors. In fact, reading a play can be an easy way to bring the text to life and engage the stude...more YOYA Code: 5Q 5P

A) Pre-Reading/Anticipatory Thoughts
Most teachers in the secondary English Language Arts classroom that I have observed do not teach plays. Rather, teachers tend to rely on the traditional novel and turn to Shakespeare when teaching a play. While I understand the benefits from reading a novel and teaching Shakespeare, I also notice the benefits from reading other genres from other authors. In fact, reading a play can be an easy way to bring the text to life and engage the students in the reading process. For this reason, I am going to read the play The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams. I know it is a play about a dysfunctional family. I also am aware when this play was released (in New York, 1945) it received 25 curtain calls. I think it will be interesting to see how Williams incorporates and utilizes family dynamics throughout the play.

B) During Reading
This is hilarious. The mother, Amanda is a nagging control freak and completely over dramatic. Poor Tom. The first scene takes place at the dinner table. Laura, Amanda and Tom are eating dinner. Or at least Tom is trying to eat his dinner. However, he cannot eat in peace for his mother tells him to chew his food and give his “salivary glands a chance to function” (6). Because of this constant hovering over him and directing him of what and how he should eat he leaves to go smoke. His escape.
I found the beginning of the play interesting. It begins telling the reader that this is a play based on memory. This is something not normally done, at least back then. It’s like having an actor say there will be little scenery during my monologue. Then picking up a potted plant only to set in the front of the stage and continue on with his dialogue.

C) After Reading
I had to teach this play a week ago and it was my first time reading it. I thoroughly enjoyed. However, what made this play so special was when my students actually said they enjoyed reading it. WOW! Total shocker!! Since the feedback was positive without me even asking if they liked it or not, I will most definitely teach this if ever given the opportunity. With this said, if not able to teach this play I will venture out to find some play to teach them in the beginning of the semester. I believe teaching a play in the beginning will allow students to feel more comfortable with future readings and get them motivated. What makes it different from reading a novel? I would allow them to act out the parts while I narrator. They love this! It gets them involved and engaged in the material. It also makes my life easier to know I’m not lecturing to zombies in a desk.
The Glass Menagerie offers something to the students that sometimes other novels/plays cannot do. For instance, discussing the dynamics of a dysfunctional family, love, relationships, innocence, differences, the American Dream and responsibility. All of these elements are evident in the play. While these tend to be in some novels they are not displayed the same. For example, the ending is left open to interrupt Jim as a hero or villain. My students had a heated opinion about this topic and we actually had a great debate. Of course most of the boys thought he did Laura a favor, while the girls rolled their eyes when hearing this defense. It was amazing! Students can relate to the idea of “being a player” and that is what I played off of. Again, this is an awesome play to get the students involved in reading and class discussion.
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Jul 31, 2008 jamileh rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: play

سرشار از احساس و کاملا رئال در مورد زندگی و احساسات آدمها، حتی تفکرات شخصیتها بر روی پرده ای پشت سرشان عینیت پیدا می کند (از آنجا که برایم جدید بود خوشم آمد). نهایتا در رویارویی رویا با واقعیت، حقیقت تلخ غالب می شود. ویلیامز در انتهای نمایشنامه اوج تلخی واقعیت را به تصویر می کشد.

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May 20, 2013 Elizabeth Neimond rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Anybody

I read the play, The Glass Menagerie for my final project in my college preparation English class. This book shows what courtship was like and how suitors would come to impress women back in the day. Sadly, there are some family issues but those complications and problems are what helped made the book good. The mother in the story, Amanda is so caring for her children that it makes her come off harsh at some points. The brother is the man of the house who must take care of his sister and mother....more

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Apr 22, 2013 Katherine rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

As usual, The Glass Menagerie is another book that I'm not reading with my English class' pace.

But I read this in about 3 hours. It's such a quick read.

I read an Everbind edition of this book, which included an introductory essay written by Williams titled "The Catastrophe of Success." It's pretty safe to say that I really loved this essay, because I stickied a lot of sections of it in my book. Even more than the actual play. So I'm going to go ahead and suggest that you read it, like, now. You...more

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Mar 11, 2013 Miggs rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Reading Tennessee Williams after reading his biography allows the reader to see how he used his life & its pain to create a world others could relate to. His heroes and stories spring from a complex tension between being who he was and who others were willing to see. This play is a mirror of his families early life and his sister's hospitalization for mental illness and later lobotomy which was sanctioned by his mother.

" Elia Kazan (who directed many of Williams' greatest successes) said of...more

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Mar 10, 2013 El Wakeel rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: مسرحيات

شكر واجب لهيئة البرنامج العام على إختيار تلك المسرحية من ضمن مسرحياتها الإذاعية التى ترتقى بذوق المستمع .. معيدة لتشكيل حسه و مزينة لروحة و مجملة لخلقه .

عن المسرحية :
الأشخاص .. توم الأبن والراوى , الأم , ولورا الإبنه , وجين أوكونور .. وهو يمثل الواقعية فى المسرحية .

الفكره تدور حول محاولة تصحيح بعض المفاهيم المغلوطة بداخل بعض النفوس غير السوية .. مثل تقليل الإيمان بالقدرات الذاتيه .. السعى للمثاليه الزائده - التى تصل لدرجة الحنبله, التجميل المقارب لتزييف الحقيقة, وعلى هامش المسرحية تتلاقى طموح...more شكر واجب لهيئة البرنامج العام على إختيار تلك المسرحية من ضمن مسرحياتها الإذاعية التى ترتقى بذوق المستمع .. معيدة لتشكيل حسه و مزينة لروحة و مجملة لخلقه .

عن المسرحية :
الأشخاص .. توم الأبن والراوى , الأم , ولورا الإبنه , وجين أوكونور .. وهو يمثل الواقعية فى المسرحية .

الفكره تدور حول محاولة تصحيح بعض المفاهيم المغلوطة بداخل بعض النفوس غير السوية .. مثل تقليل الإيمان بالقدرات الذاتيه .. السعى للمثاليه الزائده - التى تصل لدرجة الحنبله, التجميل المقارب لتزييف الحقيقة, وعلى هامش المسرحية تتلاقى طموحات الأبطال مكونه حوار شيق يعلو ويحتدم فى لحظات ويسكن فى أخريات .

رسالة المسرحية موجهة إلى كل منا .. فهى تخبرك بما عليك فعله وما لا عليك إقترافه , الرساله فى حد ذاتها عميقة بدرجة تجعلك تتخلى عن إحساسك بالمكان والزمان التى تعيش فيهما .. لتنتقل عبر بوابة سحريه يخلقها الكاتب فى كل لفظ و خلف كل جملة حوارية .

أما بالنسبة إلى فاستمتعت حقا بالإستماع إليها وساعدتنى على تحقيق هدفى .. فكان هدفى هو الوصول إلى ساعة من السير المتواصل بدون توقف . وقد حققت ما يفوق الساعة .

المسرحية مدتها .. 2:13:20
للأسف لا يتوافر عندى لينك تحميل كى أرفقه .
أنصح بها من يرغبون فى الإختلاء بأنفسهم لمدة ساعتين .. فهى كضيف .. خفيف الجلسه .. شديد النفع عميق التأثير . (less)

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Feb 01, 2013 Vanessa rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: plays, work-loaned

This was my second Tennessee Williams play, after A Streetcar Named Desire, and although I didn't think it was as good, it was still a highly entertaining read, and one I would recommend to anyone interested in Williams' work.
Williams has a way of really drawing a reader in, even when his characters are not characters you would normally warm to! The story (told as a memory by the narrator Tom) had an extremely tragic quality to it. There was a lot of pent-up frustration that washed over the narr...more

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Jan 10, 2013 David Sarkies rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: tragedy

The last time I bagged a Tennessee Williams play I received a lot of flak from people that thought I was simply uncultured (okay, I received one response, which I pretty much ignored, since my bookshelves are not full of fantasy novels and high school books that I hated). One may wonder if that scared me off from trashing another Tennessee Williams play, and I will have to say that it won't. Personally, I did not think that it was any better, or any worse (and you can't get much worse than A St...more The last time I bagged a Tennessee Williams play I received a lot of flak from people that thought I was simply uncultured (okay, I received one response, which I pretty much ignored, since my bookshelves are not full of fantasy novels and high school books that I hated). One may wonder if that scared me off from trashing another Tennessee Williams play, and I will have to say that it won't. Personally, I did not think that it was any better, or any worse (and you can't get much worse than A Street Car Named Desire) than the other Tennessee Williams play that I read, however the problem is that I don't remember much about it, and don't really want to.
What I do remember is what I actually did when we read the play at highschool. One of the things that we had to do when we actually read a text in high school (or at least in that particular class) was that we had to write a response to it, and it could be in any form whatsoever. Mind you, simply writing a single line on a piece of paper, and standing up in front of the class (you had to present it to the class).
Anyway, I have pulled up those two pieces that I wrote on the play, and it is interesting to note that the issue with the gentlemen callers (which I suspected was from Street Car) was actually from this play (though I think the gentlemen callers also appeared in Street Car). If I was confused then it is because both plays pretty much are the same. Both of them deal with women living in dream worlds and trying to act out their dream worlds, and while I may have said that they were good plays back then, I suspect that it was partly to please my teacher.
However, I then note that I ended up not pleasing him by comparing Glass Menagerie with Married with Children, which he described as a purial and shallow comic strip. I'm going to have to say that I disagree with him, and in fact there are a lot of similarities. I pretty much stand by my position that both Amanda and Al Bundy are big noting their pasts which in many cases their children, who were not around, have nothing to compare it too. Okay, granted, maybe Married with Children is a purial and shallow comic strip, but that does not mean that we cannot get anything out of it, or compare and contrast books by Tennessee Williams with TV shows about Al Bundy. Isn't that what English is about, exploring the literary production of a nation to see how it views itself. In many ways, the reason we laugh at Al Bundy is because we are thanking God that we are not living trapped in his life (and is it not also the case that Amanda is also trapped in her dream world, in her Glass Managerie, not wanting to escape because she does not want to face the reality around her).
Anyway, I mentioned the presentations that we did, and one presentation involved a couple of girls (you had to do it pairs) making a video clip while I did a play where Tom, twenty years later, was telling his son Tim, about his mother. The problem I had was that when we presented the play it pretty much screwed up. Mind you, acting on a video and acting in a play are two completely different things, and it is a lot harder to act in a play live on stage than it is in a movie (a mistake in a movie can easily be cut out, and the scene refilmed while a play you pretty much need to memorise everything). Anyway, I think I might actually put my play up on Goodreads, sooner than later, for all of you to enjoy.(less)

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Jan 02, 2013 Kirsty rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-2013, best-of-2013, plays, tpobab-reads, omnibus-editions

I had been really looking forward to this, and it didn't disappoint. Williams' writing is pitch perfect. My thoughts are below (please excuse the lack of capitalisation, but I wrote them on the Evernote app and have merely copied and pasted them).

(view spoiler)...more I had been really looking forward to this, and it didn't disappoint. Williams' writing is pitch perfect. My thoughts are below (please excuse the lack of capitalisation, but I wrote them on the Evernote app and have merely copied and pasted them).

(view spoiler)(less)

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Dec 17, 2012 Ahjenae Cathey rated it 3 of 5 stars

The Glass of menagerie is about a mother named Amanda who lives with her crippled daughter (Laura) & her working son (Tom). Laura is told by her mother took look nice & pretty for the gentlemen callers but she knows she has never had any & doesn't really expect to get any. Laura decides to drop out of high school earlier & her mother finds out; She is shocked & concerned on how they are going to live when Laura has dropped out & decides to do nothing but play with her gl...more

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Dec 04, 2012 Chris rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Another of the great 20th-century American dramas, driven by personal heartache and tears, The Glass Menagerie is another neo-classic that deserves its reputation - in fact, it probably deserves a better reputation and standing than it has, depending on how much attention it gets in the public school system. Not that only students should read or see this, but that's obviously the place where most of America is being exposed to plays (not everyone has a Spring Green). Glass Menagerie shows us the...more

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Sep 19, 2012 Emily Yakel rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The author's purpose in The Glass Menagerie was to show that one can never escape their reality. For example, Tom wanted to escape his family and reality by going on an adventure instead of working at the shoe warehouse. In the novel it states, "...But the wonderfullest trick of all was the coffin without removing one nail. [He has come inside.] There is a trick that would come in handy for me-get me out of this two-by-four situation!" This quote represents Tom wanting to leave Laura and Amanda...more The author's purpose in The Glass Menagerie was to show that one can never escape their reality. For example, Tom wanted to escape his family and reality by going on an adventure instead of working at the shoe warehouse. In the novel it states, "...But the wonderfullest trick of all was the coffin without removing one nail. [He has come inside.] There is a trick that would come in handy for me-get me out of this two-by-four situation!" This quote represents Tom wanting to leave Laura and Amanda for adventure, but there was not a way to do it. Just like how the magician removed himself from the nailed down coffin without removing a nail, Tom wished to remove himself from his reality to a life full of adventure without removing or altering anybody else that he cared about. So, since he had to care and provide for Laura and Amanda there was no room to escape unless he found a way to leave them without hurting them. So in the end, he leaves, but faces the same reality but this time in his head. He still can not leave Laura out of his head. Another purpose I believe Tennessee wrote this book was to show people how his life actually was. For example, Tennessee had a sister named Rose who had a mental illness and he felt that instead of leaving and enjoying himself he always had to stay behind and take care of her. Laura is just like Rose becuase she too had a disablility that kept her brother from venturing off.

The theme of The Glass Menagerie was that you can never shake of the feeling of guilt. For instance, after Tom had left Amanda and Laura in the dust to find his adventure, he still had guilty thoughts. the novel states, "I pass the lighted window of a shop where perfume is sold. The window is filled with pieces of colored glass, tiny transparent bottles in delicate colors, like bits of a shattered rainbow. Then all at once my sister touches my shoulder. I turn around and look into her eyes. Oh, Laura, Laura, I tried to leave you behind me,..." As one can see, Tom never got over the fact that he hurt and abandoned Laura and her mother. His mind still played tricks on him because of how guilty he felt. I believe that Tennesse Williams inderectly stated this theme because by the way he had Tom's thoughts play it out. He wanted the reader's to realize this theme in a way that would keep them wondering and interested.

The Glass Menagerie was written in a narration form. I believe it was written this way because it told the story through a series of events that described what happened and in chronological order. I think this way was effective because instead of being confuzing by going from past, to future, to present, it told the series of events in chronological order. For example, in the novel it went from the time when Tom only dreamed of leaving to his actual departure. It was also effective because he described what happened in the novel very well.

My opinion of the novel, The Glass Menagerie was that I liked it alright. I know a lot of readers have absolutely loved this book, but I am more into the adventurous novels. If I did enjoy dramas, I am sure this would be one of my favorites. I liked how Tennessee put lots of different symbols in the book. One of these symbols was the glass menagerie which stood for Laura because they were both delicate and breakable. I did not like, however, that there was no action or excitement anywhere. If I could change The Glass Menagerie a little, I would definately extend the ending to be a tiny bit more descriptive about what happens after all Tom's guilty illusions of Laura. This book is not very similar to any other book I have read, but it was nice to read.(less)

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Jun 21, 2012 Ana rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 11th-grade-advisory

This play was very interesting. I was first attracted to Amanda's character. You could tell she had lost a lot in her life and she really wanted her daughter, Laura, to have everything she didn't have. Laura was nothing like her mother. She wasn't pretty or charismatic. In fact, she was painfully shy. She even dropped out of business school because she couldn't handle being around other people. She had had a crush on a boy from her high school for years, and her brother decided to set her up wit...more

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May 16, 2012 Sarah rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Glass Menagerie is Tennessee William’s riveting play about a family in the late 1930s, residing in a crowded apartment in St. Louis. All of the seven scenes of the play take place in the cramped apartment where Amanda Wingfield, a faded southern belle, and her children, Laura Wingfield, a young woman with a bad leg and Tom Wingfield, and aspiring poet, live. The story follows this family as Amanda Wingfield attempts to find a husband for her daughter, Laura. The book examines interesting re...more

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Apr 18, 2012 Ryan Barnes rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

With such a limited cast and vague setting, Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie does not seem too important in the beginning of the play. However, Williams manages to transform this meager art form into much more than just a story of a fragile girl and her first gentleman caller. After only a small amount of background information, the purpose of the story is made clear. Williams is not only using this play to make up a story, but he also wrote it about his own youth and the dysfunctional fa...more With such a limited cast and vague setting, Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie does not seem too important in the beginning of the play. However, Williams manages to transform this meager art form into much more than just a story of a fragile girl and her first gentleman caller. After only a small amount of background information, the purpose of the story is made clear. Williams is not only using this play to make up a story, but he also wrote it about his own youth and the dysfunctional family he grew up with in St. Louis.

The character Tom makes the theme in the story clear. He represents Williams’ life and finds true escape from the Wingfield home impossible, and he recalls the play as a memory of why he cannot find an escape. This ties back to what Williams likely felt about leaving home since Tom is placed in nearly the exact same position as he was before. His family was also unable to accept realities. Amanda, symbolic of Williams’ mother, cannot accept her children or her circumstances for what they really are. She still clings to the days when heritage meant something and everything had to follow certain etiquette, even though that reality clashes with how she lives. Laura, on the other hand, exists in a world that is static and full of dangerous illusions – the world of her glass menagerie. The animals in this menagerie are fantastical and appealing in every way, but they are also dangerously fragile. Laura cannot accept that reality will not bend to fit her fragility, and even Tom cannot escape his illusions that keep him complacent. These themes of the dangers of rejecting reality and the absence of truth and escape are what define The Glass Menagerie.

The play is written as a memory of the narrator, Tom Wingfield, who also appears in his own memory. It is a narration that progresses chronologically. Being such, Williams makes clear that certain things are distorted, just as they are within the memories of people, to accent things held most important to the person remembering them. The perspective the memory gives is equally distorted, but it still emphasizes those things that are the most vital to understanding the importance of the memory.

Much like the recent mind-bending movie “Inception,” all these distortions made the book pretty difficult to understand. I would have liked the play more if it were easier for everyone to read. Yet still, I found the meaning of the play rather intriguing. I would not say it is close to my favorite book, but the fantasies of each character made it a bit irritating to watch them continue to fail at living. It does also provide a valuable lesson to the audience about accepting the truth. I usually enjoy works that teach lessons in the end, and I also like the time period in which the play is set. It was a time of simplicity, and I feel like it pushed me to reexamine my own life.(less)

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Jan 20, 2012 Katie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Glass Menagerie is a very unique play in the way it was set up and meant to be presented. There are only four characters and one setting in the story; this made it feel like an exceptionally quick read. What I got from it was that the author was attacking the American Dream, which is portrayed in the play as being success and happiness.
Basically, the mother Amanda was deserted by her husband, and wishes for nothing more than marriage, happiness, and success for Tom and Laura. They're both w...more

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Dec 04, 2011 Kitt rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

With its miniscule cast and vague set, The Glass Menagerie doesn't seem like much at first. However, Tennessee Williams manages to transform this meager play into much more than just a story of a fragile girl and her first gentleman caller. With a little bit of background information, the purpose of the story is clear. Not only was Williams commenting on the themes apparent within the play, but he was also writing about his own youth in his own dysfunctional family in St. Louis.

The theme made a...more With its miniscule cast and vague set, The Glass Menagerie doesn't seem like much at first. However, Tennessee Williams manages to transform this meager play into much more than just a story of a fragile girl and her first gentleman caller. With a little bit of background information, the purpose of the story is clear. Not only was Williams commenting on the themes apparent within the play, but he was also writing about his own youth in his own dysfunctional family in St. Louis.

The theme made apparent by Tom makes this clear. Tom, as a representative of Williams, finds true escape from the Wingfield home impossible, and, as a result, recollects the play as a memory of why he cannot find true escape. This ties in with what Williams probably felt upon leaving home, being in almost the exact same position as Tom. His family was also unable to accept realities. Amanada, symbolic of his mother, cannot accept her children or her circumstances for what they really are. She still clings to the days when heritage meant something and everything had to follow a certain etiquette even though that reality clashes with the one she exists in. Laura, on the other hand, exists in a world that is static and full of dangerous illusions - the world of her glass menagerie. The animals in this menagerie are full of fantasy and are appealing in every light that is thrown on them, but they are also dangerously fragile. Laura cannot accept that reality will not bend to her fragility, and even Tom cannot escape his own illusions which keep him complacent and inable to leave. These two themes of the dangers of rejecting reality and the absence of true escape are what define The Glass Menagerie.

The play is written as a memory of the narrator, Tom Wingfield, who is also a character within the memory. As a memory play, Williams makes it clear that certain things are distorted, just as they are within memories, to accent things held most important to the person remembering them. The perspective memory gives is distorted, but it also emphasizes those things which are most vital to understanding the importance of the memory.

While this distortion made it hard to understand, I loved the play. While the apparent fantasies of the characters made it a bit irritating to watch them continue to fail at living, it provides a valuable lesson to the audience about accepting the truth. I adore pieces that teach lessons in the end, and I also like the time period for which this was written. It was a play in an era which I enjoy that caused me to reflect on my own life, and those two things have put it in my favorites list.(less)

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Oct 06, 2011 Marian rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I'm not certain that drama is really "my" genre, but I ended up enjoying this play a lot more than I thought I would.
The film version of A Streetcar Named Desire has been my only other exposure to Williams, and that, for me, was simply a bit too noisy and aggressive. Consequently, I wasn't sure how I'd like The Glass Menagerie.
One strength that struck me about the play is that each character is distinct and unfolds different aspects of his or her personality within a short period of time.

I ha...more

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Aug 10, 2011 Reetta Saine rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011

Toivoin salaa, että Tennessee Williams -kauteni olisi mennyt huomaamatta ohi, mutta turha toivo.

Nimenomaisesti Turha Toivo. Elämän raakuus, ihmissuhteiden toivottomuus, rakkauden naurettavuus ja kaiken suuren sortuminen pieniksi -triviaaleiksi mutta satuttaviksi - sirpaleiksi saa ahdistuksen tuntumaan lievältä reagointitavalta tekstiin.

Loisteliaassa menneisyydessä elävä äiti, elämän lannistama tytär ja velvollisuuden ja vapauden välissä kamppaileva poika ovat raastavia hahmoja. Arki kulminoituu...more

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Mar 27, 2011 Valerie J K rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I read this play in high school and thought I'd give it another shot. It's a rather depressing play with only 4 characters. The Mother, Amanda, spends most of her time nagging her grown son and reliving memories of the 17 gentleman callers she had in her youth. She married a man who abandoned the family for travel. The daughter, Laura, has separated herself from human contact and spends her time focusing on her glass animal collection. Tom, the son, has been obligated to work in a warehouse, but...more I read this play in high school and thought I'd give it another shot. It's a rather depressing play with only 4 characters. The Mother, Amanda, spends most of her time nagging her grown son and reliving memories of the 17 gentleman callers she had in her youth. She married a man who abandoned the family for travel. The daughter, Laura, has separated herself from human contact and spends her time focusing on her glass animal collection. Tom, the son, has been obligated to work in a warehouse, but dreams of travel, adventure, and escape from family obligations. When Tom invites his friend Jim home for dinner (at the insistance of his Mother), Amanda becomes even further detached from reality, reliving her past and matching this "Gentleman caller" with Laura. The evening is full of highs and lows, culminating in the shattering of Laura's favorite glass piece, which is obviously a metaphor for her fragile existance.

Far more interesting than the play is the author's essay, "The Catatstrophe of Success," in which he writes about the difficult time he had adjusting to what we consider success: "The sort of life I had had previous to this popular success was one that required endurance, a life of clawing and scratching along a sheer surface and holding tight with raw fingers to every inch of rock higher than the one caught hold of before, but it was a good life because it was the sort of life for which the human organism is created. I was not aware of how much vital energy had gone into this struggle until the struggle was removed...This was security at last. I sat down and looked about me and was suddenly very depressed." This led him to realize that "not privation but luxury is the wolf at the door and that the fangs of this wolf are all the little vanities and conceits and laxities that Success is heir to..." He further writes, "You know, then, that the public Somebody you are when you "have a name" is a fiction created with mirrors and that the only somebody worth being is the solitary and unseen you that existed from your first breath and which is the sum of your actions and so is constantly in a state of becoming under your own violation..." --Tennessee Williams(less)

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Feb 05, 2011 Mohammed Hussian rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams was an exceptional and superb play. Williams did a wonderful job, portraying the lives of people during the great depression. The play takes place in St.Louis in 1937. In order to provide ends meat on the food table, the protagonist Tom Sawyer works in a ware house, to provide his mother Anna and his sister Laura with shelter and food. Sawyer is basically fully dependent on his own foot, because his dead left his family for good. Laura, mother of Tom Sa...more

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About Tennessee Williams

Thomas Lanier Williams III, better known by the nickname Tennessee Williams, was a major American playwright of the twentieth century who received many of the top theatrical awards for his work. He moved to New Orleans in 1939 and changed his name to "Tennessee," the state of his father's birth. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for A Streetcar Named Desire in 1948 and for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof...more Thomas Lanier Williams III, better known by the nickname Tennessee Williams, was a major American playwright of the twentieth century who received many of the top theatrical awards for his work. He moved to New Orleans in 1939 and changed his name to "Tennessee," the state of his father's birth. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for A Streetcar Named Desire in 1948 and for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof in 1955. In addition, The Glass Menagerie (1945) and The Night of the Iguana (1961) received New York Drama Critics' Circle Awards. His 1952 play The Rose Tattoo (dedicated to his lover, Frank Merlo), received the Tony Award for best play.

Characters in his plays are often seen as representations of his family members. Laura Wingfield in The Glass Menagerie was understood to be modeled on Rose. Some biographers believed that the character of Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire is also based on her.

Amanda Wingfield in The Glass Menagerie was generally seen to represent Williams' mother, Edwina. Characters such as Tom Wingfield in The Glass Menagerie and Sebastian in Suddenly, Last Summer were understood to represent Williams himself. In addition, he used a lobotomy operation as a motif in Suddenly, Last Summer.

The Pulitzer Prize for Drama was awarded to A Streetcar Named Desire in 1948 and to Cat on a Hot Tin Roof in 1955. These two plays were later filmed, with great success, by noted directors Elia Kazan (Streetcar) with whom Williams developed a very close artistic relationship, and Richard Brooks (Cat). Both plays included references to elements of Williams' life such as homosexuality, mental instability, and alcoholism. Although The Flowering Peach by Clifford Odets was the preferred choice of the Pulitzer Prize jury in 1955 and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof was at first considered the weakest of the five shortlisted nominees, Joseph Pulitzer Jr., chairman of the Board, had seen Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and thought it worthy of the drama prize. The Board went along with him after considerable discussion.[18]

Williams wrote The Parade, or Approaching the End of a Summer when he was 29 and worked on it sporadically throughout his life. A semi-autobiographical depiction of his 1940 romance with Kip Kiernan in Provincetown, Massachusetts, it was produced for the first time on October 1, 2006 in Provincetown by the Shakespeare on the Cape production company, as part of the First Annual Provincetown Tennessee Williams Festival.

Other works by Williams include Camino Real and Sweet Bird of Youth.

His last play went through many drafts as he was trying to reconcile what would be the end of his life.[14] There are many versions of it, but it is referred to as In Masks Outrageous and Austere.(less)

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Quotes from The Glass Menagerie

“Time is the longest distance between two places.” — 1,825 people liked it

“How beautiful it is and how easily it can be broken.” — 213 people liked it

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