Symbolism in the glass menagerie

The Glass Menagerie, by Tennessee Williams is a short drama that uses a big assortment of symbolisation throughout to depict the emotional, physical and societal province of each of its characters. Laura is a really delicate immature adult female that lives in a lower category, moth-eaten flat with her older brother Tom, and her bizarre female parent Amanda. Laura feels as though she is an castaway in contrast to the remainder of the universe. Among the many perennial subjects of this drama the breakability is shown in a small unicorn that safely exists within a glass menagerie. There are other less outstanding symbols such as the colourss of a rainbow, bluish roses, and the issue, and entryway to the flat.

Laura ‘s glass menagerie is an of import symbol. Laura does non desire to be involved with the universe outside this “ dark, grim” flat that she lives in with her female parent, a “ proud, vibrant adult female, Amanda, ” and her brother “ Tom, an aspiring poet, and shoe warehouseman.” ( ebscohost. com ) . She prefers the comfort of her “ transparent glass animals” ( 478 ) . Laura would instead pass clip with her bantam glass Equus caballuss and unicorn statuette, listening to her old records. She would prefer to make this all twenty-four hours instead than holding any contact with other people.

One of the clearest symbolic utilizations of the glass figurines happens at a point in the narrative when Laura and Jim are left by themselves. Laura makes the statement “ You should ever take good attention of your glass.” ( 510 ) Again, we see thesymbolismof the glass unicorn and the breakability of Laura. Laura is really diffident and guiltless, really much like the glass figurines she cleans throughout the twenty-four hours. All though it is really delicate, much like Laura herself, the glass radiances and glitters, amplifying many colourss of the rainbow in the visible radiation.

The glass unicorn is evidently the most symbolic of Laura! Reading between the lines as Jim and Laura are speaking, it is easy to see that the unicorn represents Laura ‘s remarkably different, delicate, and uncomfortablenss in the normal universe. Jim makes the statement. “ Poor small chap, he must experience kind of lonesome” . It is obvious that Laura has felt only most of her life, and Laura replies “ the unicorn sits on a shelf with some normal Equus caballuss that do non hold any horns, and they all seem to acquire along nicely together.” ( p512 )

During Jim and Laura ‘s short romantic brush, for a minute, Laura is experiencing more assurance. It ‘s as if she is get downing to experience a small normal like her Equus caballuss. When Jim accidently knocks the glass unicorn to the floor, and breaks the horn off. “ The unicorn has lost its horn. It does n’t truly count. It may be a approval in disguise.” Laura provinces, and “ I will merely conceive of that it has had some sort of operation.” And “ with the horn removed he may experience less capricious! Now he might experience more like he is one of the Equus caballuss, the 1s without any horns” . ( p513 )

For a minute Laura is happy and uplifted. She begins to smile and experience the tenseness of uniqueness raising from her. Jim sees this and starts dancing about with her, and finally kisses her. All of this gives us the little feeling that Laura may eventually be get awaying the illusory universe in which she has lived for most of her life. Laura is for a minute, get downing to experience more recognized, particularly from Jim. For a minute she is experiencing less witting about her physical disablements. She starts to open up merely a small spot.

It ‘s non long after all of this that Jim tells Laura of his battle to another adult female. Laura is broken. She is broken indoors, and no longer feels the same singularity that she one time felt with the glass unicorn. She looks at Jim, and tells him to take the unicorn. It ‘s as if she has let travel of something indoors. Past dream likememoriesof a love that she one time had for Jim, have now been lost in the world of Jims words. Laura has spent many old ages smoothing, and taking attention of her glass menagerie, and maintaining her unicorn safe from the outside universe. But, now it has been exposed, and in bend it has been broken, merely as Laura has been broken. The dream of possibly, some twenty-four hours holding love from a adult male, and being normal has now been replaced with a broken bosom, and a withdrawn unhappiness.

As the introspective and diffident Laura is lost even further in to herself. We begin to see a glance of the symbolisms in the usage of the rainbow and its colourss. But it is less obvious than that of the glass unicorn. The rainbow signifies that there may be some hope in the hereafter. Tom gives Laura a glance of hope, “ Laura is overwhelmed with emotions when Tom pulls out the rainbow-colored scarf and tells the narrative of how a prestidigitator changed a bowl of small fish into Canary Islandss. Towards the terminal of the drama, Tom reflects on Laura as he gazes at some broken colored glass, and imagines his tattered sister Laura and her broken spirit”. ( ebscohost. com ) . Tom wishes in the symbolic sense that he could blow out the tapers of his sister ‘s desperation. He besides reflects on how Laura would pass hours smoothing her glass animate beings, maintaining them safe from the remainder of the universe.

There is sad sarcasm in Tennessee Williams drama when you think about the symbolism of the rainbow. Although rainbows seem to be positive, bright, and hopeful marks that a new twenty-four hours is coming shortly, there is normally much hurting that must be endured before that clip, if it of all time comes.

There is rather an array of symbolism that helps to organize the character of Laura. Tennessee Williams uses the colour of blue in Jim ‘s moniker for Laura. Like the rose, Laura is delicate, and like the colour blue, she is diffident, guiltless, and really sad.

Plants Cited

Fambrough, Preston. “ William ‘s The Glass Menagerie. ” Explicator 63. 2 ( Winter 2005 ) : 100-102. AcademicSearch Complete. EBSCO. Northwestern State U, Watson Lib, Leesville, LA. 17 Mar. 2008 & A ; lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //search. ebscohost. com & A ; gt ; .

Reese, Jennifer. “ The Glass Menagerie. ” Entertainment Weekly ( 28 Apr. 2006 ) : 143-143. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Northwestern State U, Watson Lib. , Leesville, LA. 17 Mar. 2008 & A ; lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //search. ebscohost. com & A ; gt ; .

Williams, Tennessee. “ The Glass Menagerie” Literature for Composition: Writing Arguments about Essays, Fiction, Poetry, and Drama erectile dysfunction. by Sylvia Barnet, William Burto and William E. Cain…8 ^Thursday Ed New York. 2007: 499-519.