The Glass Menagerie - Essay Example

 The Glass Menagerie The Glass Menagerie: Williams describes this work as a “memory play,” and he employs a number of experimental stage effects in order to heighten the subjective, expressive qualities of his material. Discuss how Williams’ technique relates to his theme: how do these innovative stage directions contribute to dramatizing the distinction between illusion and reality? In the literary world several works have been made which portray the surroundings and environment of this world. Some are based on true events while some are based on the imagination of the writer. The work which would be analyzed in this essay is written by Tennessee Williams. This work is a play organized by Williams which also revolves around a family. It is a play which revolves around a family who is suffering from the harsh realities of life. The work organized by Williams picks up some of the details from his own life and thus the play can with the help of biological criticism prove that the play was taken from his own life events. Williams has used his techniques exquisitely to depict the themes of the play to the audience. This essay would analyze the techniques used by Tennessee Williams to depict the themes in the story and would further brief as to how the usage of language allows the audience to draw a distinction between illusion and reality. The story Glass Menagerie revolves around realities of life as faced by several people living on the face of this world. The play is written in such a way by Williams that it does not once divert the mood of readers towards something else. The play revolves around the narrator, Tom, his sister Laura and mother Amanda. Since the very beginning of the play it is seen that the family of Tom has been suffering. Amanda is seen as being left alone by her husband in the times when she needed him the most. Laura is shown as a very unfortunate person as she is crippled and is shy because of that very reason. Tom is shown as a character who is the sole earning member of the family after Amanda. Tom, Amanda and Laura have their own perception about things. Tom is a person who does not want to work but is forced to by the conditions he is living in. Laura is a girl who is crippled by nature and is unable to interact with anyone. She is shy to such an extent that she does not even take her classes. Amanda on the other hand can be viewed as a comparatively stable character than both, although she also remembers her past usually when she could have married many guys other than Tom’s father. The play begins with a smooth introduction of the characters and their placement in the story. Soon it takes a curve when Tom brings in a friend to get him interacted with Laura so that they can marry and live happily. However the interaction between Laura and the friend (Jim) fails when he backs off remembering he is engaged. Once again the sister of Tom is abandoned by the guy she was falling in love with and this makes her more troubled. Soon after Tom also leaves the house to abandon both his mother and sister in a state in which they are helpless. But in the end once again Tom comes back to his family realizing his tragic mistakes and their solitude. Glass Menagerie is a story written by Williams inspired by his own events of life. Tom in the story works in a shoe company and Williams also did the same in the times of financial crisis. Similarly Williams also had a poetic character in the real life and so did Tom in the play. Lastly Williams also felt guilt after leaving his sister in real life and so did Tom in the play. It can be said by using the method of Biological criticism that the play Glass Menagerie was inspired by real life events taking place in the life of Williams. Abandonment and solitude is a key theme in the works written by Williams. Williams has used his writing techniques exquisitely to show that abandonment and solitude are key aspects of reality. It can be seen that the characters in Glass Menagerie have to suffer at the hands of this world after being secluded by their loved ones. It is seen that one or the other character is living in solitude because of nature or because of some other individual. In the play Glass Menagerie Laura Amanda and Tom all suffer from abandonment from Mr Whitefield. They are then left at the hands of this cruel world where everyone is striving to survive. Solitude is a key theme in the story as all the characters have gone through that stage of life. Tom Amanda and Laura are left in solitude by Mr Whitefield. Furthermore the character of Tom in the play goes into self induced solitude after leaving his family in the end. William has used words to use exposition of the feelings in the play. It is seen that with the theme of abandonment and solitude the themes of regret and love also come in conjunction. As William uses his techniques to put it in these words in the play ““I pass a 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, but I am more faithful than I intended to be!”. This clearly shows that it is impossible for Tom to leave as he loves his family and is regretting to go away from his family. William uses his realist techniques to depict the difference between illusion and reality in that very time. The play was made in the days when men were in the dominion and hence women did not fully have their rights. By using his techniques he is drawing a clear distinction between illusion and reality by telling the audience that reality is even tougher in life. Throughout the play it can be seen that Tom is acting selfish and trying to move out from his home. Here Williams is trying to put forward the realities of life and how people behave under unusual circumstances. On the stage however Williams used his non realistic techniques to show that the play is not completely based on reality. As in the scene one it is seen that Williams has asked his actors not to use food to depict that they are eating. It is then seen that in scene one the actors are using gestures for eating rather than using utensils. Clearly Williams is trying to use his subjective abilities to distinguish the play from the realms of life. On another instance it is yet again seen that Williams has used the character of Tom to distinguish the play as illusion rather than reality when Tom says "In memory everything seems to happen to music. That explains the fiddle in the wings." Music in the play seems to form an important aspect of the play and as it is in reality life is not all about music. Memories drifting in reality have no such relation to the change in music as put by Tennessee. Light again is another technique used by Williams to show illusion in the play. It is seen that in most of the play light is shun upon Laura no matter she is taking a part in the scene or not. It clearly depicts that Williams is trying to show emphasis on the character of Laura. Whereas such things do not happen in reality, it is seen that the characters in real life are all equal and no one is there to shine a light upon the individuals in real life. Illusion and reality have been clearly differentiated by the techniques used by Williams in his play. It is seen that someway or the other Williams is trying to portray the characters of his play as individuals who do not belong to this world. But the themes of the story are somewhat related to the reality of the world nowadays. It also tells that reality is harsher than what is seen in the play and in order to analyze life more closely one has to review all the aspects of life. Tennessee Williams wrote the play Glass Menagerie beautifully to depict the different realities of life packed in the wrapper of illusion. She has broadened the distinction between reality and illusion by laying out the play in such a way. The characters in the play were laid out in such a way that Williams has provided with the themes of reality which every person can relate to in his/her life. Bibliography Barnet, Sylvan, William Burto, and William E. Cain. Literature for Composition: Reading and Writing Arguments About Essays, Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. New York: Pearson/Longman, 2007. "The Glass Menagerie: Critical Overview." Drama for Students. Ed. Marie Rose Napierkowski. Vol. 1. Detroit: Gale, 1998. eNotes.com. January 2006. 16 October 2008. . Top of Form Woodward, Joanne, John Malkovich, and Tennessee Williams. The Glass Menagerie. Universal City, Calif: MCA Home Video, 1988. Bottom of Form Top of Form Williams, Tennessee. The Glass Menagerie. New York: New Directions, 1999. Bottom of Form Read More