Symbolism in The Glass Menagerie :: Glass Menagerie essays

tokenismic representation in The Glass Menagerie The Glass Menagerie uses an extensive embodiment of symbolism thatdescribes the characters of Tom,Amanda,Laura and Jim. Glass,light,color andmusic constitute the substance of the dominant symbols and motifs,servingto reveal deeper aspects of characters and inherent themes of the swindle.Tennessee Williams wrote the play so that each character had a specialsymbol which resembled their personality.But he didnt only give thecharacters of the play a a resembling symbolhe also mentions theapartment blocks to be hivelike conglomerations of cellular living-unitsresembling a beenstock.The stylus he describes their location also has a lotof symbolism in its roots because he describes them to be flowering aswarty growths in overcrowded urban centers. Tennessee Williams used many symbolic aspects to describe Laura andthe humanity she lives in.In the play,Laura represents the really tenuous,shyand emotionally crippled girl.In her mind she lives in a world of film overanimals and doesnt have a connection to the real world.The managerie ofglass also represents the fragile relationships among all thecharacters.The glass unicorn is most obviously a symbol of Laura--delicate,sadly different,an anomalousness in the modern world.The glass motifrecurs throughout the whole play in many early(a) forms.When Laura droppedout of college she constantly visited the zoo,a glass fireside of tropicalflowers that are as vulnerable as she is.During Lauras and Jims brief sentimentalist encounter,Laura is gaining more confidence active herself.It seemsas if she is starting to escape her world of illusions.When they starteddancing together,Jim accidently knocked the little glass horse over.Laura,who usually worships her glass show more than anythingelse,replied to his excuseHes lost his horn.It doesnt matter.Maybeits a blessing in disguise. and Ill dear imagine he had anoperation.The horn was removed to make him feel less--freakish d irect he willfeel more at home with the other horses,the ones who dont havehorns.....These two quotes give an impression that Laura is finallyescaping her illusive world.She thinks that she major power have a chance tosurvive the real world.What she doesnt know is that she is approximately to bewounded by the news of Jims engagement.After Jim tells her the news,shegives him the unicorn as a token and retreats into her land of theglass menagerie never to come out again. In the play,Tom is the adventure seeking man trying to escapethe prison Amanda is belongings him trapped in.To escape the real world,Tomconstantly goes to the movies.The movies make him think about all theadventures he missing.It his little land of dreams.He is jealous of hisfather who leave his family and achieved what Tom always wanted,