¶ … Laura Wingfield, Tennessee Williams' Subsumed and Symbolic Self in the Glass Menagerie
The Glass Menagerie, the famous play written by Tennessee Williams in 1944, is a story that centers on the life of 20th century Americans evolving in a dynamic environment where social changes have been taking place (Cash, 2004). These social changes involve the individual's assertion of himself/herself against the norms or mores imposed by the society. Issues like independence, the phenomenon of broken families, and individualism are likewise discussed through the character and point-of-view of Tom Wingfield, often identified as Williams' representation (or real character) in the said play.
Although Glass Menagerie centers its attention on Tom, another character, Laura Wingfield, Tom's sister, emerges as another powerful individual in the story. Far from being assertive and mobile like Tom in the play, Laura is identified as the anti-thesis of Tom, seeking comfort in isolation caused by a sense of inferiority and her being a cripple. Her unfortunate and uncertain demise at the end of the play, including the substantial role that she plays in the play shows how, apart from being the weakest and most unrealistic character in the play, she also represents Williams' subsumed and symbolic self, an individual 'crippled' and 'immobile' not only physically, but also emotionally, having experienced failures and disappointments in life all her life.
This paper discusses Laura Wingfield's role in the play as Williams' alter ego, his representative and Tom's anti-thesis in the play, The Glass Menagerie. In conducting the character analysis of Laura, this paper posits that Laura Wingfield serves as Tom's anti-thesis and Williams' subsumed and symbolic self because she represents everything that the author feels and thinks-physically immobile because she is also psychologically and emotionally 'crippled.' The texts that follow illustrate how these premises are illustrated...
Tennessee Williams' "Streetcar Named Desire" & social class theories of Karl Marx This paper presents a detailed examination of Tennessee Williams' "Streetcar Named Desire. The writer of this paper holds the play up to be examined under the light of social and class theories as ascribed to by Karl Marx. There were two sources used to complete this paper. Marxism in Art Many times authors use their works o purposely display a social
Tennessee Williams' "The Glass Menagerie," is a portrayal of the fragile psyches of its characters -- an arrangement of tiny, delicate glass figurines whose essence of life can be shattered very easily. This arrangement takes place in a cramped apartment in St. Louis, inhabited by Amanda Wingfield, her son Tom, and daughter Laura, the husband having deserted the family several years ago. Another character, perhaps the most stable, is Jim
Tennessee Williams Biography Tennessee Williams was born as Thomas Lanier Williams on March 26, 1911, in Columbus, Mississippi. His parents were Cornelius Coffin, a shoe salesman, and Edwina Dakin Williams, the daughter of a minister. The playwright's home life was never peaceful. His parents' turbulent fights frightened him and his two siblings. After some years in Clarksdale, Mississippi, the young Tennessee's parents moved to St. Louis in 1918. It was here that
Another theme that tends to occur in many of the main plays is that of the outsider or the marginalized, sensitive individual who feels an outcast in society. The central theme on which he based most of his plays is, "the negative impact that conventional society has upon the "sensitive nonconformist individual" (Haley, D.E). This theme can possibly be linked to Williams' homosexuality in a time when homosexuals were not
Tennessee Williams reflect his personal struggles and serve as vehicles for poignant social commentary. From "Glass Menagerie" to "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" to "A Streetcar Named Desire," Williams served up a set of masterpieces that delighted critics and audiences alike. His screenplays are among some of the most famous in American history, as big name film stars like Elisabeth Taylor, Marlon Brando, Kirk Douglas, and Paul Newman
Menagerie REVISED Prince, don't ask me in a week / or in a year what place they are; I can only give you this refrain: / Where are the snows of yesteryear? Francois Villon, c. 1461 "Where are the snows of yesteryear?" asks Tennessee Williams in the opening screen of The Glass Menagerie (401), quoting a poem by Francis Villon. Williams explains in the production notes to this famous play that he has left
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