The Glass Menagerie Questions and Answers
1. How do Amanda’s dreams for her daughter contrast with the realities of the Wingfields’ day-to-day existence? The dream Amanda has for her daughter contrasts with the reality of the Wingfield’s existence, because Amanda is not accepting the reality of her own existence, she is constantly referring to her past life; a Southern belle with many Gentlemen callers. She convinces herself that Laura can live the life she expected to continue for herself, not realizing her daughter does not share her dream.
2. What suggestions do you find in Laura’s glass menagerie? In the glass unicorn? The glass menagerie suggests fragility and beauty. Laura is a beautiful, but fragile person, she can be easily broken, not capable of living a life outside of her protective box (home). The glass unicorn is unique, different from normal horses, and has a lonely existence, the same as Laura.
3. Which one of the characters in the play is most deserving of a reader’s sympathy? I believe Laura is most deserving of sympathy, because she has not had the opportunity to create a life for herself, she lives a sheltered existence. Even though Laura is fragile, she is the glue that holds her dysfunctional family together and because of her more stable presence, she will not be able to abandon them.
4. Tennessee Williams instinctively understands the loneliness of a human being¬¬¬--his or her constant and desperate attempt to escape the reality that is their loneliness—and their subsequent failure to do so. Discuss “the inescapable loneliness of an individual” as a major theme in The Glass Menagerie. In The Glass Menagerie loneliness is felt by all. The mother, Amanda, is lonely living a life without her husband and the spoils of a wealthy life. She is constantly reminding her children about her past life filled with social events and Gentlemen callers and trying to relive her youth through her daughter without creating a life of her own. The daughter, Laura, is living a life of
2. What suggestions do you find in Laura’s glass menagerie? In the glass unicorn? The glass menagerie suggests fragility and beauty. Laura is a beautiful, but fragile person, she can be easily broken, not capable of living a life outside of her protective box (home). The glass unicorn is unique, different from normal horses, and has a lonely existence, the same as Laura.
3. Which one of the characters in the play is most deserving of a reader’s sympathy? I believe Laura is most deserving of sympathy, because she has not had the opportunity to create a life for herself, she lives a sheltered existence. Even though Laura is fragile, she is the glue that holds her dysfunctional family together and because of her more stable presence, she will not be able to abandon them.
4. Tennessee Williams instinctively understands the loneliness of a human being¬¬¬--his or her constant and desperate attempt to escape the reality that is their loneliness—and their subsequent failure to do so. Discuss “the inescapable loneliness of an individual” as a major theme in The Glass Menagerie. In The Glass Menagerie loneliness is felt by all. The mother, Amanda, is lonely living a life without her husband and the spoils of a wealthy life. She is constantly reminding her children about her past life filled with social events and Gentlemen callers and trying to relive her youth through her daughter without creating a life of her own. The daughter, Laura, is living a life of