The Glass Menagerie

Our second play is considered a classic of modern drama. Though Tennessee Williams wrote much of his work 50 years ago, his plays are still performed regularly. Why? Because of their passionate ideas, the drama and poignance of the action, and, most of all, the complexity and fascinating nature of his characters.

Characterization

In the case of "The Glass Menagerie," we have a character often considered one of the greatest of the American theater: Amanda Wingfield. You will not like her at first. She is the center of a dysfunctional family. She's demanding and self-concerned; she's a drama queen. She tells the same stories over and over. She's the kind of mother we all recognize and nobody wants, because her single-minded concentration on her children makes her, as she says herself, a witch. But as the play progresses, I hope you'll find her center, which has a kind of peculiar nobility. She really does care deeply for her children, who can't seem to make it on their own, and she does the best she can, with limited resources, to help them succeed. Plus, she's a lot of fun to listen to and watch!

Staging

In theater, setting is conveyed through staging, and Williams was an innovator. He made good use of all the aspects of staging:

• sets -- backdrops and constructions on the stage such as buildings
• props
• lighting
• sound
• slide projections, which are usually not used in productions today, but which add interesting thematic material.

Other aspects

You will also want to pay particular attention to these aspects of the play:

• setting: In addition to staging, don't overlook the importance of the overall time and place: the Great Depression in St. Louis
• symbolism: Williams makes rich use of objects, and even one character, to stand in for ideas
• language: the characters often use imagery to express their ideas, and there's excellent use of repetition and beautiful, poetic diction.
• interaction between characters: Williams delineates the kinds of tensions and alliances that many families deal with
• narrator/time. A major character is the narrator of the play. He is thus able to give us both the story as it happens and the perspective of one character looking back on what happens.
• minor character as catalyst. The fourth character in the play, Jim (The Gentleman Caller), does not appear until late in the play. He serves to bring issues between family members to a head and helps them see reality. He is also serves a symbolic function (see above).
• social commentary. In Amanda's situation, in Jim, and in Tom's narrative comments on the times, Williams embeds a powerful critique of the Depression, the "American Dream," and the politics of money.

You will have no difficulty reading the text. However, if you can locate a video, it will help you a great deal to grasp the power of the play, since it may be hard to visualize how these parts would be played. The Bangor campus library has an excellent tape with a young John Malkovich and Karen Black, and Joanne Woodward brilliant as Amanda.