The Glass Menagerie: Symbols

Part I of Essay
"I have a poet's weakness for symbols." So states Tom Wingfield, narrator and major character in Tennessee William's timeless play “The Glass Menagerie”. Through the eyes of Tom, the viewer gets a glance into the life of his family in the pre-war depression era; his mother ....

Part II of Essay
.... building, but “the slow and implacable fires of human desperation.” This is especially true of Tom's apartment. His mother, devastated after her daughter Laura's failure to cope in business college, becomes obsessed with finding her a gentleman caller so that she can marry and be well supported. When this caller finally comes, and it seems like it was meant to be, as they dance and kiss, he announces he is engaged, and dashes their hopes. The ever-fragile Laura, temporarily drawn out of her dream-world shell of her glass collection and the ....