Tuesday, September 21, 2010

The Glass Menagerie Themes


“The Glass Menagerie” is about a dysfunctional family in crisis . Some of the themes in the play deal with the subjects of escape and abandonment vs. responsibility. Apply these themes to the characters of Amanda, Laura and Tom. And have you ever personally been in a situation you wanted to escape from or forced to take on responsibility that was too much for you to handle?

10 comments:

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  2. Tom felt suffocated and trapped at home. His need for escape was more of an emotional one than physical. Due to the abandonment of his Father.He cared for Laura and Amanda but at the same time some how felt responsible for them.I personally have been in a situation where i wanted to escape. There are four woman in the house and one child. My mother can not fulfill her responsibility of taking my sister to and from school or any of the billions of classes she has signed up for. But, everyone puts the stress on me to do it all because im the only other person that can drive. But, on top of that i already have school, homework, work, cleaning, etc. I just always felt the need to escape and be out there on my own, in my own place where i didn't have to worry about taking care of the situation. I hated having the responsibilities of being almost a mother to my own little sister.Not only did i have to take her everywhere but i had to feed her, make sure she did her homework, and whatever else. It was to much for me to handle.

    -Shanna Johnson

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  3. Tom spends a lot of his time going to see movies, so he can escape from everyday life. He is too scared to follow his dreams, so he lives through other people’s lives.
    Amanda tells everyone in her family what to do because she does not have the chance anymore to make something special in her life. She also wants her children to succeed in life so she will be alright.
    Laura spends most of her time with the glass making animals, and this shows that she has dreams. She wishes she was in a pure place where nothing bad could happen.
    I wish that reality wouldn’t always be there and knock you in the face again, like it has been doing to me for years now. I know that I cannot change anything that has happened, but it just feels overwhelming sometimes.

    ~Sydney Bauer

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  4. Tom escapes his reality through his outlets, such as the movies or work. The stress and suffocating atmosphere that lingers at home would drive anybody to wish for an escape from reality. He is afraid to strive towards his own aspirations.
    Laura wishes to live free of boundaries . Her outlet is her glass menageries. Her life's downward spiral makes her yearn for a place of purity.
    AManda wishes to live her dreams through her daughter. she tries to control her children to secure her happiness.
    For me, stress in my life can drive me to wish i can just drop everything and walk away from it all. Between social life stress, school and my car giving me problems, It can be hectic.

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  5. Tom reads literature, writes poetry, and dreams of escape, adventure, and higher things.
    Amanda withdraws from reality to fantasy and she is convinced that she is not doing so. She is constantly making efforts to people and the world outside her family.
    Laura never does anything to hurt anyone and she has alot of pure compassion.
    It's just amazing how there is just many different responsibilites that come with life. Life is scary because you never know what's coming up next down the road. In life you have to prepare yourself for the unknown.. There are many different things that I have gone through in life and some things were unexpected bt i dealt with that by rolling with the punches and standing strong.

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  6. Amanda and her kids were abandoned by her husband, and she is afraid that Tom is going to be just like his dad, a drunkard and eventually leave her.Amanda lives in the pass that is her way of escaping.Tom is longing to leave home, but thinks it is his responsibity to take care of his mom and sister. in the meantime his only esacpe is temporary by going to the movies, and daydreaming. Laura is so insecure and shy, she is unable to get a job or fenish school,her entire life is consumed with her glass animal collection, because that is the only thing her life can relate to.I know what it is like to be in a situation and wanting to escape. At an early age i was pulled out of school to take care of my younger cousins. I think that was just a little bit too much when i was just a child myself, but i think that help me to be the responsible person that i am now.

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  7. In The Glass Menagerie, Tom has the responsibility of taking care of his mother and sister. In other words he is forced to be the man of the house. He has to go to work in the factory in order to support himself and his family, however, his dream is to become a successful writer. Unfortunately, his responsibilities get in the way of him pursuing his dream. He is trapped. Therefore, he wants to escape from his responsibilities in order to chase his dream. As far as Amanda, she was abandoned by her husband and feels trapped in her in her world. She feels that if she had married one of her previous "gentleman callers" that she would have been better off. Therefore, she tries to control Laura's life in an attempt to try to escape from her pain and steer her daughter away from possible abandonment. I have had responsibility forced on me and before and although it was hard, i am thankful for it because it was a learning experience and it helped me to grow up.
    -Steven Christian

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  8. Tom wanted to escape from his "coffin" or home because of his responsibility of taking care of his mother and sister whom his father had left long ago. Tom to get away from everything goes to the movies or writes. Thus causing conflict with his mother because she doesn't want the same thing to happen again thus she wants to control Tom and Laura.

    Whereas, Laura wants to escape it all because of her shyness and cripple leg thus Laura goes into her fantasy world of the glass menagerie.

    There was things such as my parent's divorce that I wanted to go in my own little fantasy where everything was all right, but then after while though it hurt I got over it and now I'm a stronger person.

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  9. Tom takes on both abandonment and responsibility, because at first he tries hard to take care of his family and and works hard and gives up on his dreams so he can make ends meet. But later on he reaches his limit and abandons the family.
    Amanda is a character that that is trying to live her dreams though her daughter and punishes her son for being similar to his dad.
    Laura is a character that is really sensitive and shy and likes to stay as far from others as possible, and has another world that she escapes into with her glass menagerie.
    As for me I am facing a really tough decision with my life. Either I get to stay with my family and be without happiness or freedom, or move out and be independent and happy, but am going to miss my family a lot.

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  10. Tom escapes through material possesions, Amanda escapes through emotional recall of when life was easy,simple and beautiful. As for me facing tough situations I preferr to seek out all that is good in that particular situation and let it manifest and take over the bad. I do not sought after drugs, money or anything else materialistic in that matter. All pure, mental and good energy.

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