Illusion vs. Reality in The Glass Menagerie Essay -- Glass Menagerie e

Illusion vs. Reality in The Glass Menagerie In The Glass Menagerie, Tennessee Williams uses the roles of the members of the Wingfield family to extravagantlylight the controlling ancestor of illusion versus candor. The family as a whole is enveloped in mirage the lives of the characters do non exist outside of their apartment and they have basically isolated themselves from the stop of the world. Even their apartment is a direct reflection of the past as stories are often recalled from the mothers teenage years at Blue Mountain, and a portrait of the man that previously left the family still hangs on the border as if his existence is proven by the presence of the image. The most anomalous factor of their world is that it appears as sequenceless. Amanda lives only in the past era Tom lives only in the future and Laura lives in her collection of candy animals, her favorite being the unicorn, which does not exist. Ordinary development and transformation cannot fool place i n a timeless atmosphere such as the apartment. The whole family resists change and is unwilling to accept alteration. Not only is the entire family a representation of illusion versus reality, each of the characters uses fantasy as a means of escaping the severity of their own separate world of reality. Each has an unmarried fantasy world to which they retreat when the existing world is too often for them to handle. Each character has a different way of dealing with life when it seems to take control of them, and they all become so completely take up in these fantasies that they become stuck in the past. Amanda Wingfield (mother) is the most unrealistic of all the characters. She clings desperately to the past as she repeatedly relives the memories of receivin... ...Unicorn b. Jim 4. Lauras reaction to Jims engagement 5. Lauras final underprice into illusion C. Tom 1. Toms desperate desire to escape reality privileged home 2. Complaints of job and mother 3. Discussion of out side world 4. wonder for father 5. Toms final attempt to escape reality 6. Truth of Toms hamper to truth of reality D. Jim 1. Jims understanding of reality versus illusion 2. Reflection of high school memories 3. come to on Laura a. Convinces Laura to dance b. Kisses Laura 4. Breaks news of engagement to Laura 5. Impact on other Wingfield characters a. Amanda 1. Seen as tender and caring for the first time 2. Comforts Laura with dignity b. Tom 1. Decides to finally break away from reality of Wingfield home 2. Follows in fathers footsteps III. Conclusion