As well as the image, the stage directions state that ’She addresses Tom as though he was seated in the vacant chair . . .though he remains by the portieres.’ Emphasises both elements of delusion and denial, denial in the sense that Amanda refuses to accept the fact that Tom is smoking by not acknowledging that he is doing it at all. Further to this, as she reminisces about the past ‘her voice becomes rich and elegiac.’ Which reveals that she takes joy in re-living her past, emulated by the way ‘She flounces girlishly towards to kichenenette’ we can observe from this behaviour that by speaking about her own past Amanda attempts to re-live it, by pulling her past into her present, and this obviously brings her great happiness as she demonstrates with her mannerisms but also by attempting to re-live the same events through her distorted perception of Laura. This is shown by the fact that despite Laura’s protests to her mother; ‘I don’t think we re going to receive any’ Amanda continues with the delusion and adds to it with a melodramatic temperament ‘What? No one – not one?’ this causes Laura some unease communicated through the stage directions ‘Laura nervously echoes her laugh.’ Amanda is therefore viewed as persistent in her escapism, but her oblivion hints at a possible cause of conflict in the future. So we can conclude that Amanda not only lives in the past, but her character also attempts to re live the events via imposing her past upon her children, and including them in her delusion.
In scene one, we also see how she overbears upon both her children however she treats them differently as well. The way she interacts with Tom, has an air of arrogance and she patronises him considerably, yet affection is evident with this ‘Honey, don’t push with your fingers.’ Yet with Laura she remains commanding but treats her more with ignorance, as we have explored. Yet there is considerable irony with this behaviour, as she appears to the audience as being full of exclamation and very encapsulating, yet also childlike at times with phrases such as ‘It can’t be true!’ It seems wrong for her to be so commanding when the nature of her speech is so youthful; she lacks the tone of authority for the statements she conveys. Also in relation to this, we see that Amanda becomes far more dramatic when she is challenged, her overreaction is her response to the reality that her children try to convey to her, ‘there must have been a tornado!’ she states to Laura. By intentionally using her speech in this manner, Williams’ uses the over dramatic lines of speech, to reflect Amanda’s reluctance to face reality. This is extended in scene two, ‘Deception? Decepton?’ she states and the stage directions also state ‘a bit of acting’ as she enters, she is angry because Laura hasn’t been attending her course at the business college, but she voices this through very dramatic actions and speech. The stage directions convey more of this by using the symbolism of Amanda as she takes the typewriter diagrams and ‘tears it into two pieces.’ This is followed by more melodramatic expressions ‘Why? Why?’ the physical gestures are Williams’ method of conveying a visual metaphor to the audience. Amanda is tearing up the representation of Laura’s future, in effect tearing up her dreams, which to some extent are her own dreams which are being placed upon Laura by her overbearing mother.
The patronising but also some what hypocritical behaviour is exhibited once again by Amanda, she says to Laura ‘I thought you were an adult;’ suggesting that Laura is a child, whereas it’s Amanda’s behaviour which is petulant, making her yet again a hypocrite. It is interesting to note that this behaviour becomes apparent when Amanda’s dream for Laura is challenged in one sense or another, which suggests that it is Amanda’s way of safe guarding her lack of perception.
Even from the outset of the scene we see that Amanda resists reality in many other senses, from the outfit she wears to the D.A.R ‘That were worn in the late twenties’ to her counting which is implied through the stage directions to show how Amanda is trying to escape from the reality that she is being force to deal with, ‘Count ten.’ The actions of Laura within this scene actually build upon the sense of tension and anticipation, to Amanda’s words and gestures, thus making them seem that much more flamboyant. For example we are given Amanda’s actions as she prepares to enter the door, and we are also provided with Laura’s response; ‘Seeing her mother’s expression Laura touches her lips with a nervous gesture.’ Williams again manipulates the stage directions and the responses of other characters to reflect how Amanda’s highly emotional states are received, and by creating anticipation he creates more intensity upon her actions and mannerisms, increasing the drama of her character. Thus presenting her character in a more effective way.
As we see the scene progress, and Amanda’s unhappiness or annoyance increase, we again she her use of animal images. In this case she uses it to convey what will become of Laura if she doesn’t better herself ‘little birdlike women without any nest.’ Amanda made this kind comparison to Tom early within scene one, and this could be considered as deliberate on Amanda’s part. One could speculate that perhaps she does this to emphasise her wishes for her children to better themselves instead of remaining primitive as animals are. Alternatively, she may be using the metaphors as a means of reinforcing her commanding role over her children, but the latter seems less likely. Therefore we can say that Williams presents Amanda’s character carefully enough to allow us to speculate about her personality and reasoning’s for her behaviour
This scene itself does revolve around mendacity and deception and the way in which it ends reveals much of Amanda’s character. Amanda is angry that she has been deceived by Laura, yet the irony is that she continues in her own self-deception on several levels. Primarily she fails to acknowledge that Laura is even crippled ‘Why you’re not crippled’ she says, claiming that all Laura needs is to develop charm. Yet she refers to charm in the context of her husband ‘One thing your father had plenty of – was charm!’ but the irony is he is no longer there, so really the ideal of charm being a consolation is a delusion. Added to the fact that she says that ‘Girls that aren’t cut out for business careers usually wind up married to some nice man’ as she supposedly did. Followed by the physical movement of ‘crossing to the photograph’ of her husband, we see that Williams uses dramatic mocking irony to convey Amanda’s own self-deception as well. This action of Amanda to impose a reflection of herself upon the audience is likely to be a deliberate function on Williams part, as it may be attempt to reveal why Amanda is so obsessed with imposing upon her children, as she feels perhaps unhappy with her own situation and try’s to make amends for her misfortune through the lives of her children.
In essence this is at the core of Amanda’s character, conveyed by Williams through the use of both language and visual elements. He presents her as being an animated, yet perhaps lost character, someone who appears to the audience as perhaps eccentric yet with deep explanations for such a style of behaviour. Her delusional self deceived side is portrayed very effectively through the use of the other characters as well as her own nostalgic qualities, displayed through the use of stage direction. Williams also leads us to question her actions, making presumptions as to why she acts in such a manner, actively involving the audience is a method of presentation which he uses very effectively.