The Glass menagerie - 'Being a memory play, it is dimly lighted, it is sentimental, it is not realistic'. To what degree is the play memory and to what degree is it realistic?

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ENGLISH LITERATURE LONG ESSAY

MEMORY AND REALITY

(IN TENNESSEE WILLIAMS’ THE GLASS MENAGERIE)

‘Being a memory play, it is dimly lighted, it is sentimental, it is not realistic’. To what degree is the play memory and to what degree is it realistic?

“When a play employs unconventional techniques, it is not trying to escape its responsibility of dealing with reality, or interpreting experience, but is actually attempting to find a closer approach, a more penetrating and vivid expression of things as they are” (Tennessee Williams). The Glass Menagerie is one of Tennessee Williams’ most eminent works and no doubt qualifies as a classic of the modern theater. Often referred to as a ‘memory play’, both the style and content of The Glass Menagerie are shaped and inspired by the memory of the play’s narrator, Tom Wingfield. According to Tom, due to the play’s origins in memory, ‘it is sentimental, it is not realistic’ and may be presented with unusual freedom from convention. Consequently, the play is subject to numerous peculiarities, such as dim lighting, frequent use of music and overblown, almost ‘too-perfect’ symbolism. Most fictional works are products of the imagination, which attempt to convince the audience of its realism, through realistic conflict, drama and setting. The Glass Menagerie, however, although drawn from memory, is not ‘attempting to escape its responsibility of dealing with reality’, but rather, is drawn from real experience and does not need to be constrained by the conventions of realism to convey truth. The Glass Menagerie is essentially reality presented in an unrealistic way, through memory. In order to evaluate the degree to which the play is realistic rather than memory or vice versa, and how the two interact in the ultimate aim of ‘interpreting experience’, we must examine the various realistic aspects of the play, such as the characters, the setting, and the situation presented to us, as well as the memory aspects, such as the lighting, music and symbolism.

Despite being a ‘memory play’, the basis and content of The Glass Menagerie is truth and reality as Williams’ attempts to ‘find a closer approach, a more penetrating and vivid expression of things as they are’. This basis of reality is evident in the play’s setting, as The Glass Menagerie is presented with great fidelity to the social and historical realities of the time. This is demonstrated from the play’s beginning as Tom ‘reverses time to that quaint period, the thirties’, and juxtaposes the turmoil in Spain to the uneasy peace in America, in an allusion to the forthcoming war (World War II). There are other allusions to the war throughout the play, such as in Tom’s closing speech as he claims the ‘world is lit by lightning’. It is clear that the historical realities of the time are effectively conveyed in the play, although it is not only the war-related realities of the time that Williams highlights.

Williams’ presentation of the social realities of the period is clear with the bleak lower-middle-class life in America, portrayed by the Wingfield family. This is most evident in the way that Laura, Amanda and Tom each develop their own methods of escaping their empty lifestyle; Amanda through her memory of a glamorous youth at Blue Mountain (where she entertained ‘seventeen gentleman callers!’), Laura through her glass menagerie and Tom by seeking adventure at the movies as he dreams of faraway lands. Clearly, The Glass Menagerie deals strongly with the social and historical realities of the time. However, in determining the degree of realism in the play, just as important as the reality of the play’s context are the characters of the play.

Although derived from Tom’s memory, all of the major characters in The Glass Menagerie as well as their various idiosyncrasies are, to a great degree, realistic, through Tom’s real experiences with them. In fact, the play is loosely autobiographical, with several of the play’s major characters having roots in Williams’ own life. For example, the character of Tom Wingfield is based on Tennessee Williams’ himself (whose real name was actually Tom before he changed it). Tom, like Tennessee Williams as a young man, had very few friends and lived apart from society because he is seen as different (Tom is seen as different because of his poetic soul and his urge to express this poetry while Williams was seen differently because of his Southern background). While Williams aspired to be a writer, but was condemned to work in a St Louis shoe factory by his father, Tom aspires to be an actor but is trapped working in a St Louis shoe factory to support his mother and sister (as a result of his father abandoning them). Even the sense of guilt that consumes Tom after he abandons Laura has roots in Williams’ own life as it reflects the guilt that Williams himself felt when leaving his sister in a mental institution. Clearly, the character of Tom Wingfield portrayed in his own memory as well as his situation, feelings and ambitions have a very real basis, not only in his own life but also in the life of Tennessee Williams. Several other characters in the play are also built upon Tom’s real experiences with them.

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Although The Glass Menagerie is a ‘memory play’, Tom’s memory of Amanda Wingfield is clearly based on reality. Amanda is also partly derived from Williams’ life, from his mother Edwina Dakin. Like Williams’ mother, Amanda sees herself as a Southern belle. Edwina Dakin, into her old age, dreamt fantastic dreams of a life in the Deep South that had never existed. Amanda also has ‘memories’ of her glamorous life at Blue Mountain, although it is unknown whether these are fabrications or not. Amanda has several other idiosyncrasies based on reality and Tom’s real experiences with her (although some of these ...

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