” the play is a memory play”.
(‘The Glass Menagerie’, Spoken by Tom, Act 1 page 14)
He may have told his story many times to anyone who will listen, remembering different bits and pieces of his story each time he tells it. The production concept reflects Tom's memory in that not all of the elements are present in the play, some props are mimed as is the front door but what is important about the play are not the illusions of truth but the truth itself. Williams’s description of ‘The Glass Menagerie’ as a “Memory Play” reflects this dramatic device, but it is also suggestive of the autobiographical nature of the play. The characters of Amanda and Laura are largely portraits of Williams’s mother and sister. And the guilt that the character Tom feels for having abandoned his sister was very much a part of Williams. Williams wants to emphasize that the play is non-naturalistic, playing with stage conventions and making use of special effects like music and slide projections. By writing a "memory play," Tennessee Williams freed himself from the restraints of naturalistic theatre. The theme of memory is important: for Amanda, memory is a kind of escape. For Tom, the older Tom who narrates the events of the play to the audience, memory is the thing that cannot be escaped: he is still haunted by memories of the sister whom he abandoned years ago.
According to Tom, The Glass Menagerie is a memory play—both its style and its content are shaped and inspired by memory. As Tom himself states clearly, the play’s lack of realism, its high drama, its overblown and too-perfect symbolism, and even its frequent use of music are all due to its origins in memory. Most fictional works are products of the imagination that must convince their audience that they are something else by being realistic. A play drawn from memory, however, is a product of real experience and hence does not need to drape itself in the conventions of realism in order to seem real. Tom—and Tennessee Williams—take full advantage of this privilege. The story that the play tells is told because of the inflexible grip it has on the narrator’s memory. Thus, the fact that the play exists at all is a testament to the power that memory can exert on people’s lives and consciousness. Indeed, Williams writes in the Production Notes that:
“Nostalgia . . . is the first condition of the play.”
(‘The Glass Menagerie’, Production Notes, page 8)
The narrator, Tom, is not the only character haunted by his memories. Amanda too lives in constant pursuit of her bygone youth, and old records from her childhood are almost as important to Laura as her glass animals. For these characters, memory is a crippling force that prevents them from finding happiness in the present or the offerings of the future. But it is also the vital force for Tom, prompting him to the act of creation that culminates in the achievement of the play.
In ‘The Glass Menagerie’, the uses of props and scenery are integral parts of the play. The fire escape, Victrola phonograph, Laura's unicorn, Tom's movie going, and the photograph of the father that left them behind all affect their lives everyday in one way or another. In the play, Tom was torn between responsibility for his mother and sister and the need to be his own man. He used the fire escape most in the play. He went outside to stand on it when he smoked, to escape the nagging from his mother, or to make his final independence from his family. Movies were also an important part of Tom's life. He went to the movies when he and his mother argued or when he felt he needed some excitement. The Victrola was Laura's means of escape and comfort. Laura is painfully shy, very fragile, and has a very big "inferiority complex". She uses the Victrola so much to comfort her that it has become an instinct. The Victrola is in her comfort zone; it's an inanimate object that she can be herself around. Laura uses the Victrola throughout the play, when she wants to avoid confrontation or when she's hurt.
“She and Laura don’t dare face each other. Laura crouches beside the victrola to wind it.”
(‘The Glass Menagerie’, Stage directions, Act 7, Page 90)
For Laura, the Victrola is her means of escape. Laura lives in her own little world inside the apartment. Her glass collection is the most important thing to her; it makes her feel accomplished.
“The collection takes up a good deal of my time. Glass is something you have to take good care of,”
(‘The Glass Menagerie’, Spoken by Laura, Act 7)
She speaks of the collection of glass animals as if they're alive. The characters use the picture of the father on the living room wall in different ways. Amanda uses it to remind Tom about what a rotten fink his father was, and how she doesn't want him to turn out. Tom looks at it and wants desperately to be like him. The props used in the play are a means of escape. For Tom, it's the movies and the fire escape, for Laura it's the Victrola and her glass and for the father, it's his picture. He's escaped from the responsibility of raising and paying for their family.
’s double role in The Glass Menagerie—as a character whose recollections the play documents and as a character who acts within those recollections—underlines the play’s tension between objectively presented dramatic truth and memory’s distortion of truth.
“I am the narrator of the play, also a character in it.”
(‘The Glass Menagerie’, Spoken by Tom, Act 1)
Unlike the other characters, Tom sometimes addresses the audience directly, seeking to provide a more detached explanation and assessment of what has been happening onstage. But at the same time, he demonstrates real and sometimes juvenile emotions as he takes part in the play’s action.
is used often in ‘The Glass Menagerie’, both to emphasize themes and to enhance the drama. For example, a musical piece entitled ‘The Glass Menagerie,’ plays when Laura’s character or her glass collection comes to the forefront of the action. Other times, the music comes from inside the space of the play—that is, it is a part of the action, and the characters can hear it. Examples of this are the music that wafts up from the Paradise Dance Hall and the music Laura plays on her victrola. Music is used to emphasise a particular scene which portrays emotional emphasis to suitable passages. ‘The Glass Menagerie’ tune is probably the lightest, most delicate music in the world, as well as the saddest.
One of the play’s most unique stylistic features is the use of an onstage screen on which words and images relevant to the action are projected. Sometimes the screen is used to emphasize the importance of something referred to by the character. At other times, it seems to function as a slate for impersonal commentary on the events and characters of the play, as when “Ou sont les neiges” appear in Scene One as Amanda’s voice is heard offstage. What appears on the screen generally emphasizes themes or symbols that are already established quite obviously by the action of the play. The device thus seems at best ironic, and at worst somewhat pretentious or condescending. The screen is, however, an interesting epitome of Tennessee Williams’s expressionist theatrical style, which downplays realistic portrayals of life in favour of stylized presentations of inner experience.
The stage directions call for the use of several technical devices in order to convey the idea that this is a memory play. For example, some of the scenes should be presented with some type of net or gauze between the audience and the actors. Or in many places, Williams suggests the use of titles and images to be projected on a scene in order to force or reinforce the idea of memory and to recall certain events that occurred during the time of the play. Others are supposed to be used to suggest some symbolic aspect of the play. But when the play is produced, they are virtually never used. Most directors feel that the play is sufficient without the extra use of images. In fact, most directors feel that the use of these images would detract from the central action of the play. But the point is that Williams included them so as to help with the structure of the play as a memory play.
The use of light plays an important role in the play. Since the play is not realistic, the atmosphere of memory must be kept so shaft of lights are focused on selected areas or actors in a particular scene. It is use to give importance to the characters acting out as well as recognising more their actions and movements. In the play, a very distinct light was focused on Laura. The kind of light used for saints, to show her fragility.
“..In front of them stands Laura with clenched hands and panicky expression. A clear pool of light on her figure throughout the scene.”
(‘The Glass Menagerie’, Stage directions, Act 3, page 28)
The uses music, screen device, stage directions and lightning effects to create the dream-like atmosphere appropriate for a "memory play." Music and light – elements also significant to the playwright, enhance the level of emotion and create an alluring atmosphere for Tom’s haunting memories. Tennessee Williams' use of the narrator (Tom) and his creation of a dream-like, illusory atmosphere helped to create a powerful representation of memory and family.
