In The Glass Menagerie Amanda is a bad parent who puts her own needs before her childrens. Discuss.
‘The Glass Menagerie’ Amanda is a bad parent who puts her own needs before her children’s. Discuss. It could easily be perceived by many that Amanda is a bad parent to Laura and Tom, through the way in which she seems to put her own needs before her children’s in many of the situations within the play, ‘The Glass Menagerie’. A case of Amanda being a bad parent and putting her own needs first, could be demonstrated through the way in which she constantly takes control and dominates every situation only thinking of herself, as well as shirking her responsibilities at times on to her son, Tom. Amanda as the mother should be solely responsible, making sure they are cared and provided for. However, Tom seems to regularly have both Amanda and Laura’s problems unfairly unloaded upon him, and then he is expected to solve these problems. Such as, Tom was forced into finding a job at the warehouse in order to support both his mother and his sister, effectively taking over the main parenting role of Laura. This can be seen when Amanda states how as soon as Laura is provided for, married and independent, then Tom will ‘be free’ to go in the direction he so desires. As a parent, Amanda displays key characteristics such as selfish and domineering behaviour. This can be seen directed mainly at Tom throughout the play and a key example of this behaviour is how she
To what extent is Stanley the villain of A Streetcar Named Desire?
Grace Turner Friday 25th November ‘To what extent is Stanley the villain of ‘A Streetcar Named Desire?’ Within literature a villain is traditionally malicious in character and inflicts pain both emotionally and physically; someone who becomes an obstacle the protagonist must struggle to overcome and who takes pleasure in bringing about their demise. ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ is the famous story of Blanche du Bois and Stanley Kowalski’s passionate power struggle; written by Tennessee Williams in 1947, the Play is set in New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 1940s. To judge what extent Stanley is a villain it is necessary to first assess which criteria of a typical villain he fits. Throughout the play Stanley proves that he inflicts emotional pain on Blanche, and by not letting her forget her past and by destroying any possibility of love in her life Stanley becomes an obstacle she must attempt to overcome. It is Stanley who brings about the protagonists demise. However, although it appears that Stanley is vindictive and only bringing Blanche down for his own personal gain, one could argue that he is doing it for his relationship with Stella as Stanley would like things to return to the way they were before Blanche arrived. Stanley talks about how he wants their relationship to
