Commentary – Scene 6.
Commentary - Scene 6 In scene 6 we finally meet the much awaited gentleman caller, Jim. Throughout the play we hear many things about Jim, from the high-school hero he was to the warehouse worker he is, building up a sense of anticipation. Jim's entrance is the only contact the audience have with the outside world. He is, as Tom says, "an emissary from the world of reality". To Laura, Jim is probably the only boy she ever truly liked. He was the hero in high-school and is still a hero in Laura's eyes, as she only remembers him from her memory of his past glory. Jim's character contrasts blatantly with Laura's. Jim is straightforward, optimistic and determined on creating a favorable future for himself whereas Laura, on the other hand, is shy, reclusive and fragile like her glass menagerie, which if handled harshly, breaks easily. This glaring contrast epitomizes how Laura's personality clashes with the real world as Jim represents the real world. Her qualities that make her so delicate and glasslike are defined in this scene; A fragile, unearthly prettiness has come out in Laura: She is like a piece of translucent glass touched by light, Given a momentary radiance, not actual, not lasting. Williams has created an illusion of Laura, showing her to be what she is not, as her "unearthly prettiness" contradicts her terribly shy and nervous personality. She is like a piece
Commentary on 'The Glass Menagerie' by Tennessee Williams- Scene One.
Commentary on 'The Glass Menagerie' by Tennessee Williams- Scene One Tennessee Williams led an unusual and for the most part miserable life, never being able to fit in with the boundaries of society. He portrays his feelings about society and poverty and how it binds us to a routine sort of life and through Tom shows how we can break away from it all- but also shows us the price we end up paying for running away. The opening scene of the play begins with a narrative on the lifestyle and living condition of the Wingfield apartment. The description of the building and apartment alone, gives us an idea of appalling living conditions were during the year of the Great Depression. Tennessee Williams uses words such as "hive-like" and "cellular living-units" and "warty growths" that gives us a sketch of what living conditions were like. Tennessee Williams also mentions a fire escape, which is added to the sets of the play. This fire escape has great significance, as it is an "accidental poetic truth." The fire-escape leading out of the Wingfield's apartment represents exactly what the name states. It is an escape from the fires of frustration that have "enslaved" the American people. This is why it is an "accidental poetic truth." We are also told that the play is a memory play it has been styled and fashioned in such a way that it constantly reminds the audience that it is a
Plot Overview - The Glass Menagerie.
Plot Overview The Glass Menagerie is a memory play, and its action is drawn from the memories of the narrator, Tom Wingfield. Tom is also a character in the play, which is set in St. Louis in 1937. He is an aspiring poet who toils in a shoe warehouse to support his mother, Amanda, and sister, Laura. Mr. Wingfield, Tom and Laura's father, ran off years ago and, except for one postcard, has not been heard from since. Amanda, originally from a genteel Southern family, regales her children frequently with tales of her idyllic youth and the scores of suitors who once pursued her. She is disappointed that Laura, who wears a brace on her leg and is painfully shy, does not attract any gentleman callers. She enrols Laura in a business college, hoping that she will make her own and the family's fortune through a business career. Weeks later, however, Amanda discovers that Laura's crippling shyness has led her to drop out of the class secretly and spend her days wandering the city alone. Amanda then decides that Laura's last hope must lie in marriage and begins selling newspaper subscriptions to earn the extra money she believes will help to attract suitors for Laura. Meanwhile, Tom, who loathes his warehouse job, finds escape in liquor, movies, and literature, much to his mother's chagrin. During one of the frequent arguments between mother and son, Tom accidentally breaks several of
A Critic suggests that the source of the plays dramatic power lies in the presentation of “delicate illusions always on the verge of being shattered.” How far do you agree with this view of the play?
A Critic suggests that the source of the plays dramatic power lies in the presentation of "delicate illusions always on the verge of being shattered." How far do you agree with this view of the play? In the world of 'The Glass Menagerie' life is an illusion. Tom, Laura and Amanda are all fighting to separate themselves from reality and live in their own world. Jim O'Connor, the man who Amanda has set all of her hopes in as a husband for Laura, appears late on in the play as a brief glimpse of this reality they all seem to be hiding from, "From a world of reality that we were somehow set apart from." Laura, living in her own withdrawn world with her glass figures, is the most fragile and delicate of the characters, and in herself provides a realm of delicate illusions almost ready to be shattered. When Laura's unicorn figure breaks, her favourite one, the most unique one, we are being shown a symbolic shattering of Laura's dream world. The man who, for a brief moment appeared to be her escape from her world of illusions, shatters this world. Amanda was brought up in the deep southern states of America and can't seem to face life in a small inner city apartment. The picture of her long departed husband hangs in the apartment, almost as an ever present reminder of the initial shattering of their reality and beginning of the world in which they now life, "He is gallantly
Discuss the extent to which language creativity can be identified in everyday interaction in English, with reference to an extract of authentic language data that you have collected from everyday conversation, or dialogue between children, or computer-med
The art of English E301 TMA 02 Discuss the extent to which language creativity can be identified in everyday interaction in English, with reference to an extract of authentic language data that you have collected from everyday conversation, or dialogue between children, or computer-mediated conversation. Alternatively you may use an extract from CD-ROM 1, Band 6 (Sample stories) or Band 12 (Pretend Play). In this assignment the aim is to demonstrate to what extent language creativity is present in everyday language. The main discussion will evolve around a transcript from CD-ROM Band 12 from this course. This will be concluded with specific references to strengths and limitation features of studies into language creativity. Language creativity can be found in a wide variety of different language practices. One comes across it in anything from advertisements or banners to literature. For example, small children are also able to tell and receive a joke which means that they are capable of recognising creative play through the semantics of words. Children also like using their minds productively for instance either by making up their own stories or by re-telling a fairy tale. Moreover, it is particularly in early childhood that is the period of life and mode of being in which linguistic creativity occurs in interesting ways. Language play especially amongst children
Discuss the statement with reference to the concept of 'sculptural drama' looking specifically at the characters of Tom & Amanda.
By Catherine Ezekpo Williams's deeply humane awareness that, while individuals behaviour might seem cruel or selfish from the outside, it may become understandable or even sympathetic when one tries to appreciate circumstances from the individuals point of view Discuss the statement with reference to the concept of 'sculptural drama' looking specifically at the characters of Tom & Amanda The statement itself is quite complex; and alike the play it has to be carefully de-constructed in order to gain deeper understanding. It is evident from the outset that Williams uses different approach to present his production; he has strayed away from the 'plastic theatre' which he sees as tired and 'unrealistic'. Instead he opts for a unique blend of expressionism -surrealism that supposedly connects with you on both your conscious and subconscious level to reveal the 'truth'. Williams calls his drama a sculptural drama in which the main characters are presented as multi- defecated and three-dimensional l. However is this true? Our initial impression of Amanda is of a selfish melodramatic woman who cares primarily for self. This image depiction of Amanda is highlighted in Scene two, we see Amanda confronting Laura about not attending 'Rubicam's Business College'. Amanda: 'I felt so weak...Fifty dollar's tuition, all our plans-my hopes' Pg. 14 It is comments such as this that give us
How does David Lean explore the themes of "passion" and "repression" in Brief Encounter.
Emma Turner Brief Encounter (Dir. David Lean) How does David Lean explore the themes of "passion" and "repression" in Brief Encounter In David Lean's Brief Encounter there are many aspects of the film which explore the issues of passion and repression. In the dictionary I found passion as a "strong sexual desire" and repression as "suppression, restraint; psyc result of mental conflict." Using these definitions I will now investigate some of the ways David Lean portrays these aspects. The history and propaganda of affairs is portrayed well in 1930-1940s doomed love films were a theme of women sacrifice was they main event. This film shows a middle class woman (Laura) who gets tempted by passion and desire Laura knows she's not doing the right thing by staying with Alec. This film primarily shows how married women (even middle class), despite their supposed perfection in life can be tempted by a new love interest. The route that Laura goes by shows that, like her, wives should transgress back to their lives with their husbands and families. Passion and repression is shown well within the some of the settings of the film. Most of Laura's relationship with her affair partner Alec takes place in the train station were they first met. The transience of the train station initiates the idea of this affair being a doomed love for both Alec and Laura because they are always
The Glass Menagerie
'The Glass Menagerie' 'What techniques does the playwright use to maintain the reader's interest throughout the production?' Throughout the drama The Glass Menagerie, playwright Tennessee Williams uses a range of techniques to maintain the reader's interest. In essence, The Glass Menagerie depicts the character Tom and his desire to achieve adventure in life; however he is trapped providing for his mother and sister. Set in St Louis during the Depression, Tom lives in a small apartment with his mother Amanda - a domineering and manipulative character, longing for a better life, how it was when she was a young Southern Belle residing in Blue Mountain; and his crippled sister Laura - a shy frightened young woman as a result of a past case of pleurosis and now having to deal with the excessive pressure of Amanda, who desperately persuades her to find a "gentlemen caller". Becoming fed up with the way his life is, Tom eventually deserts his family as his father did in search of a life of his own. Williams, through techniques such as the narrative perspective of Tom, stage techniques (lighting, music, images) and symbolism, establishes an intriguing play enabling the reader to resonate with most aspects of it. One of the most prominent themes throughout the play is symbolism, which is used proficiently by Williams to maintain the reader's interest. A paramount example of this
The Glass Menagerie.
The Glass Menagerie Long Essay By Carina Uehr MISS PRISM: Memory, my dear Cecily, is the diary that we all carry about with us. CECILY: Yes, but it's usually chronicles of things that have never happened, and couldn't possibly have happened. The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde C ecily's perception of memory may be little naïve, but she certainly has a point. Memory distorts events that have happened in our past, colouring it with our own thoughts and impressions. Tennessee William's The Glass Menagerie is in essence a memory play, told from hindsight by one of its characters, Tom Wingfield. Although the play is fiction, it presents its audience with "...truth in the pleasant disguise of illusion." (Scene 1, p. 234) It tells the story of Tom's past through his memories, with him acting as the narrator of the play. The lighting, music and screen device are all used to create nostalgia and sadness, to speak to the heart, not the mind, "...for memory is seated predominantly in the heart." (Stage directions, p. 233) However, even though Tennessee Williams states that the Menagerie "...is not realistic" (Scene 1, p. 235), there are significant realistic elements on which the play is based. Williams uses his own past as the basis for his characters and most of the plot. The historical and social background in which the play is set is also realistic and referred
Staging implications which make 'The Glass Menagerie'.
In this essay I will be looking at the staging implications which make 'The Glass Menagerie'. A playwright called Tennessee Williams in 1945 wrote this play. He was born in 1911 and grew up as an American playwright whose dramas portrayed loneliness and the isolation of life. 'The Glass Menagerie' is a story about the narrator, Tom, who recreates the memories the memories of his sister Laura and his mother Amanda. Laura, often in the story, escapes into a fantasy world of old phonograph records and the glass animals in her 'menagerie'. Amanda's harsh practicality is balanced by romanticised memories of her Southern girlhood. Tom dreams of adventure and finally runs away from his family to join the merchant marines. According to Tom, 'The Glass Menagerie' is a memory play the whole story is shaped and based on what he remembers from his past. The play's lack of realism (no props) and its frequent use of music are all due to its origins in memory. The scene at the dinner table for example where they are using their imagination for the cutlery and food are products of the imagination that must convince their audience that they are something else by being realistic. The narrator, Tom, is not the only character haunted by his memories. Amanda too lives in constant pursuit of her old youth, and old records from her childhood are almost as important to Laura as her glass animals.