Laura is not a very open character, but from the symbolism William’s uses, such as the glass menagerie we can see what Laura is like as a character. The glass menagerie is very symbolic of Laura; it shows the fragility and the delicateness of both Laura’s mental and physical character. The glass menagerie is made up of small spun glass, animals. These animals are very delicate and fragile Laura spends most of her time cleaning and polishing her collection. She spends all her time doing this because she has nothing else to do; she is to make friends or to socialise with people. She quit her one means of socialising, her business course at collage because she was that nervous that she sick. We can see that she is very shy person; she makes a little fantasy world with her glass animals. Laura is also symbolised by the name “Blue Roses”. Jim calls her this name; the gentleman caller who has comes over to the apartment for dinner. Jim also went to the same high school as Laura. This is were the name came about:” Aw, yes I’ve placed you now! I used to call you Blue Roses…” . Jim once asked Laura why she had not attended school for a few days, when she replied ‘Pleurosis’ Jim misheard and from then on he called her Blue Roses. Blue Roses is a very symbolic phrase, it describes Laura’s character very well, because roses are not blue, therefore it shows that it is a special and unique rose. This is how Laura is, she is also special and unique, because she has a minor physical defect, one of her legs is shorter than the other. Laura also has a very exceptional character, we can see this from what Jim tells her: “…other people are not such wonderful people. They’re one hundred times one thousand. You’re one times one! They walk all over the earth. You just stay here. They’re common as-weed, but- you-well, you’re- Blue Roses!”.
Laura and Tom were abandoned by their father and Amender by her husband. The only sign of him around the apartment is his larger than life photo this photo acts as a reminder to Tom that he can also follow in his fathers’ footsteps and escape. The photograph seems to be referred to several times in the play, usually when Tom and Amanda are arguing. The arguments usually revolve around the same thing, Amanda telling Tom he does not do enough for the family, she tells him he only ever thinks of himself, which is not true:-“And say self-self is all I ever think of. Why, listen, if self is what I thought, of mother, I’d be where he is-gone!”. This shows Tom wants to leave, but so far he has not had the courage to leave Laura and his mother to fend for themselves. Instead Tom uses going out to the Cinema an escape. Tom craves for adventure. He wants to be like the actors from the films. He stays at the cinema as long as possible. He watches all the performances in-between and at the end of the films. He tells Laura how a magician nailed himself into a coffin and got himself out without taking a nail out. This is symbolic of how the father just left without a second thought for Amanda, Laura and Tom.
Amanda’s life is not a very happy one. She was left to bring her children up on her own. Although we can see Amanda is unhappy inside, she constantly acts buoyant. She always refers to her youth. Amanda’s favourite story from her past is the one about her seventeen gentlemen callers on Blue Mountain. She keeps telling her children and Jim how happy she was as a girl:-“I was so gay as a girl!”. Amanda uses Jonquils to decorate the apartment for when Jim O’Connor comes for dinner. This flower was the flower Amanda was crazy about, the summer she had seventeen gentlemen callers. They are the flower of Amanda’s youth. They symbolise her happiness and all the good-old times she had in Blue Mountain. Amanda is persistently nagging Tom about the way he lives his life and how he dose not care about any one but himself.. From this we can see that Amanda is a very irritating person, but we can also see from the was she gets upset when she argues with Tom that in fact she is just trying to do the best for her children:-“My devotion has made me a witch and so I make myself hateful to my children!”. She feels her continues worrying over her children has made them dislike her.
Overall Tennessee Williams has made his play “The Glass Menagerie” a very meaningful and almost upsetting play. I personally can relate to the character Tom. Not in the way he feels the need to escape, but in the sense that even though he is the younger of the two he is the role model figure for his older sister looks up to him. This applies in my relationship with my brother; he looks up to me instead of the other way round. This is the situation with both Laura and my brother because they both have a physical disability. Although Laura’s handicap id not as severe as my brothers they both have the same characteristics in their emotional character. They are both shy and they both keep themselves to themselves .I feel the play is a very deep and emotional play, which is biographical of Tennessee Williams. His use of effective symbolism gives the play a great emotional feel. It also gives the characters a sense of realism, which helps create an effective and appreciative play.
