The Glass Menagerie is described by its author as "a memory play" Discuss this view up to the arrival of the gentleman caller.

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Daniela Germano

Year 13- English Literature

30/12/03

        The Glass Menagerie is described by its author as “a memory play.” Discuss this view up to the arrival of the gentleman caller.

        At the very beginning of The Glass Menagerie, the audience is immediately introduced to Tom as the narrator and how it is a memory play.

        

        Yes, I have tricks in my pocket; I have things up my sleeve. But I am the opposite of a magician. He gives you illusion that has the appearance of truth. I give you truth in the pleasant disguise of illusion.

What is very unique about The Glass Menagerie is that the narrator (Tom) is also a character in the play and the playwright’s voice. This emphasizes the fact that it is a memory play, because it is these very events that are memories and recollections of Williams.  In his production notes, he talks of using stage to arrive at a “penetrating and vivid expression of things as they are” or things that he remembers of his past.

         Unlike a lot of traditional playwrights, Tennessee Williams is extremely specific in his stage directions, especially at the very beginning of the play.

        The scene is memory and is therefore non-realistic. Memory takes a lot of poetic licence. It omits and details; others are exaggerated, according to the emotional value of the articles it touches, for memory is seated predominantly in the heart. The interior is therefore rather dim and poetic.

What is very peculiar about his stage directions is how detailed they are. When writing the play, Tennessee Williams has said that he wanted to play and the characters to be precise to his memories, which proves that these memories were held very dear to him and it can be argued, a justification of what happened to his sister, or possibly a way to heal his guilt that haunted him. The stage directions aren’t only in depth in the actions of the actors, but also the sentiment of the characters. This is most noticeable in the similes and metaphors he uses, which is very uncommon. Normally, playwrights only used the stage directions for actions, strictly, but it seems as though Williams also used them to help the actor develop as the character, to understand the character, which adds to the preciseness Williams so much stresses.

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        Amanda and Laura in light-coloured dresses are removing dishes from the table, in the upstage area, which is shadowy, their movements formalized almost as a dance or ritual, their moving forms as pale and silent as moths.

        This reflects as well how even the stage directions have the element of memory in them. The quotation above is very dream-like and has a real soft feel, which relates to memories being fuzzy in our minds. It also fits in with Williams says in the beginning that, with The Glass Menagerie being a memory play, the actions or events in ...

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