“The Glass Menagerie” is about a dysfunctional family in crisis . Some of the themes in the play deal with the subjects of escape and abandonment vs. responsibility. Apply these themes to the characters of Amanda, Laura and Tom.
And have you ever personally been in a situation you wanted to escape from or forced to take on responsibility that was too much for you to handle?
They probably all want to escape, but for different reasons.
ReplyDeleteThe situation that I've been in personally that was a little bit too much too handle and gave me the urge to escape was my high school senior year. I was an honor's student and at the end of the year I took way too much Honors classes and too much responsibilities, that I wanted to quit and leave school weeks before graduation!
ReplyDeleteI believe that all the characters in the play wanted to be free from thier lives.Amanda, the mother was bitter and controlling. She tried to control the lives of her children because of her own failure in her life.She was alone and there was no escape for her from the life she was living. Because Amanda felt trapped in her own life she tried to live her life through her crippled daughter Laura. She felt like it was her responsiblity to marry off Laura to make up for her own disappointment in her life.Tom felt very trapped in his situation because he felt like he was forced in the position of having to take care of his mother and sister and there was no way out for him. He hated his job, and his family life. Tom's only way to escape was whenever he left the house at nights to go to the movies. I believe that doing so he felt like he was someone else for that moment and it was his way of escaping.
ReplyDeleteI have been in positions where I have felt lik i wanted to escape from life and be alone. But with every problem that arise in life, I have learnt over that trying to run away from your problems does not always get rid of them.
Nobody said life was easy and this is apparent in The Glass Menagerie. We all know that Tennesee Williams had a hectic life and this definitely is shown in Amanda, Laura and specifically Tom's character. Tom feels excessive pressure having to be the man of the house and work at the factory.
ReplyDeleteI know how hard it is with feeling pressure of having to getting the best grades and competing with others to get admitted to pharmacy school. It is extremely tough to do that while working a full time schedule.
I think Amanda and Tom wanted to escape from their responsibilities, Amanda wanted to get rid of Laura so she would have no more problems to take care of it. Tom wanted to escape to follow his dream. And Laura, I'm not sure if she wanted anything. I just know she didn't like her forcing her to get married.
ReplyDeleteWell I am sure that everybody had their difficult moments, and so did I but every time I deal with problem I try to solve it instead of escaping from it. But I think that when I came to live here I was escaping from my responsibilities in Brazil.
Everyone at one point or another will deal with the fight or flight dilemma. Tom wants to go and live his life but his love for his sister keeps him there. His mother feels abandoned by he husband and thins the same will happen with Tom. The sister is a bit of a hapless victim, a pawn used by both sides for their own ends. In my life I was born to my mum the last of three boys. I always felt like I was know but not the most known. My mum tried her best to look equally on my brother and I, but it was apparent I was not the favorite. When my brother passed he was the middle child all that love all the attention of the two of us was now solely on me. My brother and I were best friends and brothers so it was hard enough dealing with that. When you add the pressure of a grieving mother whose once split love is now all on you. It became unbearable. I had to get away but my Mum needed me, so I had to stay a continuing battle raged. Time has healed and everything is as normal as you would expect now.
ReplyDeleteAndrew T. Oliver 8^ ) =^o^=
the entire family is dysfunctional, but what family isn't dysfunctional at one point. We all have that one family member that you would love to escape from but at the end of the day that is your blood and you can't run from. Tom is a great example of that because when he ran out his family all he did was hurt hisself
ReplyDeleteThe themes from "The Glass Menagerie" with escape and abandonment vs. responsibility relates to the three main characters. First with Tom being the one who deals with escape and abandonment vs. responsibility. Amanda being the one who is trying to be put responsibility on Tom for being the one to get his sister a date. Laura is more off in her own world, so I guess you can say escape deals with her the most because she doesn't want to be around anybody. Yes there has been times where I have wanted to escape from a situation I was caught in, but in the end I deal with all my problems head on instead of abandoning the problem.
ReplyDeleteamanda is over controlling that is why tom wants to escape. amanda wants him to look for boyfriend for laura and to work at the shoe warehouse... i dont blame him for wanting to leave amanda put to much stress on him
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