Name : Debora Carolina

Student Number : 171214163

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Glass Menagerie

By

Tennessee William
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CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

According to Oxford Dictionary, Drama is a play for theatre, radio and television.
Another definition of drama has told by some experts such as:

Aristoteles, define a drama as imitated human actions;

Moulton, define drama as life presented action;

Dietrich, define drama as a conflict about human in form of the dialogue which is presented by
using the conversation and action on the stage in front of the audience;

Brander Mathews, define drama as conflict of humans’ behavior which is the main source of
drama. In literature, a drama means a portrayal of fictional or non-fictional events through the
performances of written dialog (either prose or poetry). Dramas can be performed on the stage,
on the film, or even on the radio. Dramas are typically called plays, and the drama’s creators
are known as “playwrights” or “dramatists.” Performed since the days of Aristotle (c. 335 BC),
the term “drama” comes from the Greek words δρᾶμα (an act, a play) and δράω (to act, to take
action). The two iconic masks of drama are the laughing face and the crying face which are the
symbols of two the ancient Greek Muses: Thalia, the Muse of comedy and also Melpomene the
Muse of tragedy.

There are a lot of dramas that can be found nowadays. Glass Menagerie is one of popular
drama that’s written by Tennessee Williams. It’s a story about a conflict of a family who are not
living happily, the family consist of 3 people such as Amanda (the mother), Tom (Amanda’s
son), and Laura (Amanda’s daughter). Amanda married to a man and that man left her with two
kids that are Tom and Laura. Amanda take care of her children, she play the role not only as a
mother but also as a father for her children. In the family, the only one who working and earning
money is Tom, both Laura and Amanda aren’t having any kind of job so they can’t earn any
money. Tom earns $65 per month and use the money to support their family. Tom really takes
care of his family; he really loves his mother and also his sister. In the family, no one is happy;
Tom is a person who wants to enjoy life and explore the world, he likes going to the movies and
find some new experience but he can’t explore the world to find some new experience because
he has to take care of his family. Amanda is quite controlling her children, Amanda wants Tom
to eat in a certain way for example one day when they are eat at the dining table, Amanda annoys
Tom table with etiquette rules about elbows and not picking his nose. Laura is a frightened girl
who also terribly shy, with unbelievably weak nerves. She is also slightly lame in one leg;it
makes her become terribly shy, dependent, and peculiar, and she seldom leaves the apartment of
her own volition. Laura busies herself by caring for her "glass menagerie," which is a collection
of delicate little glass animals. Laura isn’t going to school, and also doesn’t have any fiancé or
even a boyfriend. Amanda dreams is constantly on long-ago days when she was a young
Southern belle and the darling of her small town. Because of the discipline of Amanda’s life, her
life isn’t looking that bright, she doesn’t get best place in her life, she even not rich anymore.
Amanda always say to Laura that both of them need to keep beautiful so later a man can come
and be a prince charming who can take them to their dream home and dream family.
 Laura and the glass menagerie are mirror each other, the animal are beautiful but they
have to live in a glass which is a prison for them that takes away their majesty. In the same way,
Laura is a beautiful woman, her beauty are rare and not a lot of man are going after her, so her
life looks grim because she doesn’t have a future to look forward to. In contrast, Tom is the only
one who could get out of the current situation that he is in, but because his responsibility to take
care of his family so he can’t go away. That’s why he keeps going to the movies, because the
movies provide him an escape or a way to get out from the stress of the world. Amanda aware of
Tom who wants to leave, and then she tries to make a deal with him. The deal is, if Tom and
Amanda can find a handsome husband for Laura, who can take care of her, Tom, will be free of
his responsibility to them. So then, Amanda asks Tom to bring home the gentlemen callers to
meet Laura. Tom decides to bring home Jim O'Connor, a fellow employee at the warehouse. He
is an outgoing and also an enthusiastic man on whom Laura had a terrible crush in high school.
In the high school, Jim used to call Laura blue roses, blue roses fits Laura character perfectly
because Laura is a beautiful person and at the same time she also very sad because she can’t do
anything and only wait things to happen to her. Jim ever ask her about what are she going to do
next and Laura answer him that the main task in life that she will do next is to take care of her
glass menagerie which bring her the pleasure. Jim starts chatting with Laura, growing
increasingly flirtatious, until he finally kisses her. Then he admits that he has a fiancé and cannot
call again. For the fragile Laura, the news is devastating. Amanda is furious, and after Jim leaves
Laura she accuses Tom of playing a cruel joke on them. Amanda and Tom have one final fight,
and not long afterward Tom leaves the house for the good of the family. In his closing
monologue, he admits that he cannot escape the memory of his sister. Though Tom abandoned
Laura years ago, she still haunts him.

The aims of this study are to find the characteristics of Laura Wingfield as one of the
main characters in Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie and to analyze the meaning of her
actions. In order to do so, there are two questions as the problems to be discussed are: (1) “How
is Laura Wingfield described in the play?” (2) “What are the meanings of Laura Wingfield’s
actions in the play as seen in Tennessee William’s Glass Menagerie?”
 CHAPTER 2

ANALYSIS

Glass Menagerie is a memory play that premiered in 1944 and catapulted Williams from
obscurity to fame. The play has the strong autobiographical elements, featuring characters based
on its author, his histrionic mother Amanda, and his mentally fragile sister Laura. Williams start
writing the play on an earlier short story, as well as a screenplay that he had written under the
title of The Gentleman Callers. The play first showing in Chicago in 1944, after an unsettled start
it was championed by Chicago critics Ashton Stevens and Claudia Cassidy, whose the
enthusiasm helped build the audiences so the producers could move the play to Broadway where
it again won something which is the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award in 1945. The Glass
Menagerie was Williams' first successful play; it makes Tennessee William went on to become
one of the America's most highly regarded playwrights. The characters and story mimic
Williams' own life more closely than any of his other works. Williams (whose the real name was
Thomas) closely resembles as Tom; his mother, Amanda. Tom’s sickly and mentally unstable
older sister Rose provides the reason for the fragile Laura (whose nickname in the play is "Blue
Roses"), a result of pleurosis as a high school student), though it has also been suggested that
Laura may incorporate aspects of Williams himself, referencing his introverted nature and
obsessive focus on just one aspect of life. Williams, who was under one’s nose to Rose growing
up, learned to his horror that in 1943 in his absence his sister had been subjected to a botched
lobotomy. Rose was left incapacitated (and institutionalized) for the rest of her life. By reason of
the success of The Glass Menagerie, Williams was given half of the royalties that he got from
the play to his mother. He later contributes half of the royalties from his play Summer and Smoke
for Rose's care, arranging for her transfer from the state hospital to a private sanitarium.
Eventually, he was to leave the bulk of his estate to ensure Rose's continuing care. [5] Rose died in
1996. The surface meaning of this drama is Laura and the glass menagerie are mirror each other,
the animal are beautiful but they have to live in a glass which is a prison for them that takes away
their majesty. In the same way, Laura is a beautiful woman, her beauty are rare and not a lot of
man are going after her, so her life looks grim because she doesn’t have a future to look forward
to. Jim used to call Laura blue roses, blue roses fits Laura character perfectly because Laura is a
beautiful person and at the same time she also very sad because she can’t do anything and only
wait things to happen to her. Besides the surface meaning, there is deeper meaning that is The
Glass Menagerie is loosely autobiographical. The characters all have some connection in the real
life family of Tennessee Williams: Edwina is the hopeful and demanding Amanda, Rose is the
frail and shy, and distant and cold Cornelius is the faithless and absent father. Tom is Williams'
surrogate. Williams worked in a shoe warehouse in St. Louis, and there was a disastrous evening
with the only gentleman caller who ever came for Rose before. Thomas who is Tennessee
Williams' real name and the name "Thomas" means twin - making Tom the surrogate not only
for Williams but also possibly for the audience. He is our eye into the Wingfields' situation. His
dilemma constructs a central conflict of the play, as he faces an agonizing choice between
responsibility for his family and living his own life. The theme of the memory is important: for
Amanda, memory is like a kind of escape. For the older Tom who narrates the events of the play,
memory is the thing that cannot be escaped, for he is still haunted by memories of the sister he
abandoned years ago.

Laura does not always show in the play, she has little role and little conversation. But her
character showed well through her words and also through other characters words. The character
of Laura Wingfield is young, pretty (Stated by Amanda on page 365, “When he sees how lovely
and sweet and pretty she is, he’ll thank his lucky stars he was asked to dinner”); exotic (Said by
Jim on page 380-281, “.... I’m glad to see that you have a sense of humor. You know – you’re –
well – very different! Surprisingly different from anyone else I know! I mean it in a nice way.
You make me feel sort of – I don’t know how to put it! I’m usually pretty good at expressing
things, but this is something that I don’t know how to say! Has anyone ever told you that you
were pretty? Well, you are! In a different way from anyone else. And all the nicer because of the
difference, too”). On the other hand, she is shy (Showed on page 353, “I wonder, she said, “If
you could be talking about that terribly shy little girl who dropped out of school after only a few
days’ attendance?”); lonesome (Showed on page 361, ” I took her over to the Young People’s
Leagueat the church. She spoke to nobody and nobody spoke to her. Now all she does is fool
with those pieces of glass and play those worn-out records”. This will conclude that Laura
doesn’t have any friends. She is always alone without her peer companions. She never talks to
anyone and nobody talks to her. The conversation she usually has is only with her family and
also with Jim at the end of the story.); peculiar, sensitive, dependent, old fashioned (Showed on
page 352, “She wears a dress of soft violet material for a kimono – her hair is tied back from her
forehead with a ribbon”); and weak (Showed on page 353, “No, I remember her perfectly now.
Her hands shook so that she couldn’t/t hit the right keys! The first time we gave a speed test, she
broke down completely --- was sick at stomach and almost had to be carried into wash room!”).
On top of that, Laura has foot defect (Showed and told by Laura herself on page 354 “Laura :
I’m crippled!”); and lives in her own world. There are three main actions of Laura that can be
found in this study.

Laura’s action that can be seen through the play are collecting the glass menagerie and
playing old phonograph record; pretending to go to the course; and kissing Jim. The meaning of
the first action is that she needs some friends and needs to actualize herself. It is based on the
third, fourth and the first psychological approach which is belonging needs, safety needs, and
self-actualization needs. Laura tells that she wants friends but unfortunately she is too shy to be
with people because of the defect. She represses the wish to be with others by collecting the glass
menagerie and playing old phonograph record. With the collections, she feels safe. Doing those
two things is a way to convince herself that she is able to do something useful. She may actualize
herself by keeping and washing them for six years after high school and also playing the
phonograph record. The meaning of the second action is that she needs love and wants to enjoy
both physical and psychological freedom. It is based on third and fifth psychological approaches
which are belonging needs and physiological needs. Laura Obeying her mother to join the course
is a sign of love and the basic instinct of Laura is to remove the pressure and escape from the
pain is sign of physiological needs. The meaning of the last action is that she has natural desires
as a mature woman, they are love and sex. It is based on Laura’s physical and emotional defect is
not only a huge problem for her but also for her brother, Tom, and her mother, Amanda. Laura’s
condition, actions and utterances have a strong influence on Tom and Amanda. Problems and
conflicts faced by them are also getting bigger mainly because of Laura’s condition. If Laura can
solve her own problems, the conflicts of her family will be decreased. One characteristic of
Laura is that she always obeys what her mother asks to her. She does not want to make Amanda
sad and angry. She can be categorized as a docile person. Although Laura is obedient, she does
not obey Amanda by dropping out from business course. Her mother wishes that Laura can be
independent and be able to gain bright future. The way to get job is to enter a business course.
Unfortunately, she chooses to cheat Amanda by going around the street and visiting the zoo or
museum. One more proof is at the time she cries loudly because of Tom’s accidentally breaking
her collection. This is totally contrasted with her daily behavior. She is usually shy and silent.
Laura is fragile. Her fragility stated not only by other characters on the play but also the
playwright. Tennessee Williams figures Laura as a fragile person. She is easily injured both the
physic and the psychic. She is unable to receive a harsh thing in life (It can be seen on page 348,
“Stemming from this, Laura’s separation increases till she is like a piece of her own glass
collection. Too exquisitely fragile to move from the self”). Laura’s actions in general mostly are
not reasonable. For example, she chooses to keep collecting her glass animals rather than live
with others and plan her future. It is possible that common people may judge her odd or silly.
Therefore, this study tries to reveal the truth of Laura by viewing from psychoanalysis theory.
Others should help a person who is emotionally crippled like her because every action she takes
has one or more basic motivation. So, it is important to come close to those kinds of people like
what Jim has done to Laura. Besides that Laura keep playing old record frequently,
 CHAPTER 3

CONCLUSION

Glass Menagerie is a memory play that premiered in 1944 and catapulted Williams from
obscurity to fame. . It’s a story about a conflict of a family who are not living happily, the family
consist of 3 people such as Amanda (the mother), Tom (Amanda’s son), and Laura (Amanda’s
daughter). The play has the strong autobiographical elements, featuring characters based on its
author, his histrionic mother Amanda, and his mentally fragile sister Laura. Williams start
writing the play on an earlier short story, as well as a screenplay that he had written under the
title of The Gentleman Callers. The play first showing in Chicago in 1944, after an unsettled start
it was championed by Chicago critics Ashton Stevens and Claudia Cassidy, whose the
enthusiasm helped build the audiences so the producers could move the play to Broadway where
it again won something which is the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award in 1945. The Glass
Menagerie was Williams' first successful play; it makes Tennessee William went on to become
one of the America's most highly regarded playwrights.

From the analysis, the writer of the study concludes two points. The first one is about
how Laura Wingfield is portrayed in the story. It deals with the conclusion from the analysis
which includes Laura’s physical characteristic and personality. The second point focuses on the
meaning of the actions conducted by Laura Wingfield. Laura Wingfield is one of the major
characters on the Tennessee William’s play Glass Menagerie who take a little conversation on it.
She is a young, pretty, old fashioned and exotic girl. She is also weak, shy, lonesome, peculiar,
sensitive, dependent and obedient. Those characteristics and her defect cause Laura to choose to
live in a world of her with the menagerie. Based on the analysis in chapter two, there are three
significant actions which show us the real Laura which are collecting the glass menagerie and
playing old phonograph record; pretending to go to the course; and willing to kiss Jim. The
action by collecting the glass menagerie and playing the old phonograph record based on
Maslow’s physiological approach which are love and belonging needs, safety needs, and also
self-actualization needs; the second action that is pretending to go to the course based on
Maslow’s physiological approach which are belonging needs and physiological needs and the
last action that is willing to kiss Jim based on Maslow’s physiological approach is love and
belonging needs.
 REFERENCES

Longley, Robert. "What Is Drama? Literary Definition and Examples." ThoughtCo, Aug. 22,
2019, thoughtco.com/drama-literary-definition-4171972.

Oxford English Dictionary (9th ed.). (2015).Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press.