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The Glass Menagerie

Character List:

Amanda Wingfield
The mother whose husband deserted her years ago leaving her with a son and daughter to raise.
She lives partially in the world of her youth and her gentlemen callers in order to escape the
brutalities of today's world.
‫ تعيش جزئيًا في عالم شبابها وسادتها المتصلين بها من أجل‬.‫األم التي هجرها زوجها منذ سنوات وتركها مع ابن وابنة لتربيها‬
.‫الهروب من وحشية عالم اليوم‬
Tom Wingfield ( :- the narrator (the son) Represent the Author. )
Her son who is employed in a shoe warehouse in order to support the family. He is a poet by
nature and feels that his environment is destroying his creative abilities.
.‫ إنه شاعر بطبيعته ويشعر أن بيئته تدمر قدراته اإلبداعية‬.‫ابنها الذي يعمل في مستودع أحذية من أجل إعالة األسرة‬

Laura Wingfield
The daughter who is slightly crippled. She has retreated from this world and lives in a world of
old phonograph records and little glass animals.
‫ لقد تراجعت عن هذا العالم وتعيش في عالم من تسجيالت الفونوغراف القديمة والحيوانات الزجاجية‬.‫االبنة المعطلة قليال‬
.‫الصغيرة‬

Jim O'Connor
The "emissary" from the world of reality. He is the average or ordinary young man who brings a
touch of the common world into the Wingfield world of dreams.
‫ من‬Wingfield ‫ إنه الشاب العادي أو العادي الذي يضفي لمسة من العالم المشترك على عالم‬.‫"المبعوث" من عالم الواقع‬
.‫األحالم‬

‫ علي كريم عصفور‬:‫اعداد‬

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Scene 1 : Summary

At the rise of the curtain, we see an old-fashioned tenement apartment. We can also see
the narrow alleyways which surround the apartment. Tom Wingfield, the narrator, enters and
addresses the audience. Tom explains that the play is a memory play and that he is one of the
characters in the play. The other characters are his mother Amanda, his sister Laura, and a
gentleman caller. There is another character who never appears. This is his father who deserted
the family some long years ago — "He was a telephone man who fell in love with long
distances!"
،‫ توم وينجفيلد‬.‫ يمكننا أيضًا رؤية األزقة الضيقة التي تحيط بالشقة‬.‫ نرى شقة سكنية قديمة الطراز‬،‫عند صعود الستارة‬
‫ يوضح توم أن المسرحية عبارة عن مسرحية في الذاكرة وأنه أحد الشخصيات في‬.‫ يدخل ويخاطب الجمهور‬،‫الراوي‬
‫ هذا والده‬.‫ هناك شخصية أخرى ال تظهر أبدًا‬.‫ الشخصيات األخرى هي والدته أماندا وأخته لورا والخاطب النبيل‬.‫المسرحية‬
"!‫ وقع في الحب رغم المسافات الطويلة‬،‫ "كان رجل اتصاالت‬- ‫الذي هجر األسرة منذ سنوات طويلة‬

As the action begins, Amanda is instructing Tom about how to eat every bite of his food
until Tom yells at her that he can't enjoy a bite of his food because of her constant nagging.
Amanda then tells Laura to stay fresh and pretty for the gentlemen callers. Laura tells her she
isn't expecting any, and Amanda tells how one Sunday afternoon in Blue Mountain, Mississippi,
she had seventeen gentlemen callers all on one afternoon. Tom and Laura have heard this story
many times but listen patiently to it again. Amanda then sends Laura into the living room to
practice her shorthand or typing and to stay pretty for the gentlemen callers in spite of Laura's
reassertion that there will be none.

‫ تُعلم أماندا ابنها توم حول كيفية تناول كل قضمة من طعامه حتى يصرخ توم في وجهها بأنه ال‬،‫عندما يبدأ الحدث‬
‫ ثم تخبر أماندا ابنتها لورا أن تظل منتعشة وجميلة من أجل السادة‬.‫يستطيع االستمتاع بقضمه من طعامه بسبب تذمرها المستمر‬
‫ وأخبرتها أماندا كيف أنه في أحد أيام األحد في بلو‬،‫ أخبرتها لورا أنها ال تتوقع أي شيء‬.‫الذين يمكن ان يعجبوا بها ويخطبوها‬
‫ سمع توم ولورا هذه القصة عدة مرات‬.‫ كان لديها سبعة عشر من الخاطبين جميعًا في ظهيرة واحدة‬، ‫ ميسيسيبي‬، ‫ماونتين‬
‫ ثم ترسل أماندا لورا إلى غرفة المعيشة لتتدرب على االختزال أو الكتابة وتبقى جميلة‬.‫لكنهما استمعا إليها بصبر مرة أخرى‬
.‫بالنسبة للمتصلين السادة على الرغم من إعادة تأكيد لورا أنه لن يكون هناك أي شيء‬

‫ علي كريم عصفور‬:‫اعداد‬

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*‫*مالحظات الدكتورة‬
Scene one:
Fire-escape: escape for Tom
He is a poet and he wants to be free not bound to anything, the family..
At the end, he leaves his family just like his father
The Legend on the screen, these legends highlight and foreshadow to show something on the
screen.
Tennessee Williams uses many techniques in his play,
1. The uses if the legends on screen.
The first one: is a French word used to describe the past.
Where is the snow?

Where is the past? ( a past of privilege.)

But now, she is living like a poor lady.
This legend on the screen is connected to Amanda and her glorious past.
Amanda is boring,
There is exaggerating, to boast, in her speech about her suitors and planters and sons of planters.
She is silly.
Laura is calm and shy, she doesn't like to speak, she prefers to be alone in her room with her
collections.
Laura, at the end of scene one, resorts to her collection.
Laura feels nervous when there is tension between her brother and her mother. However, she
goes to her room and plays with her glass Menagerie

Whenever you write the title

The Glass Menagerie
Whenever you mention the game, wrote it as small letters.

‫ علي كريم عصفور‬:‫اعداد‬

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Scene 1 : Analyses

In his opening monologue, Tom says that the stage magician "gives you illusion that has
the appearance of truth. I give you truth in the pleasant disguise of illusion." Here he means
that the regular dramatist creates a dramatic illusion on the stage which the audience takes for the
truth. But this play, by its techniques, offers itself as illusion, but Williams maintains that it is
actually truth disguised as illusion. Thus, the meaning of his later statement that the play is not
realistic, is that the play is being presented through the memory of Tom.

‫ أنا أعطيك الحقيقة في قناع‬.‫ قال توم إن ساحر المسرح "يمنحك الوهم الذي يبدو وكأنه الحقيقة‬، ‫في خطابه االفتتاحي‬
‫ لكن هذه‬.‫" يقصد هنا أن المسرحي العادي يخلق وه ًما دراميًا على المسرح يتخذه الجمهور من أجل الحقيقة‬.‫الوهم اللطيف‬
‫ وبالتالي‬.‫ لكن ويليامز يؤكد أنها في الواقع حقيقة مقنعة في صورة وهم‬، ‫ تقدم نفسها على أنها وهم‬، ‫ من خالل تقنياتها‬، ‫المسرحية‬
.‫ هو أن المسرحية تقدم من خالل ذاكرة توم‬، ‫ فإن معنى تصريحه األخير بأن المسرحية غير واقعية‬،

The essence of Amanda's character is caught in her first speech. She seems to need to nag
at her children, especially Tom, and she is not even aware that she is nagging. Essentially, she
must have something to talk about, and she nags at Tom about little things because she fears that
she has lost or is losing him as far as the big things, the significant things, in life are concerned.

‫ وهي ال‬، ‫ وخاصة توم‬، ‫ يبدو أنها بحاجة إلى التذمر على أطفالها‬.‫تم اكتشاف جوهر شخصية أماندا في خطابها األول‬
‫ وهي تتذمر في توم بشأن األشياء الصغيرة ألنها‬، ‫ يجب أن يكون لديها شيء تتحدث عنه‬، ‫ بشكل أساسي‬.‫تدرك حتى أنها مزعجة‬
.‫تخشى أن تفقده‬

Amanda's sense of unreality is caught in these first episodes as she lives in a world of
servants and gentlemen callers. Always her language suggests another time and place.

‫ تشير لغتها‬. ‫تم اكتشاف إحساس أماندا بعدم الواقعية في هذه الحلقات األولى ألنها تعيش في عالم من الخدم والخطيبين‬
.‫دائ ًما إلى وقت ومكان آخر‬

all of Amanda's so-called gentlemen callers either came from the wealthy or became
wealthy. The question will arise as to whether she actually had these callers or not. Amanda might
have been somewhat popular, but it is almost inconceivable to believe that she actually did have
as many as seventeen gentlemen callers. But what is important is that Amanda now believes this
story so strongly that the gentlemen callers have become a reality for her.

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‫جميع المتصلين بأماندا المزعومين إما أتوا من األثرياء أو أصبحوا أثرياء‪ .‬سيظهر السؤال عما إذا كان لديها بالفعل‬
‫هؤالء المتصلين أم ال‪ .‬ربما كانت أماندا تحظى بشعبية إلى حد ما ‪ ،‬لكن يكاد يكون من غير المعقول تصديق أنها في الواقع لديها‬
‫ما يصل إلى سبعة عشر من المتصلين‪ .‬لكن المهم هو أن أماندا تؤمن اآلن بهذه القصة بقوة لدرجة أن المتصلين السادة أصبحوا‬
‫حقيقة بالنسبة لها‪.‬‬

‫‪The nagging, the gentleman caller, Tom's restlessness, and Laura's shyness‬‬

‫المزعجة ‪ ،‬الخطيب النبيل‪ ،‬قلق توم ‪ ،‬خجل لورا‬

‫‪Amanda is afraid of what will happen to a young girl of Laura's position who is not married.‬‬
‫أماندا تخشى ما سيحدث لفتاة غير متزوجة في منصب لورا‪.‬‬

‫اعداد‪ :‬علي كريم عصفور‬

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Scene 2 : Summary

Laura is sitting alone playing with her glass collection. When she hears Amanda ascending
the stairs, she immediately hides the collection and sits before the typing chart pretending to study
it. Amanda comes in and theatrically drops her gloves on the floor. When Laura asks her what is
wrong, Amanda accuses her of deception. Amanda tells Laura that she was by the business school
in order to inquire about Laura's progress. It was then that she found out that Laura had not been
attending school. Amanda is depressed about losing the fifty dollars tuition and about Laura's
future. Laura explains that on the day she was supposed to take her first speed test in typing, she
became sick and threw up on the floor. Since then she has been pretending to go to school, but
instead she has been going to the museums and to the bird houses in the zoo and to a big glass
house where they "raise the tropical flowers."

‫ تخفي المجموعة‬،‫ عندما سمعت قدوم والدتها أماندا وهي تصعد الساللم‬.‫لورا جالسة بمفردها تلعب بمجموعتها الزجاجية‬
.‫ تأتي أماندا وتسقط قفازاتها على األرض بطريقة مسرحية‬.‫على الفور وتجلس أمام الرسم البياني للطباعة متظاهرة بدراستها‬
‫ أخبرت أماندا لورا أنها كانت بجانب كلية إدارة األعمال لالستعالم عن‬.‫ تتهمها أماندا بالخداع‬،‫عندما تسألها لورا ما هو الخطأ‬
‫دوالرا من الرسوم الدراسية ومستقبل‬
ً 50 ‫ أماندا محبطة بسبب خسارة‬.‫ عندها اكتشفت أن لورا لم تذهب إلى الجامعة‬.‫تقدم لورا‬
‫ مرضت وتقيأت على‬،‫ توضح لورا أنه في اليوم الذي كان من المفترض أن تجري فيها اختبار السرعة األول في الكتابة‬.‫لورا‬
‫ ولكنها بدالً من ذلك تذهب إلى المتاحف ومنازل الطيور في حديقة‬، ‫ كانت تتظاهر بالذهاب إلى المدرسة‬،‫ منذ ذلك الحين‬.‫األرض‬
."‫الحيوانات وإلى منزل زجاجي كبير حيث يقومون "بتربية الزهور االستوائية‬

Amanda wonders what will then happen to a girl who can't work and who has no gentlemen
callers. She then wonders if Laura has ever liked a boy. Laura tells about a boy in high school
named Jim with whom she was infatuated. He used to call her "blue roses" because she had had
pleurosis, which he thought sounded like "blue roses." Amanda then decides that Laura must get
married. Laura protests that she is a cripple, but Amanda refuses to allow Laura to use that word
and insists that all Laura needs to do is to develop charm.

‫ ثم تتساءل عما إذا كانت لورا قد‬.‫تتساءل أماندا ماذا سيحدث بعد ذلك لفتاة ال تستطيع العمل وليس لها خطيب او زوج‬
‫ اعتاد أن يسميها "الورود‬.‫ تخبرنا لورا عن صبي في المدرسة الثانوية اسمه جيم كانت مفتونة به‬.‫أحببت صبيًا على اإلطالق‬
.‫ ثم تقرر أماندا أن لورا يجب أن تتزوج‬."‫ والذي كان يعتقد أنه يشبه "الورود الزرقاء‬، ‫الزرقاء" ألنها كانت مصابة بالتهاب الجنبة‬
‫ لكن أماندا ترفض السماح للورا باستخدام تلك الكلمة وتصر على أن كل ما تحتاجه لورا هو تطوير‬، ‫تحتج لورا على أنها مشلولة‬
.‫سحرها وجاذبيتها‬

‫ علي كريم عصفور‬:‫اعداد‬

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*‫*مالحظات الدكتورة‬

Scene 2
• Blue Roses: Laura
• Fire-escape: Tom

Deception of Laura,
Her mother thought that she was going to university but she did not. She was going to zoo and
parks.
We could say she is not a deceptive girl but the she is afraid of her mother’s reaction.
There is an early invitation for Feminism. Women should have a job or get married. Otherwise,
it will be humiliated.

• Legends on screen : means written statements on the screen

• Image on screen : means image on the screen.

They are used to add comments, clarification and sometimes foreshadowing the next incident or
the next scene.

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Scene 2 : Analyses

In the first episode, Amanda had told Laura to go practice her shorthand. At the opening
of this scene, we see that Laura rapidly hides her glass ornaments and acts as though she is
practicing her typing when she hears Amanda ascending the fire escape. This scene, then, handles
the revelation that Laura has not been going to her school.

‫ نرى أن لورا تخفي بسرعة‬، ‫ في بداية هذا المشهد‬.‫ طلبت أماندا من لورا أن تتدرب على اختزالها‬، ‫في الحلقة األولى‬
، ‫ إذن‬، ‫ هذا المشهد‬.‫زخارفها الزجاجية وتتصرف كما لو كانت تمارس كتابتها عندما تسمع أماندا وهي تصعد إلى مخرج النار‬
‫يعالج الوحي بأن لورا لم تذهب إلى مدرستها‬

This revelation has tremendous import for Amanda. First, it represents a fifty-dollar loss
of the tuition money — money which was very hard to come by. But more important, it forces
Amanda to consider the future and to face, realistically, problems that she does not like to think
about — that is, that she has a daughter who is crippled and who is too sensitive to work. These
thoughts, in turn, bring to Amanda's mind the need for a gentleman caller.

‫ األموال التي كان من‬- ‫دوالرا من الرسوم الدراسية‬

ً ‫ يمثل خسارة خمسين‬، ً‫ أوال‬.‫هذا الوحي له أهمية هائلة ألماندا‬
‫ أنه يجبر أماندا على التفكير في المستقبل ومواجهة المشكالت التي ال تحب أن‬، ‫ لكن األهم من ذلك‬.‫الصعب جدًا الحصول عليها‬
‫ تجلب إلى أذهان أماندا الحاجة‬، ‫ بدورها‬، ‫ هذه األفكار‬.‫ أي أن لديها ابنة مشلولة وحساسة للغاية للعمل‬- ‫تفكر فيها بشكل واقعي‬
.‫إلى الخطيب النبيل‬

Thus we see a relationship between the gentleman caller and Laura's ineptitude in any type
of work. Amanda sums up Laura's position by saying: "I know so well what becomes of unmarried
women who aren't prepared to occupy a position. I've seen such pitiful cases in the South — barely
tolerated spinsters living upon the grudging patronage of sister's husband or brother's wife . . .
encouraged by one in-law to visit another." Of course what Amanda did not say was that her
knowledge is first hand because she became one of those pitiful cases who was not prepared to
occupy a position. Thus with Laura's inability to occupy a position, it becomes urgent to find her
a husband so that she doesn't become one of those pitiful creatures.

‫ "أنا‬:‫ تلخص أماندا موقف لورا بالقول‬.‫وهكذا نرى عالقة بين الخطيب ا لنبيل وعدم كفاءة لورا في أي نوع من العمل‬
‫ لقد رأيت مثل هذه الحاالت المثيرة للشفقة في‬.‫أعرف جيدًا ما سيحدث للنساء غير المتزوجات غير المستعدات لشغل منصب‬
‫ شجعها أحد األصهار‬... ‫ أو زوجة األخ‬.‫ بالكاد تم التسامح مع العوانس الذين يعيشون على رعاية مضنية من زوج أختهم‬- ‫الجنوب‬
‫ بالطبع ما لم تقل أماندا هو أن معرفتها كانت مباشرة ألنها أصبحت واحدة من تلك الحاالت المثيرة للشفقة التي‬." ‫على زيارة آخر‬

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‫ أصبح من الملح إيجاد زوج لها حتى ال تصبح‬، ‫ مع عدم قدرة لورا على شغل منصب‬، ‫ وبالتالي‬.‫لم تكن مستعدة لشغل منصب‬
.‫واحدة من تلك المخلوقات المثيرة للشفقة‬

Note how Amanda plays the revelation scene for all its theatrical effect. This is also a part
of her character and prepares us for her giddy actions when the gentleman caller comes.

‫ هذا أيضًا جزء من شخصيتها ويجهزنا ألفعالها الدائبة عندما‬.‫الحظ كيف تلعب أماندا مشهد الوحي بكل تأثيره المسرحي‬
.‫يأتي الخطيب النبيل‬

This scene also prepares us for the coming of Jim, the gentleman caller, because he was a
high school friend of both Tom and Laura. With it now established that he was Laura's high school
idol, we are more prepared to accept her nervousness when he arrives.

.Laura ‫ و‬Tom ‫ ألنه كان صديقًا في المدرسة الثانوية لكل من‬، ‫ الخطيب النبيل‬، Jim ‫يعدنا هذا المشهد أيضًا لمجيء‬
.‫ نحن أكثر استعدادًا لقبول توترها عند وصوله‬،‫بعد أن ثبت اآلن أنه كان كراش لورا في المدرسة الثانوية‬

Even though a few minutes earlier Amanda was able to face reality enough to discuss what
happens to unmarried women, now with the thought of a gentleman caller coming, she suddenly
resorts back to a world of illusion and refuses to allow Laura to refer to herself as crippled. She
then tells Laura to develop charm to compensate for her slight defect. For Laura to develop charm
is totally impossible, and furthermore, the type of charm that Amanda means would destroy what
innocent appeal Laura now possesses.

‫على الرغم من أن أماندا كانت قبل بضع دقائق قادرة على مواجهة الواقع بما يكفي لمناقشة ما يحدث للنساء غير‬
‫ فإنها تلجأ فجأة إلى عالم من الوهم وترفض السماح لورا باإلشارة إلى نفسها على‬، ‫ واآلن مع فكرة قدوم خاطب نبيل‬، ‫المتزوجات‬
‫ فإن تطوير سحر جمالها أمر مستحيل‬، Laura ‫ بالنسبة إلى‬.‫ ثم طلبت من لورا تطوير سحرها لتعويض عيبها الطفيف‬.‫أنها مشلولة‬
.‫ اآلن من جاذبية بريئة‬Laura ‫ من شأنه أن يدمر ما تمتلكه‬Amanda ‫ فإن نوع السحر الذي تعنيه‬، ‫ وعالوة على ذلك‬، ‫تما ًما‬

‫ علي كريم عصفور‬:‫اعداد‬

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Scene 3 : Summary

Tom explains how his mother, once she had decided that a gentleman caller was necessary,
set all her energy to preparing for one. She began a campaign on the telephone to recruit subscribers
for a popular woman's magazine.

.‫ وضعت كل طاقتها لالستعداد لواحد‬،‫ بمجرد أن قررت أن الخطيب ضروري البنتها لورا‬، ‫يشرح توم كيف أن والدته‬
.‫بدأت حملة عبر الهاتف لترغيب الناس لالشتراك بمجلة نسائية شهيرة‬

When the scene opens, Tom and his mother are arguing about a book by D. H. Lawrence
that she took back to the library because she refuses to have such a hideous book in her house.
Tom reminds her that he pays the rent on the house. Tom then prepares to leave to go to the movies.
Amanda screams at him that he can't stay out late at night and still do a good day's work. Tom
reminds her how much he hates his job at the warehouse. When Amanda accuses Tom of doing
something he is ashamed of every night and accuses him of lying about going every night to the
movies, Tom becomes infuriated and tells his mother a fantastic tale and ends by calling her an
"ugly — babbling — witch." Tom tries to get his coat on and in his rapid struggle to leave, he
throws his coat against the wall and shatters some of Laura's glass menagerie.

‫إتش لورانس أعادته إلى المكتبة ألنها ترفض الحصول‬.‫ كان توم ووالدته يتجادالن حول كتاب ل دي‬، ‫عندما افتتح المشهد‬
‫ تصرخ‬.‫ ثم يستعد توم للمغادرة للذهاب إلى السينما‬.‫ يذكرها توم بأنه يدفع إيجار المنزل‬.‫على مثل هذا الكتاب البغيض في منزلها‬
‫ يذكرها‬.‫أماندا في وجهه بأنه ال يستطيع البقاء في الخارج في وقت متأخر من الليل وأن يقوم بعمل يوم جيد في وظيفته في النهار‬
‫ عندما تتهم أماندا توم بفعل شيء يخجل منه كل ليلة وتتهمه بالكذب بشأن الذهاب كل ليلة‬.‫توم بمدى كرهه لوظيفته في المستودع‬
‫ يحاول توم ارتداء معطفه‬."- ‫ ثرثارة‬- ‫ يغضب توم ويخبر والدته بقصة رائعة وينتهي بتسميتها بـ "ساحرة قبيحة‬، ‫إلى السينما‬
.‫ يلقي معطفه على الحائط ويحطم بعضًا من قطع مجموعة لورا الزجاجية‬، ‫وفي كفاحه السريع للمغادرة‬

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*‫*مالحظات الدكتورة‬
Fiasco is the failure of Laure to attend the university.
After the Fiasco means what will happen after Laura’s failure

Tom, is a character on the play but sometimes he comments on the play

Fire escape is a symbol of escape. It is a hope of escape for Tom to get rid of his family and
leave them forever.

Movies are temporary escape for him but the fire escape is a symbol of escape

Screen image: a young man at the door of a house with flowers

It is an image to give a visual interpretation for what was said by Tom about finding a husband
for Laura.

Obsession and hope : Amanda puts in mind for finding a husband for Laura after Laure lost the
opportunity of getting a degree.

Therefore, it becomes an obsession and the only hope of getting a good life.
Her disability and being shy and disliking the idea if getting friends.

Mother seems to be a woman of words and action is an ironical statement. Her work is....
The writer comments that women who were educated worked silly and temporary jobs.
Through images, Tennessee is giving emphasis and variety to the play.

Amanda criticizes the novel that her son reads.

Gone with wind was loved by Amanda

Amanda didn't like it.

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D. H. Lawrence is not insane as Amanda thinks but he writes about psychological issues

Tom couldn't accept his mother's advice.

Tom in scene 3 is completely fed up and couldn't accept his mother's advices.
Tom envies dead people. He wishes he was dead.

Tom: Listen, you think ...

Tom expresses his feeling bitterly.

[Screen image: The cover of a glamour magazine.]

The image foreshadows what will happen. It is a hint.

[Legend on screen: “You think I’m in love with Continental Shoemakers?”]

• Rise and Shine.

• He hates it.
• He escapes to the movie theatre
• "Rise and Shine"
• Get up and go to work and shine.
• He hates to get up and go to work.

Rise and not Shine.

He will go to work but he is not happy and he will not Shine.

At the end of scene 3,

Tom leaves violently and harm the collection of his sister unintentionally.

The scene dims out.

It is a technique to show the end of a scene or act.

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Scene 3 : Analyses

One of Amanda's admirable qualities is her determination. Once she has set her mind to a
task, she goes about it with a determination that neither of her children possesses. It would be
impossible to imagine either Tom or Laura dedicating themselves to a task with such complete
zeal as does Amanda.

‫ فإنها تشرع في ذلك بتصميم ال يمتلكه‬، ‫ بمجرد أن تضع عقلها على مهمة ما‬.‫أحد صفات أماندا الرائعة هو تصميمها‬
.‫ سيكون من المستحيل تخيل أن يكرس توم أو لورا نفسيهما لمهمة بمثل هذه الحماس التام كما تفعل أماندا‬.‫أي من أطفالها‬

It is, however, this dedication which makes her appear hateful to her children. It is as
though both, especially Tom, were still youths whose every action had to be supervised.

‫ يبدو األمر كما لو أماندا تريد ان تشرف على جميع‬.‫ فإن هذا التفاني هو ما يجعلها تبدو مكروهة ألطفالها‬، ‫ومع ذلك‬
‫اعمالها ابنائها توم و لورا‬

When the quarrel began, Tom was apparently in the midst of trying to write something
creative when Amanda interrupted him. The violence of the quarrel has other implications. Besides
the nagging, the responsibility and the gloomy life, Tom's privacy has been intruded upon, here
represented by the fact that Amanda has carried his book by Lawrence back to the library. Thus if
Amanda is the type to look upon the novels of D. H. Lawrence as "filth," then there is little chance
for Tom to find understanding and sympathy for his own creative efforts.

‫ لعنف الشجار‬.‫ كان توم على ما يبدو في خضم محاولة كتابة شيء إبداعي عندما قاطعته أماندا‬، ‫عندما بدأ الشجار‬
‫ ويمثلها هنا حقيقة أن أماندا نقل‬، ‫ تم التطفل على خصوصية توم‬، ‫ إلى جانب اإلزعاج والمسؤولية والحياة القاتمة‬.‫تداعيات أخرى‬
"‫ إذا كانت أماندا من النوع الذي ينظر إلى روايات دي إتش لورانس على أنها "قذارة‬، ‫ وبالتالي‬.‫كتابه من قبل لورانس إلى المكتبة‬
.‫ فحينئ ٍذ تكون هناك فرصة ضئيلة لتوم إليجاد التفاهم والتعاطف مع جهوده اإلبداعية‬،

During the quarrel, we find out that Tom hates his job at the warehouse and furthermore
goes every night to the movies in order to find some type of escape. Like Tennessee Williams,
Tom thinks of the warehouse job as destructive to his creative endeavors.

‫ اكتشفنا أن توم يكره وظيفته في المستودع ويذهب كل ليلة إلى السينما للعثور على فسحة ومهرب من‬، ‫أثناء الشجار‬
.‫ يعتقد توم أن وظيفة المستودع مدمرة لمساعيه اإلبداعية‬، ‫ مثل تينيسي ويليامز‬.‫الحياة الكئيبة لتي يعيشها‬

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At the end of the scene, Tom's violent action causes some of Laura's glass to be shattered.
Tom returns to pick up the glass but is unable to utter a word. This symbolically represents Laura's
inner feelings. During the scene she has had nothing to say, but the lighting is always focused on
her because during scenes such as these, it is Laura who suffers the most, and she must sense that
much of the antagonism between Tom and Amanda stems from her position. That is, Laura must
know that she is an extra burden on Tom and that he feels this responsibility for her. And she
knows that Amanda constantly worries about her. Thus, the shattered glass seems to represent
Laura's shattered inner feelings. In the next scene, she will attempt to reconcile Tom and Amanda.

‫ يعود توم اللتقاط الزجاج لكنه ال يستطيع نطق كلمة‬.‫ يتسبب عمل توم العنيف في تحطم زجاج لورا‬، ‫في نهاية المشهد‬
‫ لكن اإلضاءة تركز عليها دائ ًما ألنه خالل‬، ‫ خالل المشهد لم يكن لديها ما تقوله‬.‫ هذا يمثل رمزيا ً مشاعر لورا الداخلية‬.‫واحدة‬
‫ ويجب أن تشعر أن الكثير من العداء بين توم وأماندا ينبع من موقفها‬، ‫ فإن لورا هي التي تعاني أكثر من غيرها‬، ‫مشاهد مثل هذه‬
‫ وهي تعلم أن أماندا تقلق عليها‬.‫ يجب أن تعرف لورا أنها تمثل عبئًا إضافيًا على توم وأنه يشعر بهذه المسؤولية تجاهها‬، ‫ بمعنى‬.
‫ ستحاول التوفيق بين توم‬، ‫ في المشهد التالي‬.‫ يبدو أن الزجاج المحطم يمثل مشاعر لورا الداخلية المحطمة‬، ‫ وهكذا‬.‫باستمرار‬
.‫وأماندا‬

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Themes
I. ILLUSION
II. ESCAPE
III. FRAGILITY
IV. LIGHT
V. FAILURE AND THE MYTH OF SUCCESS
VI. THE UNRELENTING POWER OF MEMORY

Escape:
The fire escape, a physical symbol, is used symbolically to represent various aspects of
being trapped or as a method of escape. As Williams writes, the "huge buildings are always burning
with the slow and implacable fires of human desperation." The play then presents Tom's frustrated
attempt to escape from his intolerable job, situation, and life. For Amanda, the escape is seen in
terms of the gentleman caller who will rescue her daughter from potential old-maidenhood. But
then, for Laura the escape is seen as her means of retreating (or escaping) from the outer world. It
is her protection from this outside world — a world which stares at her deformity. In other words,
whereas for Tom it is an escape to the outer world, for Laura it is an escape from an outer world
which she dreads so much. This will be symbolically portrayed later in the play when Amanda
forces Laura to go to the store and Laura trips on the fire escape, symbolizing her dread of the
hostile outside world.

The Unrelenting Power of Memory

According to Tom, The Glass Menagerie is a memory play—both its style and its content are
shaped and inspired by memory. As Tom himself states clearly, the play’s lack of realism, its high
drama, its overblown and too-perfect symbolism, and even its frequent use of music are all due to
its origins in memory. Most fictional works are products of the imagination that must convince
their audience that they are something else by being realistic. A play drawn from memory,
however, is a product of real experience and hence does not need to drape itself in the conventions
of realism in order to seem real. The creator can cloak his or her true story in unlimited layers of

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melodrama and unlikely metaphor while still remaining confident of its substance and reality.
Tom—and Tennessee Williams—take full advantage of this privilege.
The story that the play tells is told because of the inflexible grip it has on the narrator’s memory.
Thus, the fact that the play exists at all is a testament to the power that memory can exert on
people’s lives and consciousness. Indeed, Williams writes in the Production Notes that “nostalgia
is the first condition of the play.” The narrator, Tom, is not the only character haunted by his
memories. Amanda too lives in constant pursuit of her bygone youth, and old records from her
childhood are almost as important to Laura as her glass animals. For these characters, memory is
a crippling force that prevents them from finding happiness in the present or the offerings of the
future. But it is also the vital force for Tom, prompting him to the act of creation that culminates
in the achievement of the play.

Laura’s Glass Menagerie

As the title of the play informs us, the glass menagerie, or collection of animals, is the play’s
central symbol. Laura’s collection of glass animal figurines represents a number of facets of her
personality. Like the figurines, Laura is delicate, fanciful, and somehow old-fashioned. Glass is
transparent, but, when light is shined upon it correctly, it refracts an entire rainbow of colors.
Similarly, Laura, though quiet and bland around strangers, is a source of strange, multifaceted
delight to those who choose to look at her in the right light. The menagerie also represents the
imaginative world to which Laura devotes herself—a world that is colorful and enticing but based
on fragile illusions.

“Blue Roses”
Like the glass unicorn, “Blue Roses,” Jim’s high school nickname for Laura, symbolizes Laura’s
unusualness yet allure. The name is also associated with Laura’s attraction to Jim and the joy that
his kind treatment brings her. Furthermore, it recalls Tennessee Williams’s sister, Rose, on whom
the character of Laura is based

A Fire Escape

Leading out of the Wingfields’ apartment is a fire escape for Tom. The fire escape represents
exactly what its name implies: an escape from the fires of frustration and dysfunction that rage in
the Wingfield household. Tom frequently steps out onto the landing to smoke, anticipating his
eventual getaway. When Tom leaves for good he claims to follow in his father's footsteps, but he
is pursued by "something" A powerful love or Guilt. He tried to leave Laura behind, but couldn't.
Tom tries repeatedly to escape from tedium and responsibility.

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The Words and Images on the Screen

One of the play’s most unique stylistic features is the use of an onstage screen on which
words and images relevant to the action are projected. Sometimes the screen is used to emphasize
the importance of something referred to by the characters, as when an image of blue roses appears
in Scene Two; sometimes it refers to something from a character’s past or fantasy, as when the
image of Amanda as a young girl appears in Scene Six. At other times, it seems to function as a
slate for impersonal commentary on the events and characters of the play, as when “Ou sont les
neiges” (words from a fifteenth-century French poem praising beautiful women) appear in Scene
One as Amanda’s voice is heard offstage.

What appears on the screen generally emphasizes themes or symbols that are already
established quite obviously by the action of the play. The device thus seems at best ironic, and at
worst somewhat pretentious or condescending. Directors who have staged the play have been, for
the most part, very ambivalent about the effectiveness and value of the screen, and virtually all
have chosen to eliminate it from the performance. The screen is, however, an interesting epitome
of Tennessee Williams’s expressionist theatrical style, which downplays realistic portrayals of life
in favor of stylized presentations of inner experience.

Music
Music is used often in The Glass Menagerie, both to emphasize themes and to enhance the drama.
Sometimes the music is extra-diegetic—coming from outside the play, not from within it—and
though the audience can hear it the characters cannot. For example, a musical piece entitled “The
Glass Menagerie,” written specifically for the play by the composer Paul Bowles, plays when
Laura’s character or her glass collection comes to the forefront of the action. This piece makes its
first appearance at the end of Scene One, when Laura notes that Amanda is afraid that her daughter
will end up an old maid.

fragility
Can you think of anyone who embodies the idea of fragility better than Laura? Both
physically and psychologically, she is fragile. A childhood disease left her with a slight limp.
Under the everyday stresses of life, her composure shatters, and she can't complete her typing
course. The thought of receiving a gentleman caller makes her sick. How fitting for Laura to
keep a menagerie of delicate glass animals of which the unicorn—the "freakish" one—is her
favorite.

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Because The Glass Menagerie is a memory play, the setting is dimly lighted. Dim lights keep
details from being seen, for details fade from the memory first.

Amanda believes in several common myths about money, success, and working hard. She
thinks that money, for example, buys happiness. If she had only married one of those rich
gentlemen callers. . . . Then, too, she admires sophisticated society. Success, in her view, comes
from hard work and from saving your money for the future. Amanda is convinced that Tom will
be successful if he tries hard. Laura will also succeed if she learns to type. Plan for the future,
Amanda advises. Make provisions and save money. To Tom's dismay, she calculates how much
money he could save if he stopped smoking. With his savings he could enroll in an accounting
course at the university.

The characters in The Glass Menagerie are hooked by their illusions.

Without illusion, Amanda would realize the hopelessness of Laura's condition. In fact, it's
because of her illusions that Amanda keeps her hopes alive for that "always expected something"
to rescue Laura from a life of dependency. Initially, Amanda thinks that a good typing
course will help Laura pull herself together. And later in the play, Amanda foolishly counts
on Jim to be Laura's prince charming. Amanda, of course, also has illusions about herself.
Whether she really entertained seventeen gentleman callers one Sunday afternoon is beside
the point. What counts is that she believes it. Illusions, you see, can be very powerful

The characters in The Glass Menagerie have built their lives on a fragile foundation of
illusions.
The glass menagerie serves as Laura's means of escape from reality.
Observe that no character in the play makes a dean break from his situation. Note only
Mr. Wingfield escapes—at the expense of his family's happiness, but that took place before
the play begins.

The imaginary world of glass animals provides Laura's refuge from reality. But in her case,
illusion may be perilous, for her menagerie serves as a substitute for life. Not long she can
go on playing with the glass collection before disillusion strikes.

The theme of illusion is first cousin to the theme of escape in The Glass Menagerie, for all
the play's characters believe incorrectly that escape from their present situation in life is
possible.

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