An analysis of symbolism as a major aspect in tennessee williams famous play the glass menagerie

Williams is America's greatest living playwright and one of the world's most popular with actors as well as with audiences. He is also a novelist, screenwriter, and short story writer. See also Contemporary Authors, Vols. In an important sense, the theatre of Tennessee Williams is an aspect of a second American Renaissance, which, like the first, followed a great war.

However, if the reader digs deeper they will find that there are several symbols that give the play a deeper meaning. Each character defines each symbol in a different way. Aside from character symbols, there is overall symbolism in this play.

It is set in a memory, so it creates a soft, dream-like setting. This lends to the whole idea behind the play that the characters are unable to function in reality.

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All of the characters retreat into their separate worlds to escape the brutalities of life. There are some very noticeable symbols that have been analyzed many times since study has begun on "The Glass Menagerie.

The second is the fire escape, which reflects each character's tendency to escape from reality in their own ways. The third is the yellow dress, which represents youth and the past. The gentleman caller, Leal 2 Jim O'Connor, represents change and also hopes for the future, as well as a reflection of Amanda's past.

Tom also has his own symbols of escape. He uses his poetry and the movies to run from his problems at home. Literary symbols can be both universal and conventional symbols that derive additional meanings through their use in a particular work.

Like the glass animals, the character's realities are very fragile and in danger of being shattered. It is also as though the characters are stuck in glass, unable to move or change, also like the glass animals. They are inanimate, as the characters have learned to be to hide and escape from the pain that life has given them.

Laura loves the glass animals because her family is like them. It will not take much, like Tom leaving, to shatter their whole world. Laura is symbolized by her fragile collection of glass animals, the glass menagerie. Her favorite animal is the unique unicorn.

The unicorn is different because it has a horn. When Laura was in high school, she wore a brace. The unicorn and Laura are alike in this way. When Jim dances with Laura, he knocks over the unicorn and the horn breaks off.

Now it is like all of the other horses. The unicorn in its original state symbolizes something different. It is delicate, beautiful, and precious in it's own unique way.

This could symbolize Laura has natural beauty in an "unearthly way" that is hidden by her shyness and limp. Leal 3 When Laura starts to talk to Jim, she gets more confidence in herself and realizes that she is not that different from everyone else in the world.

The horn symbolizes a difference, an obstacle to be overcome and admired. The fire escape is a major symbol in this play. It represents a different symbol for each character. For Amanda, the fire escape is a way for her to be protected from the outside world, or reality. She cannot live in the present, and the lack of a front door makes it easy for her to avoid real life.

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She convinces herself that she isn't capable of leaving the safe haven she has created by locking herself inside the strange apartment. She has become trapped by her memories.The The Glass Menagerie quotes below all refer to the symbol of Glass Unicorn.

For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one. The present study made a discourse analysis of Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie. This discourse analysis of the dialogic language was based on dialogic principles outlined by Weigand ().

The researchers applied these principles to uncover conventional and unconventional elements embedded in the structures of the language.

Understand the glass menagerie essays’ theme for an opinion

The Glass Menagerie is fragile and delicate, just as Laura. This fragility is manifested physically in the glass; as Laura says, "If you breathe, it breaks!" Yowzah.

Symbolism is a major aspect in Tennessee William's famous play, "The Glass Menagerie." On the surface, the short slice of life story seems to be simple. However, if the reader digs deeper they will find that there are several symbols that give the play a deeper meaning. Each character defines each symbol in a different way/5(1).

In The Glass Menagerie, dreams of the future are the source of conflict, primarily when one character’s dream doesn’t match up with another’benjaminpohle.com Amanda wants her children to fulfill the classic American Dream of hard work and success, Tom has dreams of being a .

Feb 29,  · The Glass Menagerie Symbolism is a major aspect in Tennessee William's famous play, "The Glass Menagerie." On the surface, the short slice of life story seems to be simple. However, if the reader digs deeper they will find that there are several symbols that give the play a deeper meaning.