Glass Menag.
By: Vika • Essay • 510 Words • November 17, 2009 • 817 Views
Essay title: Glass Menag.
First of all, I liked the way that The Glass Menagerie was
not specifically dated. What I mean by this, is even though
the play was written in the forties, today we (people in
general), can still relate to some of the issues in it. Like take
for example the disability issue. Laura was so self conscious
of her disability, but in reality, people did not really even
notice. This is how society in general treats people with
disabilities today - the same as everyone else. I also liked
the development of Laura's character over the course of the
plot. At first she was timid and afraid of the world. But as
the play progressed, and her character grew, she started to
grow out of her timidness and started to be more trustful of
people. By the end of the play, she had completely opened
up to Jim and even showed him her glass menagerie, her
most prized possession. I think that the stage directions in
this play were both useful and annoying. I say that they were
useful because they helped me to understand the plot and
the characters motives and actions easier and better. But
they were annoying because there were so many of them,
and at times Tennessee Williams was overly descriptive in
his stage directions. This play made me think about how
people with disabilities are treated. I had always thought that
in the thirties and forties, being disabled was not accepted.
But after reading this play, I am starting to think that I might
be wrong after all, because Laura seemed not to be treated
any differently as a result of her disability. What surprised
me about this play, was the fact that Jim was not married to
Emily Meisenbach, his high school sweet heart. The way that
he was presented by Laura's memory, I thought that for sure
he would be married to Emily. But on the other hand, he is
engaged