Dramatic script relating the interactions of Amanda, her son, and her daughter, Laura and the very important gentleman caller.

Customer Rating:
Summary: Superb, Heartfelt Classic
Comment: This classic tale by Tennessee Williams captures the reader's emotions by so forcefully displaying those of its main characters. This is a story of longing and frustration, set in a frustrating time (The Great Depression). The story is narrated by Tom, who hates his factory job and desires to run to sea, but is the main support for his mother Amanda and sister Laura. The matriarchal Amanda clings desperately to the past, while fragile Laura is devastated more by shy self-consciousness than her slight disability. The plot is simple - helping Laura's social life - but moves at a relentless pace. We see Amanda pain her daughter with wistful talk of gentleman callers from a generation past, then place false hopes on the singular visit of Jim - with resulting further desperation and loneliness. This story tugs gently but relentlessly on our heartstrings; so many of us can relate to its message.

Tennessee Williams (1911-1983) earned his name as a great playwright with this moving story. Readers may also like his other top plays, including STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF, etc.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: TOO FRAGILE TO SURVIVE?
Comment: Tennessee Williams' play in seven scenes continues to fascinate
audiences and readers a half a century after its Chicago premiere.
Based loosely on autobiographical memories of his southern boyhood GLASS MENAGERIE strikes a responsive chord because most people can relate to conflict within a family unit. The three main characters strive to follow their private dreams--no matter how unrealistic they are. Mother and children seek both to escape their drab existence in a honeycomb of Chicago tenements, while concealing their frustration and despair from
each other. They scorn to seek solace or encouragement at home.

A former Southern belle, Mrs. Wingfield desperately wants social success for her daughter; her visions of jonquils and gentleman callers are pathetic attempts to relive her own youth through her socially-stunted daughter. Amanda, overzealous to control her son better than she did her long-gone traveling husband, merely succeeds in alienating Tom, a warehouse worker with dreams of writing poetry and/or joining the merchant marine.

Slightly crippled Laura ("sister" as Amanda calls her) fails at everything she touches, including most recently a typing course at a business college. Seeking escape and unconditional acceptance with her collection of glass animals Laura is excessively shy, terrified of all new social interactions. She seems doomed to early spinsterhood--incapable of providing for herself in the world.

Amanda's scheme to marry off her daughter hinges on the success of luring suitors to their modest apartment. Pressed into providing a gentleman caller Tom invites Jim O'Connor, an affable coworker. In fact both Wingfield siblings knew the former athlete in high school. Despite resistance from Laura, who refuses to cooperate in any social con game, the two young people seem to hit it off when left alone--until Jim drops a bombshell. Dreams are shattered like the glass unicorn, as Amanda despairs because she has two children who are not normal. How will either of the Wingfield offspring escape and find the freedom which their father coveted more than domestic duties? Williams' stage version deliberately blends typical stage business with a cinematic style acquired during his years in Hollywood. Audiences are reminded of the
the question of social survival and the painful fragility of tortured individuals bonded by genetic hostility.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: A Thoroughly Enjoyed Classic
Comment: Exactly what the title reads above. It's a quick read that follows the play exactly.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Illusion and Escape
Comment: "Glass Menagerie" provides a surreal tale of the Wingfield family and their diverse struggles with fantasy and reality. Set in St. Louis during the Great Depression, the play revolves around Amanda and her adult children, Tom and Laura, struggling to make ends meet in a St. Louis tenement. Although each cannot grip the realities of the modern world, they seek escape in different ways. Amanda deludes herself into thinking she is still a Southern debutante with many gentleman callers. Laura escapes into her fantasy world ruled by delicate glass animals, her "glass menagerie." Tom, constantly accosted and criticized by Amanda, seeks escape through movies and booze.

Doubtless, the theme of abandonment looms large throughout the play. The presence of their father, although only his picture is seen, plays on all their emotions. Unfortunately for them, he "fell in love with long distances" and abandoned them at an early age. This instills fear in Amanda that Tom would follow the same path and she tries to control his every action. Indeed, her smothering of Tom and her incessant accusations of selfishness lend her an unsympathetic aura.

Williams uses unusual cues and images for a play, as he forsakes the illusion of reality. Indeed, the novel is almost a dream-like existence, as it is contrived from the deep memories of Tom. Although reality may not have a firm hand, the theme of control and a yearn to escape is a biting reality that many people face today. Indeed, Tom seeks to escape the "coffin" of his existence, as he attempts to break away from the iron hand of his mother. Unfortunately for him, this also means abandoning his sister Laura if he chooses this path.

Although it is a short novel and quick read, "Glass Menagerie" provides a powerful message that is applicable today. It has not been lost in a time warp. This, and the fact that it is one of the first plays of Williams, should put this on a short list of "must read" classic American plays.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Glass Menagerie
Comment: When I first bought the book, the name sounded really interesting, but I didn't understand what "menagerie." After I flipped a few pages, I notice
how dysfunctional, yet almost normal, family the book portrayed. In a way, many people can relate the situation with their personal life.
During the 1940's and after the World War II, many people were in desperation trying to find jobs and create a better life. However, as a result of this mindset, some did not succeed and ended up living in a life of disaster. Such calamity resulted in not only financial misfortune, but also social and mental failure. Everyone seemed to scramble to quickly find a great life, but little did they know, the truth of the reality was that not everyone could succeed at the same time. As a result, many hoped for too much, plunging in a world of delusion. Avoiding reality, several other were just assuming fortunes would find them, creating self-fulfilling prophecies.
In Glass Menagerie, Tennessee Williams wants to depict exactly that tragedy resulted from constant escapades to fantasy by employing Amanda as the typical woman who just lost her grip on reality. Amanda has lost control ever since her husband had left her, destroying the family. Unable to cope with that reality, she just drifted onto another world. She refused to believe that fact and tried to impose her ideals onto her daughter, Laura. Amanda has always boasted that she was the most popular girl attracting all the find young men. She lived a life of glamour, while everyone stared enviously at her success. However, success took a u-turn and even a crash into the wilderness of failure. Amanda was distraught, devastated by the fact that her husband had left her and her family was filled with shame and quirk. Unable to get a grip of reality, she loses her control and drifts into a fantasy, where everything seems to work out perfectly. She puts too much emphasis on being popular and attracting all the rich suitors. She superimposes all her ideals onto her daughter, Laura, so she could be just like her mother. Unintentionally, she forces her daughter to achieve exactly what she has. Despite Amanda's genuine push, she actually forces Laura off the edge, but she changes and matures into a woman, more open to the world around her. Although Laura grown to be less inclusive and more open to the world, the family has broken apart as a result of Tom's escape. Ultimately, as a result of Amanda's fantasy world, the family has been torn apart into bits and pieces, revealing the notion that the escape to fantasy would only ruin one's life.
Tennessee Williams argues that fantasy is only a false depiction of the world in its most rudimentary image, which causes one to lose control of the complications of reality, inevitably resulting in a disaster.

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