The Glass Menagerie is a complex work presented in a simple setting. I’ve studied this work before and consider it one of my favorites. Saying that, I still re-read the section assigned to find more complexity that I had not found previously. I think that I can relate to this work, and I feel like that is what makes me enjoy reading it over and over. Amanda reminds me of my own mother, although my own mother does not stress about me as much as Amanda does over Laura. Amanda obsessed over Laura’s well being, to a point that was unhealthy for both of them involved. My own mother worries about my well being, but luckily, does not hurt herself in doing so. The character of Amanda is very complex; she is also very dramatic in all that she does. When she finds out that Laura dropped out of the Business school, she becomes overly dramatic, as if the world was going to end. My own mother would probably react the same way, but I have invested a lot more in my education compared to Laura. A particular quote that reminded me of my mother was “Try and you will succeed” (page 31) because my mother always tells me this when I am questioning my abilities. Another quote I found interesting was “he had the Midas touch” (page 9) because this is a common expression today and I did not know it was common back then as well.
One underlying aspect of this work that I always forget about when reflecting on this play is the character of the father, who never actually appears but is heavily referenced. I think it is beyond weird how obsessed the family is with a man that has left the family for greener pastures. Their father seemed like he was at one time a respectable man. At one part of the play Amanda tells Laura that “one thing your father always had plenty of was charm!” (page 18). Regardless, he left the family abruptly (or so it seems) and everyone will not forget him. His picture is still above the mantle and there are other constant reminders scattered about their apartment. Amanda even wears his robe, and it had been sixteen years since he left.
Tom, the son of Amanda, reminded me of the narrator from Delmore Schwartz’s “In Dreams Begin Responsibilities” because both characters have thoughts on the experience of seeing movies. The narrator in “In Dreams Begin Responsibilities” describes going to a movie as forgetting oneself. Tom describes his desire to go to the movies often as a need to feel adventure that he does not feel in his typical life. I thought these two different uses of movies as an escape from reality to be an interesting change of pace. Personally, I do not feel as if I forget myself when I go to the movies, but I do find adventure in the tales that movies tell. In some ways, their views about movies were similar since both escaped reality, but the narrator did not feel the adventure that Tom did.