Williams Verses Wingfields

Tennessee Williams’s first major drama, The Glass Menagerie, is a memory play in which Tom Wingfield, the drama’s main character and narrator, is recollecting the events that caused him to leave his family. The play is thought to be solely fiction, concocted by a fanciful mind. A deeper look into the life of Williams reveals that there is little made up about the play. In The Glass Menagerie, Tennessee Williams blends the fictional characters of Tom, Laura, and Amanda with the reality of Williams, his sister Rose, and his mother Edwina to create a truthful drama.

One of the first examples that suggests Williams is describing himself is the depiction of the Wingfield family apartment. The Wingfield family lives in the rear of a large apartment building that over looks an alley in St. Louis. In the play’s opening description of setting, Williams calls the apartment ". . . one of those vast hive-like conglomerations of cellular living-units that flower as warty growths in overcrowded urban centers of lower middle-class population . . ." (Williams 693). This description reveals that the Wingfield’s live in an overcrowded urban slum. The description of the Wingfield’s apartment r

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Mendoza, does not approve of Tom’s escapist mediums, and is considering dismissing him. In scene one, after dinner Amanda began reminiscing, "One Sunday afternoon in Blue Mountain - your mother received - seventeen! - gentlemen callers!" (696). The similarity between Williams’s and Tom’s methods for finding adventure again show that Williams is not just making up a story, but writing about himself. On his breaks and during lunch, Tom spends his time in a bathroom stall writing poetry and short stories, which wins him the nickname "Shakespeare" from his fellow employees. After that morning she never showed up any more" (699). Almost every night after dinner Tom goes out to the movies and other performances, and does not return until very late. This gave her a feeling of inferiority. Laura’s long walk from the front to the back of the auditorium, at her high school, was an embarrassing experience. When Jim looks to Tom for an explanation, Tom answers in an unconcerned voice, "Laura is - terribly shy," and walks out onto the fire escape (719). Despite Williams’s growing dislike of the stories, he humored his mother by pretending to be interested (Leverich 49). Williams’s portrayal of Laura’s trip from the front of the auditorium to the back, resembles a situation which Williams and Rose may have had to face themselves in high school.

Approximate Word count = 1827
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)

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