Free Glass Menagerie Essays: The Characters’ Weaknesses and Strengths

Glass is seen to most as being pure and sparkling while the family is obviously not, but each tries to become pure by fulfilling their desires. Sadly their dreams are also fragile since in the process of achieving them, they break their dreams. Laura tries to be normal and believes she can with Jim but her dream is dashed away when he reveals that he is engaged (Williams 971: 7). Amanda tries to live vicariously through her children but ends up breaking Laura’s heart and driving Tom away. Tom however tries to run away and find adventure but ironically ends up like his mother, being haunted by his past mistake of abandoning Laura (Williams 975:

An inability to accept one’s reality and the idea of telling a story through the memory and emotions of someone involve come into play in Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie. The Glass Menagerie is narrated by Tom Wingfield and tells the story of how he came to leave his mother, Amanda, and his sister, Laura. Amanda is an overbearing Southern women, stuck in the ways of the past and obsessed with finding her daughter the perfect “gentleman caller.” However, Laura is entirely anti-social and unable to cope with societal pressures, making her a tough candidate for a husband. Amanda’s overbearing and controlling nature creates tension between herself and Tom, who seeks adventure and freedom, but most provide for his family. Eventually, when a man from Laura’s past, Jim O'Connor, shows up for dinner, he turns out to not be the “gentleman caller” they all expected and ends up acting as the tipping point for Tom, who leaves the family behind.

Ibsen belittles the role of the housewife through means of stage direction, diminutive pet names and through Nora’s interaction with her morally ultimate husband, Torvald. Nora parades the façade of being naïve and frivolous, deteriorating her character from being a seemingly ignorant child-wife to a desperate woman in order to preserve her illusion of the security of home and ironically her own sanity. A Doll’s House ‘s depiction of the entrapment of the average 19th century housewife and the societal pressures placed upon her displays a woman’s gradual descent into madness. Ibsen illustrates this descent through Torvald’s progressive infantilization of Nora and the pressure on Nora to adhere to societal norms. Nora is a woman pressured by 19th century societal standards and their oppressive nature result in the gradual degradation of her character that destroys all semblances of family and identity.Nora’s role in her family is initially portrayed as being background, often “laughing quietly and happily to herself” (Ibsen 148) because of her isolation in not only space, but also person.

As Ophelia transitions from sane to insane, upon being rejected by Hamlet and told she is underserving of his love by her family, Ophelia’s fragile mental state becomes paramount in terms of determining her actions as she takes her own life. As Shakespeare developed the character Ophelia, her dependency on men, for both approval and instruction, becomes her fatal flaw. When Ophelia becomes smitten with Hamlet, her father Polonius and brother Laertes waste no time in deterring Ophelia’s devoted love for him. The challenge of being with Hamlet is hard enough alone, but the combination of forbidden and unrequited love has devastating effects on Ophelia’s mental state. Ophelia is told her social class is too low for her to be romantically involved with a prince and her father takes advantage of her and plays her like a pawn, in order to question Hamlet’s sa... ... middle of paper ... ... free and clear… we’re free.” (Miller, p.139) Just like all humans, fictional characters have breaking points.

As Pamela realizes the problematic positions of herself as a servant, her parents as distant and incapable of helping, and Mrs. Jervis’s servitude to Mr. B, she discovers an independency and a paradoxical power through acting weak during trials she endures. She displays clear mental and physical strength through her endurance and her attempts at escape, yet still portrays weakness during situations with Mr. B and Mrs. Jewkes with crying, fainting, and child-like pleading to suggest a manipulation of portraying virtue that eventually leads to Mr. B’s reformation. Mr. B’s reformation and the proposal of marriage demonstrates Pamela’s power; she gains a position to bargain from and arranges the marriage to achieve goals beneficial to her family and herself. Though her initial weakness seems genuine, Pamela’s sub... ... middle of paper ... ...rotective of her. She, also through the marriage, arranges the rising of her family’s financial state and has power over Mr. B through her passivity.

Although she too is insulted by Hamlet because of her femininity (“get thee to a nunnery, why wouldst thou be a breeder of sinners?” (3.1.313-314)), she is a weak character because of her family structure (a brother and a father) and the men in her life. Hamlet and Polonius have such a significant power on her character and her life that her death is the very result of these two men. Shakespeare makes Ophelia an unfortunate character, whose demise comes from actually obeying her father’s wishes. Furthermore, while Hamlet is sexist towards his mother, Gertrude either intentionally or mistakenly saves her son’s life by drinking from the poisoned pearl cup. She goes against her husband’s warning, “Gertrude, do not drink / I will I beg you pardon me,” (5.2.287-88) and for the first time in the play, gains confidence to act according to her own will.

“The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, tells the story of a woman struggling with her insanity. While the insanity is obvious, where it comes from is allusive to the reader. It is possible that her environment could spark the changes in her mental state, but her husband is not innocent in the matter. When environment and marital pressure are combined, Jane tries to escape from it all by trying to free herself. Jane’s new home seems to make her feel very uncomfortable from the beginning of “The Yellow Wallpaper” when she states “that there is something queer about it.” She says that John tells her the vacation home will be a good place for her, but even seems unsure of that proclamation herself (Gilman 956).

​Judgment, reason, and clarity of perception; these are all qualities that contribute to blindness within Jane Austen’s Emma; a blindness that Austen herself feels can be avoided. This form of blindness ultimately yields unhappiness due to an inaccurate perception of human situations and feelings. With Emma’s inability to perceive the truth and her lack of self-understanding, she becomes the victim of her own imaginative world of matchmaking and false happiness induced by Mr. Woodhouse, her father. This inducement is caused by his angst towards marriage and constant obsession of keeping his daughter close. Emma Woodhouse is practically born into blindness when she is left with one parent’s negative connotations toward the reality of the world she resides in, but breaks free from this irrational blindness when happiness is found in the form of Mr. Knightley, thus transforming Emma’s lack of sight into a necessity of insight.

Charlotte Perkins Gilman vividly illustrates these human aspirations in The Yellow Wallpaper. Subsequently she paints a horrific picture of someone who fails in her quest. These elements of this short story render it to be, for any reader who has experienced these hungers, an intensely personal experience. The heroine of this tale knows that she is not well, and the fact that medical authorities contradict her self-diagnosis frustrates her. She concedes that her husband should be more knowledgeable than her about her condition.

It would be grievous indeed, if absence and absorption in art that sort of things were to blunt his natural feelings (I.24) This theory of filial respect is one of the “ghosts” Helene clings to until the very last dramati... ... middle of paper ... ...art f all evil in society, a place where woman can be sensual man can to anchors and a prison for children (60). As we have exhausted, these families are unfamiliar but yet real. Their mothers play a vital role in the present and future of both plays. Both plays support this theme of families and their dysfunctional way of being and their unparallel patterns oppose to those of the normal, traditional standards. Works Cited Carlson, Harry G. Introduction.