Glass Menagerie Analyzed

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If birds must eventually fly away from the nest, adults should eventually fly away from their household as well, right? Not according to Laura Wingfield’s mother. In Tennessee William’s play, The Glass Menagerie, Laura is entranced with a glass menagerie that the play is titled after. Through an analysis of the play, it can be concluded that this glass menagerie represents how Amanda Wingfield runs her household as an inescapable training ground for her children to be exhibited to society, but her daughter Laura is shattered by this exhibition. By analyzing the actual meaning of a glass menagerie and breaking down several significant moments in William’s play, it is apparent that the menagerie represents Laura’s inescapable preparation for her life on display throughout the entire play and she will lose who she truly is. In matters of faith, this type of controlling environment that Amanda has created for her children does not allow for them to experience God’s grace.
To begin, the actual meaning of a glass menagerie perfectly encompasses how Ms. Wingfield runs her household. First, the adjective used to describe the menagerie implies that it is delicate and fragile. The fact that the menagerie is made of glass gives the impression that it breaks easily and one must be cautious around it. In a lecture on The Glass Menagerie by Dr. Patricia Andujo at Azusa Pacific University, she states that a menagerie is a place where animals are kept and trained for exhibition. Considering in this instance that it is a glass menagerie, then that would mean that the animals that are being kept and trained are very fragile. It is no coincidence that Laura is painfully shy and crippled. Breaking down exactly what a glass menagerie is begins to deve...

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...ood). It is no coincidence that Laura dropped out of high school, fails to attend her typing class, and has social anxiety.
In conclusion, Ms. Wingfield runs her house as if it were an inescapable menagerie for training her children to be exhibited to society. When her daughter Laura is finally exhibited to society from this type of treatment, she is broken by the sudden exposure to the world. Also, Amanda’s authoritative behavior does not allow her children to experience God’s grace and psychologically detriments her children. This conclusion has been reached by defining a glass menagerie, examining Amanda’s controlling behavior through her demands of a typing class for Laura, Tom’s explosion that shatters the glass animals, how differently the children behave on the fire escape, Laura’s interaction with Jim, and presenting perspectives of authoritative parenting.

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