In the Glass Menagerie by Tennessee William’s, Tom narrates the story through his memories. Tom resided in a small tenement with his older, slightly crippled sister, Laura and his overbearing, audacious mother, Amanda. Tom is a young man in his mid-twenties who has had to assume the role as provider for the household. His and Laura’s father left them and their mother years ago. Their father was an alcoholic with adulterous tendencies. That left Tom no choice, but to be the man of the house. His mother though filled with good intentions, created strife among the family. Amanda nagged and harped on her children about everything, to no bitter end. Amanda entwined every aspect of her children’s life into her own, she relied on them for assurance, and to keep what little material values that she had. She was living through them in a sense. Tom wanted so much more from life, but has stuck around for the sake of his sister. Laura is a slightly crippled young woman in her mid-twenties, shy to a fault, and consumed by self-doubt and fear. Her mother constantly berates her about the lack of gentleman callers. Amanda says exasperatedly, “What right have you got to jeopardize your job - jeopardize the security of us all?” What she doesn’t notice is that everything is weighing heavy upon Tom’s shoulders; he is almost to the end of his rope. His father left him, his mother degrades and devalues all that he contributes to the family and his poor sister, and he fears she will be alone forever, stuck with their controlling, monster of a mother. It all becomes too much for him and he goes out drinking almost every night. Slowly becoming an alcoholic like his father; at least that’s the fear of his mother. Ann M. Easterbrook researched the correlate...
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...g and healthy emotional and psychological growth of children. Grumm and associates also elaborate on the interconnected social, emotional and physical well-being of parents and their children. A happier, healthier and more adequately informed parent tends to raise a happier, healthier and more adequately enabled individual.
Works Cited
Asscociates, Mandy Grumm and. "Improving Parental Competencies: Subjectively Precieved Usefulness of a Parenting Training Matters." Journal of Child and Family Studies 23.1 (2014): 20-28. Online Database.
Easterbrook, Ann M. "Developmental Correlates and Predictors of Emotional Availability in Mother-Child Interaction." Development and Psychopathology 24.1 (2012): 65-78. Online Database.
Thomson, Elizabeth and Sara McLanahan. "Reflections on Family Structure and Child Well-Being." Social Forces 91.1 (2012): 45-53. Online Database.
Amanda is also well characterized by the glass menagerie. The glass sits in a case, open for display and inspection for all. Amanda try’s to portray herself as a loving mother, doing everything she can for her children, and caring nothing for herself, when in fact, she is quite selfish and demanding. Amanda claims that she devotes her life to her children, and that she would do anything for them, but is very suspicious of Tom’s activities, and continually pressures Tom, trying to force him in finding a gentleman caller for Laura, believing that Laura is lonely and needs a companion, perhaps to get married. Like the glass, her schemes are very transparent, and people can see straight through them to the other side, where ...
Walsh, Froma (2003). Normal Family Processes: Diversity and Complexity. New York, NY: Guilford Press http://family.jrank.org/pages/1577/Single-Parent-Families-Effects-on-Children.html retrieved August 24, 2008
A child’s development is about the ‘process of maturation, or the biological developmental plan contained in our genes’ (Doherty, 2009, p6). For example, a parent may have a disability; it may pass to the child resulting in taking time to develop a child’s their physical development such as fine and gross motor skills as well as their social development as it may affect them by not socializing with any other children or parents. This is one of the reasons why parents should be taught about child development from parents as they may not be prepared for any problems that can occur through child development and the child may need holistic support.
In The Glass Menagerie, by Tennessee Williams, we embark on the task of seeing a family living in the post WWII era. The mother is Amanda, living in her own world and wanting only the best for her son, Tom. Tom, a dreamer, tired of Amanda’s overbearing and constant pursuit of him taking care of the family, wants to pursue his own goals of becoming a poet. He is constantly criticized and bombarded by his mother for being unsuccessful. This drives him to drinking and lying about his whereabouts, and eventually at the end of the play, he ends up leaving. An example of Amanda and Tom’s quarrel I when he quotes, “I haven’t enjoyed one bit of this dinner because of your constant directions on how to eat it. It’s you that makes me rush through meals with your hawklike attention to every bit I take.”(302) Laura, on the other hand, is shy and out of touch with reality because of a slight disability, in which she is comfort...
Garbarino, J. (1992). Children and families in the social environment, New York, NY: Walter De Gruyter Inc.
Families.” University of Delaware – Human Development and Family Studies. N.p., 2008. 1-36. Web. 13 Dec. 2013.
The Glass Menagerie is an eposidic play written by Tennesse Williams reflecting the economic status and desperation of the American people in the 30s.He portrays three different characters going through these hardships of the real world,and choosing different ways to escape it.Amanada,the mother,escapes to the memories of the youth;Tom watches the movies to provide him with the adventure he lacks in his life;and laura runs to her glass menagerie.
really a place for someone like him and his mind rebelled. Lastly you can see
The “Glass Menagerie” by Tennessee Williams shows a family facing economic and social hardships due to the father abandoning them. The father’s absence forces the rest of the family to fill roles that they wouldn’t be obliged to face if the father remained. The mother, Amanda, is a strong single mother who pushes her kids to be economically self-sustaining individuals. Amanda tries to impose her desires for her kids in a very direct and controlling manner which causes them to dislike her initiatives. The son, Tom, is the breadwinner for the family, however is dissatisfied with his situation due to his increased responsibilities. The daughter, Laura, is handicapped and dropped out of business school. Each member of the family is limited by their ability to grow out of their negative habits, however, it is likely that these habits or characteristics came from the family situation and the roles that each member was forced to fill.
The foundations for a child’s development begins not only in the child’s first year, but also while they are in utero. A child’s development can also be influenced by how much the parents are contributing to the development of the child. A couple that interacts well with one another as well as with the child can have “positive impacts on a child’s cognitive, language and motor development, this can also positively benefit the couple relationship, and the parent-infant relationship,” (Parfitt, Pike, & Ayers, 2013). A parent’s especially a mother’s mental health can greatly impact a child’s development if a mother is less stressed the will be more comfortable around the child creating a better mother-child attachment which also promotes language development. (Parfitt, Pike, & Ayers, 2013). If a father’s is positively involved in a child’s life early on that the child will have a greater reduction in cognitive delays, this is especially true in boys (Parfitt, Pike, & Ayers, 2013). Another positive key in a child’s development comes from the sibling relationships. Siblings help a child learn social, emotional, cognitive and behavioral
The Glass Menagerie is a play written by Tennessee Williams in 1945. The play takes place in the Wingfield’s apartment in St. Louis. Tom is the protagonist in the play and he stays at home with his mother Amanda and his sister Laura. Tom’s Father left the family when he was younger leaving him as the man of the house. His mother Amanda expects him to do everything a man would do. This included working, paying bills, and taking care of herself and Laura. Laura is disabled and she doesn’t work therefore Tom is left providing for his whole family. Being abandoned by Mr. Wingfield left the family distraught. No one seemed to be able to cope with the fact that he was gone even though he left many years ago. Amanda is constantly treating Tom like a child. She tells him how to eat, when to eat, and what he should and should not wear. Tom eventually gets fed up with everything. He can’t stand his factory job, the responsibility of being the man or being treated like a child by his mother. Tom decides to follow in his father’s footsteps and leave the family. It seems as if Tom thinks that running away from his problems will make them go away but things didn’t turn out that way. Although the play was written many years ago, young adults in this day and age can relate to Tom and his actions. The main theme in the play is escape. All of the character use escape in some way. Laura runs to her glass menagerie or phonographs when she can’t handle a situation, Amanda seems to live in the past, and Tom constantly runs away when things aren’t going his way. Escape is a short term fix for a bigger problem. Running away may seem like the easiest thing to do, but in the end the problem is still there and it may be unforgettable. As time goes on esc...
Meadows, S. O. (2008). "Stability and Change in Family Structure and Maternal Health Trajectories.". American Sociological Review 73.2 , 314-34.
of - was charm!' - or trails off - 'And then I - (she stops in front
... reflected with the likelihood the father is involved and spend time with their children and to have children who are psychologically and emotionally healthier (Parke). Also the mother and father is more responsive, affectionate, and confident with their infants; better know how in dealing with defiant toddlers; and better advising, connecting, and providing emotional support to their teenagers (Parke). Studies have shown children with involved, caring fathers have better educational outcomes. For instance, a study shows that fathers who are involved, nurturing, and playful with their children tend to have children with higher IQs, better linguistic and cognitive capacities (Parke). Lastly, the children through their adulthood are more patient and can handle the stresses and frustrations associated with schooling better than children with less involved fathers (Parke).
written in between 384 and 222 BC, and his views were taken on by some