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The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams

Introduction

The paper covers an in-depth description of the play 'The Glass Menagerie' by Tennessee Williams. The main theme in the play is that of resistance to accept reality. Laura, Amanda's daughter, is not able to communicate properly with people due to her crippled leg.

Abandoned by her husband, Amanda Wingfield comforts herself with memories of her early years and more elegant way of life in Blue Mountain. Amanda had numerous suitors, but she fell in love with a less than ideal man. Amanda's husband leaves her and their two children at a very young age. Her son Tom, a poet who works in a store wants adventure and escapes the suffocating overprotection of his mother. Laura, her shy crippled daughter, has her glass animals and their memories in which she finds refuge (Williams, p. 25).

Amanda is desperately seeking a husband for her daughter. However, when the long awaited pretender actually reaches, Laura's romantic illusions are broken into a thousand pieces. Four characters are locked in a miserable and suffocating floor showing their weakness, fears and frustrations. The paper will also cover the publishing history, author's background and history to make a clear explanation of the literature.

Communication Skills

The communication skills of the characters The Glass Menagerie are very poor. They are not able to or not willing to communicate with other people. Laura faces the most difficulty in communicating, because she has lost self-confidence and self-esteem due to her crippled leg. She is shy and does not want to flirt with prospective suitors. This is not accepted by her mother, because she wants her daughter to achieve all that she could not. The communication skills of Amanda portray her as an irritating and lonesome mother. She is a stubborn person and this irritates her son Tom. Tom is aggressive in his communication and he even runs away from home. Despite the fact that Amanda has good intentions for her two children, she communicates in a way that makes her cruel and selfish. Amanda did not tolerate the fact that her children fantasized. This was hypocritical of her, as she herself indulges in fantasizing.

Improvement in Communication Skills

The character of Amanda could have tried to be less irritating and stubborn in her communication. Due to her irritating communication, her children feel like running away. Her character should have communicated that her intentions are good and she does not want to seem selfish. The three main characters communication skills bring them apart and this could have been avoided if they had expressed their true feelings. Communication skills are important in every relationship. People who communicate better are able to maintain good relationships.

'The Glass Menagerie' as a Play

As The Glass Menagerie is a comedy of memories. It can represent a remarkable freedom from all conventionality. This story is about a family having a mother (Amanda) who is much attached to their past and live flaunting it, one daughter (Laura), who is crippled and has a huge complex about ...