Essay on the Theme of Escape in The Glass Menagerie

The Theme of Escape in The Glass Menagerie The Glass Menagerie, a play by Tennessee Williams, is set in the apartment of the Wingfield family, housing Amanda Wingfield and her two children Tom and Laura. The father left many years ago, and is only represented by a picture on the living-room wall. The small, dingy apartment creates a desperate, monotonous feeling in the reader. None of the Wingfields has any desire to stay in the apartment, but their lack of finances makes it impossible to move. Escape from this monotonous and desperate life is the main theme throughout the play. The different characters in The Glass Menagerie have their own individual ways of escaping from their realities. Tom Wingfield, the main character†¦show more content†¦He tries, for example through drinking, but its clear that the moment where the only possible escape is the drastic option of actually leaving his current way of life. But when he actually goes through with this, after being pushed over the edge by Amanda, it turns out to be nothing like he had expected it to be. Instead of starting a new life on his own he is haunted with guilt from abandoning his sister. Lauras escape is a bit subtler. She does not want to do anything drastic to change her life. In fact, it seems that all she wants is to keep inside her own world, without having to deal with the decisions and demands of the real world. This can be seen through her attempt to attend Business College, in which she fails quite dramatically when her skills are to be tested. This leads to her quitting school, but without telling her mother. From this we can see that Laura is extremely afraid of confrontations and situations where somebody is expecting something from her. This makes her spend most her time inside, playing about with her glass menagerie. I believe we can say that Laura is escaping from the world, because she is afraid of it. She believes that her physical defect is synonymous with her; that people see only her leg when they look at her. In reality, the only ones that think about this are herself and her mother. I believe that Lauras life is changed dramatically when Jim OCo nnor enters her life a second time, as theShow MoreRelated The Theme of Escape in The Glass Menagerie Essay874 Words   |  4 Pages The Theme of Escape in The Glass Menagerie In The Glass Menagerie, Tennessee Williams uses the theme of escape to help drive the play forward. None of the characters are capable of living in the real world. Laura, Amanda, Tom and Jim use various methods to escape the brutalities of life. Laura retreats into a world of glass animals and old records. Amanda is obsessed with living in her past. Tom escapes into his world of poetry writing and movies. 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