Analysis of Tennessee Williams: Outcasts and Illusion

Williams places characters as outcast to set them apart from the others. In The Glass Menagerie, Laura Wingfield is set as an outcast because of her disability and shyness. Her disability that sets her apart is her slightly crippled leg that her mother refers to as a “little defect.” In the story, Tom and Amanda argue about Laura’s leg:

TOM: We don’t even notice she’s crippled anymore.

AMANDA: Don’t say crippled! You know that I never allow that word to be used!(Sc. 1)

Laura’s shyness sets her aside because she’s too scared to have a conversation with someo

ne. She does not have any friends and is lonely most of the time. She had a crush on one of her old school classmates but was too shy to talk to him. She only talked to him once during school but it was a short conversation. Her shyness caused her to quit school, which made her stay home for most of her time.

In A Streetcar Named Desire, the theme of illusion is shown every time Blanche puts on an act to impress Mitch or to seem like she’s not hurting on the inside. After the loss of her husband, Blanche is weak and forever looking for someone to take care of her. She is neurotic, psychologically deluded about her beauty and attractiveness. On the outside, Blanche tries to depict an image of herself to others to seem like she is a clean woman with no problems. Her actions, however, reveals how she really is on the inside. Her sexual desires come through clearly from behind her talk with Mitch about keeping her reputation and when she flirts with the young man who calls at the door (Sc. 3). In one conversation with Mitch, Blanche tells him to cover the lamp with a light shade. She does this so Mitch cannot see her aging face. She tries to create an image that she is very beautiful. As she creates this other person she is trying to live as, she is lying to her sister, Stella, about herself and it backfires on her at the end of the story. No one knows of her past that she deeply regrets, but Stanley asks around and finds out. He tells Mitch about it and then confronts her about it. Blanche is severely wounded by Stanley. Stanley continues to Stella and tells her of Blanche’s background. Stella is upset of how he sister lied to her. When Stella is

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