The character of Amanda is constantly escaping from the real world, by living in illusionary worlds and by reminiscing about the past. She relies heavily on Tom for support. She drives everyone crazy causing her own family to slowly drift away from her. While Amanda’s life stays the same, she is blind to the rest of the world around her which is continually changing. This explains her repeated failures in life. Amanda’s character in this play is so warped in her own world that she is left with only broken fragments of what might have been. She uses various escape mechanisms to avoid the truths and realities of her own life. But Amanda cannot be completely blamed for her faults because society as a whole is at fault. It is societal pressures that demand high expectations from people and force them to hide in a world of fallacy and delusions. Amanda was not strong enough to face the harsh reality so she escapes in her illusionary world.

Amanda Wingfield is a complex character who is a middle-aged southern belle abandoned by her husband. She spends most of her time reminiscing about the past and nagging her children about useless little things. Amanda is completely dependent on her son Tom for financial security and holds him fully responsible for her daughter Laura’s future. As Amanda calls Tom to the table in Scene I and comments on manners and habits, we have our first glimpse of Amanda, the mother:

Amanda is obsessed with her past as she constantly reminds Tom and Laura of her younger days. Amanda puts the weight of Laura’s success in life on her son Tom’s shoulders. When Tom finally finds a man to come over to the house for dinner and meet Laura, Amanda blows the situation way out of proportion. She believes that this gentlemen caller, Jim, is going to be the man to rescue Laura, when in fact, neither herself nor Laura has even met him. She tries to explain to Laura how to entertain a gentleman caller; she says, talking about her past: “They knew how to entertain their gentlemen callers. It wasn’t enough for a girl to be possessed of a pretty face and a graceful figure although I wasn’t slighted in either respect. She also needed to have a nimble wit and a tongue to meet all occasions.” (33).By saying that she did not have a pretty face and a graceful figure, Amanda was waiting for a compliment from her children to feed her narcissistic and conceited ego. When Laura is nervous about the gentleman, she tells her “You can’t be satisfi

Some topics in this essay:
Laura Amanda, Amanda Wingfield, Judith Thompson, Furthermore Amanda, Blue Mountain, Glass Menagerie”, Eventually Tom, Laura Amanda’s, Tom Amanda’s, Tom Laura, gentlemen callers, amanda’s character, pretty graceful figure, southern belle, daughter crippled, amanda wingfield, character amanda, complex character, own life, memory play, gentlemen caller,