... over it. Everything he sees is a reminder of her. Tom is now truly following in the footsteps of his father. Too late, he is realizing that leaving is not an escape at all, but a path of even more powerful desperation. Williams uses the theme of escape throughout "The Glass Menagerie" to demonstrate the hopelessness and futility of each character's dreams. Tom, Laura and ... Amanda all seem to think, incorrectly in the end, that escape is possible. In the end, no character makes a clean break from the ... situation at hand. The escape theme demonstrated in the fire escape, the dance hal...

• Word Count: 840
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

"I have only one major theme for my work, which is the destructive impact of society on the sensitive non-conformist individual (Williams Netscape)." Symbols help to show the dreams and desires that the characters long for and also the restrictions that keep them from fulfilling those dreams. In The Glass Menagerie, the fire escape symbolizes the way for Amanda Wingfield to bring a man into the house ... to save her and her daughter. To Tom, the fire escape is a means of escape from the house that traps him- a path to the outside world (Susquehanna. "New Critical"). Rainbows ... in The Glass...

• Word Count: 655
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... Laura to be terribly timid and shy and reluctant to be a part of the world. This driving behaviour has lead her son Tom in the total opposite direction, constantly annoyed by his mother waiting for the perfect time to escape. And last but certainly not least, Amanda. The character most longing for succession - the American Dream. Amanda so desperately longs for no ... has to escape, and her daughter has been forced into isolation from the world because she is too scared to face it. Even though the Wingfield family were all so desperate in finding succession they all went about it in ver...

• Word Count: 847
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School