... part only in the background. Another likeness is the short temper that these two characters posses. Both characters seem to lose their tempers very easily. Tom Wingfield gets in a heated argument with his mother every time the reader sees them interact. Tom Joad, on the other hand, rarely looses his temper, but ... coincidence. However, at the culmination of each work of literature, the characters, through a similar action, display their distinct differences. Both Tom Joad and Tom Wingfield leave their families. The difference in character lies in the motives behind each Tom's departure....

• Word Count: 861
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

The action of The Glass Menagerie takes place in the Wingfied's apartment in St. Louis, 1937. This play is framed around the memory of its narrator, Tom Wingfield. Tom's predicament is one of the play's major themes. This theme can be best described as the conflict between responsibility for one's family and the need to live one's own ... is character of true melancholy. Though he longs for freedom, his obligatory feelings toward his family keep him in St. Louis. Despite his feelings of obligation, Amanda's constant nagging and Laura's idiosyncrasies make the apartment oppressive and impris...

• Word Count: 458
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

In Tennessee Williams? play, the glass menagerie, all four members of the Wingfield family have chosen to hide from reality. Amanda tries to relive her past through Laura, and denies anything she does not want to accept. Laura is terrified of the real world, and choses to hide behind her limp, her glass menagerie and the victrola. Tom hides from his reality by going ... high school crush, and Amanda denies that it could be,It won't be him! It isn't the least bit likely.? (p 278). It is in these ways that Amanda Wingfield hides from reality. Laura Wingfield has chosen to hide from reality in t...

• Word Count: 1190
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... of technology and gives it a high regard because the emphasis society places on it. Thus, Jim symbolizes the only aspect reality in the play. Opposite to Jim is Laura, who represents illusion. Laura Wingfield portrays a dependent female; whose crippled leg foreshadows the crippling of her emotions and her ability to communicate with people other than Tom and Amanda. She evades the characteristics ... of reality entirely through her imagination. Laura's damaged leg began to haunt her throughout high school. Amanda would tell Laura that she just had "a little defect, hardly noticeable even...

• Word Count: 1784
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

... of technology and gives it a high regard because the emphasis society places on it. Thus, Jim symbolizes the only aspect reality in the play. Opposite to Jim is Laura, who represents illusion. Laura Wingfield portrays a dependent female; whose crippled leg foreshadows the crippling of her emotions and her ability to communicate with people other than Tom and Amanda. She evades the characteristics ... of reality entirely through her imagination. Laura's damaged leg began to haunt her throughout high school. Amanda would tell Laura that she just had "a little defect, hardly noticeable even...

• Word Count: 1745
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

... is set in St. Louis in the mid 1930's, during the depression era. There was war in Europe and a struggling economy in America. The Wingfield family, who lived in an apartment building, consisted of Amanda, Laura, and Tom Wingfield. They are all unique individuals sharing the same home but lost in their own imaginary world. As each character attempt to escape reality, we ... will examine the symbols, which gave each character an opportunity for escape. We will first look at Amanda Wingfield. She is the mother of Tom and Laura and is portrayed as a loving but over zealous mother, who at t...

• Word Count: 1620
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... put the past behind her. Amanda is obsessed with her past as she constantly reminds Tom and Laura of that one Sunday afternoon in Blue Mountain. She chooses to live in the past. She hopes that the gentleman caller is not handsome because Mr. Wingfield is handsome and he wins her heart in a second. She does not want Tom to be a drunk ... 't have much of at work, so I go to the movies." Since his life is full of responsibility, money, future of Laura, boring job. He wanted more in his life than just a worker in a shoe factory. Tom is very much like Mr. Wingfield because they left home to s...

• Word Count: 1092
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... In the wake of what Tom refers to as the "fiasco at Rubicam's Business College," Amanda has become obsessed with procuring a gentleman caller for Laura. It is a topic perpetually under discussion and the object of Amanda's planning. In order to make a little extra money "to feather the nest ... in the kitchen until at last Tom rises from the table and apologizes. Amanda gushes and Tom speaks gently. She is concerned about Laura. Laura thinks that Tom is not happy living with them, that he goes out every night to escape the apartment; she broods about this. ... the rainbow reflections of...

• Word Count: 5517
• Approx Pages: 22
• Grade Level: High School

... by Tennessee Williams revolves around the flaws of each of the Wingfields: Amanda Wingfield, a woman of a very confusing nature; Laura Wingfield, one who is partially crippled and lets that make her extremely self conscious; and Tom Wingfield, one who is seen as selfish, and feels trapped and is looking for ... a way out. Williams" characters are all lost in a dreamy state of illusion or escape wishing for something that they don't have. The mother, Amanda Wingfield ... her flawed and responsible for the tragedy that came upon them even though she didn't realize it. Laura Wingfield is ...

• Word Count: 551
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... towards each other, this is basically what immediately comes to mind when we think of a family, in Tennessee Williams play, The Glass Menagerie, The Wingfield's find that many of the family factors become obstacles that they struggle to overcome. Abandoned by her husband, Amanda is left to care for her two ... not only pays the bills but he cares for Amanda and Laura. They all have their individual roles in their household, Laura on the other hand sits by quietly, and she's considered the timid peacemaker of the house. In the Wingfield residence, their family struggle of accepting the ...

• Word Count: 1324
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography

... Tom as a subservient male who is unhappy with his life. Williams displays Amanda as a manipulative well-spoken Southern woman who cannot let go of her past. The writer expresses Laura as a dependant female with fragile emotions. Laura Wingfield portrays a dependent female; whose crippled leg foreshadows the crippling of her emotions and her ability to communicate with people other than Tom and Amanda ... . Laura's damaged leg began to haunt her throughout high school. Amanda would tell Laura that she just had "a little defect hardly noticeable even" although Laura's brace would clump whe...

• Word Count: 634
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... and these relationships is a significant theme throughout the play. These "escapes" may be related to the fire escape, the dance hall, the absent Mr. Wingfield and Tom's inevitable departure. The play opens with Tom addressing the audience from the fire escape. This entrance into the apartment provides a different purpose for each ... . Her escape seems to be hiding inside the apartment, not out. The fire escape separates reality and the unknown. Across the street from the Wingfield apartment is the Paradise Dance Hall. Just the name of the place is a total anomaly in the story. Life wit...

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

... - delayed but always expected something that we live for (23). Williams gives the reader many emblems throughout the play; there are three of them are especially interesting. The unicorn symbolizes Laura's uniqueness, the picture of Mr. Wingfield represents his strong influence on his deserted family, and Malvolio's coffin trick signifies Tom's suffocating lifestyle. The unicorn is a symbolic representation of ways that ... her glass menagerie, listening to records on the Victrola, and visiting the park and zoo. Laura identifies with her glass menagerie because she has trouble identifyin...

• Word Count: 531
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... on the streets but they are poor enough. Amanda Wingfield is portrayed as a very pushy mother who always tries to urge on and persuade her two children to do exactly what she says. However, it is this sort of behaviour that I feel has lead her daughter Laura to be terribly timid and shy and reluctant to be ... Jim enters her life again. However we have disappointed expectations as at the end of the play we discover he has a wife. This heavily backfires on Laura, as it is the first time out of her precious seclusion as she retreats back into her bubble and the very end shows how she will ...

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

This play takes place in the mid forties. It is about a mother, Amanda Wingfield, a daughter, Laura Wingfield, and a son, Tom Wingfield. There are five characters in this play. The other character is a friend of Tom's, Jim O"Connor. Amanda was always successful with men when she was younger. She ... . He feels like a puppet on a string with her. Jim went to high school with Tom and Laura. He now works at the factory with Tom. He is dating a girl named Betty and they are engaged. He is brought to the Wingfield home as a gentlemen caller, and when Top brings him home, he is unaware that he is g...

• Word Count: 709
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... escape - is set in St Louis in the late 1930s. After his father abandoned his family, Tom Wingfield is left to support his overbearing mother, Amanda, and his painfully shy sister, Laura. Tom is a dreamer who is desperate to change his circumstances: he struggles to live with his domineering ... sister means that he cannot follow his dreams guilt free. The fantasy Amanda lives in gives us a greater insight into how delusion revolves around the Wingfield family and how it is a central concern in the play and contributes highly to Tom's decision to leave. Williams used various ways such a...

• Word Count: 1567
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... Williams is a stage play set in St. Louis in 1937. " The Glass Menagerie" is a memory play drawn from the narrator, Tom Wingfield played by Michael A. Newcomer. Tom Wingfield who is also a character in this play is an aspiring poet who works in a shoe warehouse to support his mother Amanda played by Darrie Lawrence ... , and his sister Laura played by Christi Craig. Jim O' Connor played by Derek Phillips is the guy from high school who Laura had a devastating crush ... on and who now works with Tom at the warehouse. There is also a fifth character Mr. Wingfield, Tom and Laura's father w...

• Word Count: 746
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... Even though both novels have similar and different points, each work tells the reader about dreams being unfulfilled. B-1 (Similarity) Ethan Frome and Tom Wingfield were both on a route to escape their obligations. In the beginning of scene four in The Glass Menagerie, Tom states how the coffin in ... desire of ever being with Mattie, causing him to be "trapped" under all of the snowfall in Starkfield. B-3 (Similarity) Amanda Wingfield and Zeena Frome are both presented as the controlling figures in both novels. Tom can't live his life without Amanda being in the way. Working ... Frome...

• Word Count: 1101
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... their own little world in order to escape reality. We see various examples of this with the Wingfield family in Tennessee Williams' theatrical masterpiece, "The Glass Menagerie." Amanda Wingfield is the mother of Tom and Laura. She is a "southern belle" whose glory days have long since faded away. She ... escaping the harsh reality of her failed marriage, crippled daughter, and distant son. Tom Wingfield is the son of Amanda and the brother of Laura. He has multiple means of escaping the restrictive reality of the Wingfield household. He is very much into literature and writing poetry. H...

• Word Count: 485
• Approx Pages: 2
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... his father, and she fears his departure. Tom is very much paralleled to his father through his desire to escape reality and leave Amanda and Laura. The idea of magic in the play provides more insight into Tom's motives regarding his aspirations to escape. In the beginning of scene four, ... Tom returns home late at night after hours of drinking, explaining to Laura how he was enjoying a magician's show. Tom is fascinated and he recalls that "..the wonderfullest trick of all was the coffin trick. We ... However, he has no patience and he desires adventure immediately, justifying his eag...

• Word Count: 1672
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... of the 1930s. The mother, Amanda, clings to her past life as a Southern debutant and hopes desperately that her daughter, Laura, will follow in her footsteps. Tom Wingfield, the narrator and Amanda's son, dreams of breaking free from the mundane, simple life he is forced to lead once his ... is able to incorporate elements such as setting, symbolism, and conflict to express a main theme of escape. Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie takes place in the Wingfield family apartment, in 1937. Driven by postwar poverty, they are forced to live in a lower-class urban section of St. Louis. ...

• Word Count: 559
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... true happiness. Williams first explores a family that is unable to face reality, using a glass unicorn to represent one family member's uniqueness, Laura. Each Wingfield has a different way to avoid reality. Amanda will constantly refer everything in her life to the past, comparing her youth to the modern world. ... Amanda thinks that Laura's life should be an exact replica of her life. Amanda tells Laura that she "must be joking," when she tells her ... to eliminate confrontation with loved ones. Amanda is obviously stuck in her past, unable to see that "girls in those days," might be ...

• Word Count: 1763
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

... memories, is a large picture hanging in the living room. Each character in The Glass Menagerie has a need to escape from he or she's life. Tom Wingfield, a main character and the narrator, openly shows the reader his need to escape. The realities of his life consist of working in a warehouse, and wanting ... them all."(Williams, 1102) Most likely a severely distorted memory that she repeats often. Amanda places her own hopes and dreams onto her children. Wanting Laura to become independent from her. Needing Tom to be the father. These are her dreams, not the reality of her life. She know...

• Word Count: 1336
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... to be harder. Although Amanda appears to often be stuck in the past, without any idea of reality, she bounces back and forth. She first says to Laura, "I know so well what becomes of unmarried women who aren't prepared to occupy a position. I've seen such pitiful cases in the South-- barely tolerated ... the following discussion regarding the class, the very fact that she lied shows us that she knew there would be unpleasant circumstances for her action (16-18). Laura is associated with her glass figurines. She is very protective of them. She lives in a world of pretty glass. To further ...

• Word Count: 1744
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Tennessee Williams The Glass Menagerie In Tennessee William's the Glass Menagerie the Wingfield family- that belongs in the lower middle class- Amanda and her two children, Laura and Tom live in a small apartment somewhere St. Louis. These three main characters live between reality and ... dim, in order to give this non-realistic impression to the audience of the play. As the playwright mentions in his stage directions the interior of Wingfield's small apartment " Is therefore rather dim and poetic". The same "foggy" atmosphere applies to the rest of the setting as well. "The ... of a perso...

• Word Count: 983
• Approx Pages: 4