Glass Menagerie Blog Post 3

The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams

SYMBOL: a person, place, thing, or event that stands for something more than itself
SIMILE: a figure of speech that makes an explicit comparison between two unlike things, using words such as like, as, than or resembles

 The menagerie itself is symbolic of Laura. She also seems rather attached to them. They are symbolic of how the arguments between Tom and his mother, Amanda, affect Laura. While arguing, Tom puts on his coat to storm out and knocks some of the little figures over. Neither Tom nor Amanda really notice, but Laura seems heartbroken. In the beginning, Tom explicitly says what the glass menagerie is supposed to represent about Laura. He says, "...Laura's separation increases till she is like a piece of her own glass collection, too exquisitely fragile to move from the shelf" (Williams 1234). The glass menagerie is very delicate and Laura is so shy and so much of an introvert that she runs the risk of becoming like one of the little figurines that just sits on a shelf and never really does anything.

 There is a simile that compares Laura to the glass menagerie. It is in scene 6 when she is being prepared by Amanda for the gentleman caller. The stage directions describe her appearance: (The arrangement of Laura's hair is changed; it is softer and more becoming. A fragile, unearthly prettiness has come out in Laura: she is like a piece of translucent glass touched by light, given a momentary radiance, not actual, not lasting) (Williams 1263). Her appearance and fragility increases with the amount of crippling shyness that comes over her.