The Glass Menagerie
By Tennessee Williams
Advanced Composition & Novel
Mrs. Snipes
Name______
Period______
Research:
Look up information and record your findings for the following items. This information will help your overall understanding of the play.
1. A definition and brief background on the role of the “drummer” in American society
2. What are jonquils? What do they look like and how much do they cost?
3. What is Guernica? Describe it and note some background information. What famous person is linked with it?
4. What is a Daumier print and what does it look like? Who is Daumier?
5. What is the DAR and how does one become a member?
6. What is Frigidaire? What products does it manufacture?
7. What are the Merchant Marines?
8. Contrast the “cavalier” attitudes, manners, and mores of the pre-Civil War South vs. those of the “mechanized” industrial antebellum South
Vocabulary:
Record your definitions for the following words below.
1. menagerie - 24. marquees -
2. conglomeration – 25. paragon -
3. automaton – 26. vestige -
4. ineluctably – 27. tribulations -
5. matriculating – 28. gingerly -
6. emissary – 29. decorously -
7. elegiac – 30. perturbation -
8. beaux –
9. patronage –
10. fiasco –
11. archetype –
12. relic –
13. precipitated –
14. gesticulating –
15. insolence –
16. motley –
17. beseechingly –
18. endowments –
19. broods –
20. supercilious –
21. ulterior –
22. cotillion –
23. sashayed –
Study/Discussion Questions
Scene 1
1. Reread the description of the setting at the beginning of the scene. Why is the physical setting of the play described in such careful detail? What feeling does the setting convey?
2. Tom is dressed in a merchant sailor uniform. What effect does his clothing have? Why does Tom’s speech open with a comparison of his role to that of a stage magician?
3. Why does Tom contrast the social backgrounds of Spain and America in his opening speech?
4. Tom tells us that “the play is memory.” Why is the drama styled as a memory play and what does this mean? What sets and staging techniques reinforce the idea of this being a memory play? How so?
5. What freedom does the play being a memory afford Tom?
6. Review Tom’s monologue at the beginning of the scene and his interjections throughout. What two functions does Tom have in the play? What difference in temperament do you notice in Tom in these two different roles? What do we discover about Tom’s life at home in the brief first scene?
7. Why is the narrator called an “undisguised convention”?
8. What does the gentleman caller at the end of the play symbolize according to the narrator? Why does Tom say there is a fifth character in the play? Who is this?
9. What lines and/or situations lead you to believe that there is tension in the family at the outset of the play?
10. What is the reason for using scrims (transparent gauze curtains) to separate and differentiate the various scenes?
11. What do we learn about Laura in this scene?
12. Review Amanda’s speeches in this scene. What do you learn about Amanda’s past? How does Amanda view her own past? What indications are there that her past was not exactly as she remembers it? How does she impose her own past on her children’s lives in the present?
13. Throughout the play, the reader/audience is challenged to distinguish between illusion and reality. As narrator in scene 1, Tom tells us that he has “tricks in [his] pocket—things up [his] sleeve…” He admits the “play is memory.” How is memory an illusion?
14. In Scene 1, what type(s) of illusions does Amanda entertain in regards to her past life? Her present life? About Tom? About Laura?
Scene 2
1. As Amanda comes up the fire escape, Laura’s actions are described. What are these actions and what do they reveal about her? What has Amanda done that day?
2. In this scene, Amanda learns that Laura has dropped out of Rubicam Business College. Why was Laura attending Rubicam’s? Why was Laura not able to succeed in the business college? What did Laura do during the time she was to be attending school?
3. Also, in scene 2, we learn of Laura’s past. Who did Laura like in high school? Describe him.
4. What is revealed about Mr. Wingfield in this scene? What about Jim reminds Amanda of her estranged husband?
5. What was Jim’s nickname for Laura? Why did he give her this name? What feeling does the name convey?
6. Amanda has attempted to provide for Laura’s future by enrolling her in the business college. Why is Amanda upset about Laura’s failure in school? Why do you think that Amanda’s efforts to assist her daughter have failed?
7. What alternative course does Amanda decide on for Laura’s future? According to Laura, does this plan have any likelihood of success? Why? Do you agree or disagree with Laura? Why?
8. How can Amanda’s behavior during the first part of this scene be characterized?
9. In this scene, Laura discusses the problem of her handicap with Amanda. How does Amanda deal emotionally with Laura’s handicap? In what ways does Amanda suggest that Laura downplay her handicap?
10. In scenes 1 and 2, we learn about Laura’s character. Describe Laura’s physical and emotional handicaps. How does Laura try to avoid the unpleasant reality of Amanda’s conversations? Into what illusion does Laura escape?
Scene 3
1. What has Amanda’s obsession become? What does Amanda do about the obsession?
2. Scene 3 focuses on the argumentative nature of Tom and Amanda’s relationship. What is the quarrel about? Are they the principal actors during this scene?
3. Why does Amanda believe that Tom is doing things he’s ashamed of? Amanda calls Tom selfish. To what extent is Amanda’s accusation fair? To what extent is it unfair? How does Tom respond to Amanda’s assertion that he is jeopardizing the future?
4. Tom thinks his mother is making unfair demands of him. Do you believe this to be true? Why or why not? What do you think is the source of Tom’s discontentment (identify reasons beyond the stated issues)?
5. Where does Tom escape after the argument with Amanda? What happens as Tom leaves for the movies?
6. The final moments of the scene show Tom picking up the pieces of glass, glancing at Laura as though he wants to say something. What do these actions reveal about Tom?
7. An observer of the Wingfield family may suggest that Tom and Amanda will not allow each other to create their own realities or at least illusions of reality. How is this statement true?
8. Tom’s commentary at the outset of scene 3 is important to both the scene and to the play as a whole. Read both the stage directions and his monologue carefully. From where does Tom give his commentary about the events to occur in scene 3? What about this setting suggests or foreshadows Tom’s decision to leave at the end of scene 3?
9. Tom’s costumes are different as he narrates and as he plays himself in scene 3. What might his narrator’s costume suggest/foreshadow about the outcome of the play?
Scene 4
1. When does Tom return from the movies? What does he tell Laura he has seen? Why does this intrigue Tom? Why would Tom need to perform this trick? From what “coffin” does Tom feel he needs to escape? Why? Who, besides the illusionist, has performed this amazing escape?
2. What happens on the fire escape when Amanda sends Laura for some butter? What significance is there in the description of Laura’s coat?
3. Tom apologizes to Amanda for calling her a witch. How does Amanda respond? What does Amanda want to talk about with Tom?
4. Amanda’s statements about instinct are ironic. Why?
5. What is Amanda most concerned about? What is Amanda’s solution to this problem?
6. Reread the first four sentences of Tom’s speech in which he identifies himself as an illusionist. Remember, Tom is telling us the story of his family in retrospect, so sometime between the events of scene 3 and the telling of the story, he has mastered the art of escaping and creating illusion. What forms of escape (retreats into illusion) do we learn that Tom has tried in scene 3? How does Amanda respond to his need to escape in each incident?
7. How might the tension in scene 3 foreshadow Tom’s character development from a trapped Wingfield family member to narrator of the Wingfield family story.
Scene 5:
1. In what ways does Amanda see that Tom takes after his father? Why does Amanda want Tom to emulate his father? What does she urge Tom to do about his future?
2. How does Tom perceive the fire escape? What does he do when he stands on the fire escape?
3. How does Amanda view the fire escape? What does she see when she sits on the fire escape?
4. Tom guesses her wish and is able to grant it. What is the wish?
5. What is Amanda’s response when Tom says he is bringing a young man home to dinner? How does Tom react to this? What do we find out about the gentleman caller in the next conversation between Tom and Amanda?
6. Amanda’s “discreet inquiries” produce information. In dramatic terms, this is called exposition. But why is this scene dramatically satisfying and suspenseful even though it lacks action?
7. As Amanda begins to fuss and plan, what does Tom remind her about? Why does Tom leave abruptly for the movies? What does Amanda tell Laura to do?
8. Which of Amanda’s character traits are revealed in her phone call to Ella Cartwright?
9. In scene 5, we learn that Laura serves as a mediator between Amanda and Tom. The chances are good that Laura typically assumes this role when tempers flare in the Wingfield household. Why might Amanda use Laura as her go-between with Tom? In what other circumstances does Amanda use Laura in her stead? Is Tom sincere in his apology to Amanda? What leads you to believe this?
10. For what reason does Amanda talk with Tom about Laura? How does Tom respond to this duty? Do you think this is an unreasonable demand on Tom? Why or why not?
Scene 6:
1. Why does Tom feel he is valuable to Jim? Why is Jim valuable to Tom?
2. Have Amanda’s preparations for the dinner been successful?
3. How does Amanda dress for the gentleman caller?
4. Why does Laura dread the evening? Describe the way Laura answers the door.
5. What does Jim recommend for Tom? What does Jim tell Tom about his job? Is Tom concerned about this warning? Why?
6. What first step has Tom already taken?
7. With whom does Tom identify as he talks of his plans?
8. How do Tom and Jim respond to Amanda’s entrance and chatter? Does everyone enjoy dinner?
9. Describe the political setting of the world that Tom alludes to at the beginning of scene 6. How is the Wingfield world in a similar condition?
10. What in St. Louis provides the pleasant escapes—“the brief, deceptive rainbows”—for the young people there?
11. Tom’s statement that the “unsuspecting kids danced to ‘Dear One, the World is Waiting for the Sunrise’” reiterates the unrealistically naïve hope that Amanda holds for a better day to come, the knight in shining armor, “the long delayed but always expected something that we live for”. His subsequent statement, “All the world was waiting for bombardments,” is the pessimistic view of a man disillusioned by the reality of life, that sunrise only gives way to sunset, that birth leads to death, that hope is never fulfilled, only wasted and spent. Analyze this scene in terms of modernism and the American dream/nightmare.
12. Typically, as scene 6 opens Amanda is criticizing Tom, this time for his smoking. For what purpose would Amanda rather Tom use his cigarette money?
13. What indications are there in this scene that the Wingfields have had a better life than they are currently subject to?
14. How is Amanda planning to alter their home for the gentleman caller? What feeling is she attempting to project about the Wingfield family?
15. In what ways does Amanda alter the description of the gentleman caller before he arrives on the scene? In what ways does Tom suggest reality to Amanda in regards to their gentleman caller?
16. This scene contains several comic lines and situations. Find examples of these and analyze how they relieve some of the rising tension.
17. Amanda gives us her very simple philosophy of life in response to Tom’s patronizing remark, “Oh…Plans and provisions.” What is her philosophy?
18. What do we learn about Jim in this scene?
Scene 7:
1. What happens as they finish dinner? What lighting do they use instead?
2. What is Jim’s first assessment of Laura? Does Jim recognize Laura?
3. How does Jim react to Laura’s confession of her shyness and the reason she gives for it—the brace on her leg?
4. How is Jim discovering his own excellence?
5. What is Jim’s view of democracy?
6. Why does Laura show Jim the unicorn? What happens to the unicorn and how does this function symbolically?
7. What is Jim’s next step in curing Laura’s inferiority complex? What happens as they dance?
8. Jim calls himself a stumble-john as he realizes that Laura is overcome by the kiss. How does he recognize her reaction? As Jim forthrightly tells Laura about Betty and their marriage plans, how does Laura react?
9. What happens as Amanda and Tom enter with the lemonade?
10. What is the significance of Laura’s gift to Jim?
11. What is Amanda’s reaction to Jim’s engagement?