What is the ending of The Glass Menagerie?
When Amanda accuses Tom of doing something he is ashamed of every night and accuses him of lying about going every night to the movies, Tom becomes infuriated and tells his mother a fantastic tale and ends by calling her an “ugly — babbling — witch.” Tom tries to get his coat on and in his rapid struggle to leave, he …
What is the meaning of Glass Menagerie?
Laura’s Glass Menagerie As the title of the play informs us, the glass menagerie, or collection of animals, is the play’s central symbol. Laura’s collection of glass animal figurines represents a number of facets of her personality. Like the figurines, Laura is delicate, fanciful, and somehow old-fashioned.
Why is it called The Glass Menagerie?
The Glass Menagerie, written by Tennessee Williams in 1944, derives its title from the collection of small glass animals that belongs to Laura Wingfield, an extremely frail, shy, and reclusive young woman, who spends most of her time attending to her glass collection.
What do the candles symbolize in The Glass Menagerie?
With Laura being as fragile, the candle symbolizes her hopes and dreams that are which snuffed out from society. Throughout the play, Williams also uses candle light imagery to describe Laura and her emotions. The candle light represents hope and how it is lost, but the character who demonstrates this most is Laura.
Who is Jim in The Glass Menagerie?
Jim O’Connor: Tom’s friend from the factory, Jim unknowingly becomes Laura’s first gentleman caller when he accepts an invitation to dinner at Tom’s home. Jim was a high school superstar, excelling in everything he tried. He was also the apple of Laura’s eye, though their contact was limited.
What does the character Jim O’Connor symbolize?
Jim O’Connor: The most practical and realistic character Jim O’Connor is himself a symbolic character. He has been held as an emissary of an external world. For the most part Jim is realistic. In comparison to other characters he is somewhat safe from the danger of illusion.
Why is the Gentleman Caller an emissary?
Why is the gentleman caller an “emissary”? An emissary is someone sent to bring a message, and by definition, he is also someone who travels. The gentleman caller visits from a world of reality”; Tom explicitly says that he, Amanda, and Laura do not live in such a world.
Why does Tom say Jim has not gone as far in life as one might have expected?
He seemed always at the point of defeating the law of gravity. He was shooting with such velocity through his adolescence that you would logically expect him to arrive at nothing short of the White House by the time he was thirty. But Jim apparently ran into more interference after his graduation from Soldan.
What does Tom mean at the end when he talks about Laura blowing out her candles?
A frustrated poet no longer, he has created this play. Laura’s act of blowing out the candles at the play’s end signifies the snuffing of her hopes, but it may also mark Tom’s long-awaited release from her grip. He exhorts Laura to blow out her candles and then bids her what sounds like a final goodbye.