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The Glass Menagerie Ability To Escape

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1. Escape: What does the play tell us about the ability to escape? Can this be realized? If so, do the negative consequences outweigh the rewards?

In the ability to escape, "The Glass Menagerie" tells us that you can either escape from reality to live your dreams, or you can escape from your dreams to live your reality. The ability to escape can be realized through self actualization and/or life-changing experiences. It depends on the situation, but in certain cases the negative consequences can outweigh the rewards. For example, if you were to escape but had to sacrifice your loved ones and run away from a wide array of problems. When Tom escaped, he left Amanda and Laura behind along with any issues he might've had while he was still …show more content…
Wingfield despite the fact that he would never actually appear onstage to emphasize the effect that his absence had on Tom, Laura, and Amanda after he left. In doing so, we can see the tension and conflict between Tom, Laura, and Amanda due to hardships caused by the disappearance of a father/husband figure in the household. Amanda is constantly reliving her past where she was young, thriving and had her many "gentleman callers." She also forces a life that she desires for herself on her daughter. Laura is a sweet, timid, shy, insecure girl who finds joy from her small world of glass animals and phonograph records. Laura never developed much confidence in herself, which resulted in her dropping out of school and never truly putting herself out into the world. With his job at the warehouse, Tom feels trapped having to work so often to provide for his family. Many of the issues seen from Tom, Laura, and Amanda are to be blamed by Mr. Wingfield not being present. If Mr. Wingfield was present it is possible that Amanda would be enjoying any present moment she was experiencing much more, Laura would have developed the confidence in herself to accomplish her dreams, fully express herself when she wanted to, and not let her mother decide how she should live her life, and Tom would be living a life that a young man in his time period would usually be instead of having to be the primary source of income for his family. In most plays, the inclusion of a …show more content…
He is in fact an ordinary young man, but as we discover from the play not completely nice for the mistake that he made. By referring to him as a "nice, ordinary, young man", knowing that he was Laura's high school crush and the only crush that she ever really had, and having him thought of as a gentleman caller, this causes the audience to be struck with surprise when he revealed that he had a fiance after he kissed her. With partial knowledge of who Jim was early in the play and seeing how he treated Laura and her family, him telling her that he was soon to be married after showing affection toward her was a humongous plot twist. Although his description is not 100% accurate, it does capture his true function in the play – the nice, ordinary, young man who unexpectedly made the mistake he did. "No, Laura, I can't. As I was just explaining, I've – got strings on me Laura, I've – been going steady! I go out all of the time with a girl named Betty. She's a home-girl like you, and Catholic, and Irish, and in a great many ways we – get along fine. I met her last summer on a moonlight boat trip up the river to Alton, on the Majestic." Jim explained to Laura, leaving her shocked and brokenhearted. From what was told, it was expected that Laura would reconnect with a long lost romantic interest and grow in love with him, fulfilling not only her wishes but her mother's

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