Anywhere But Here

The Glass Menagerie (the play as a whole)-Tennessee Williams

Each character of The Glass Menagerie seems to live in the what could have been/what could be/what should be rather than the present.  The three main characters share one aspect in common.  Tom, Amanda, and Laura are trapped by the fantastical world in which their minds reside.  Tom is haunted by the though of how badly he wants to escape like his father did.  His unrelenting desire for adventure serves as the main cause for his restfulness and hot temper.  He gets angry whenever the topic of him staying to take care of his family arises.  Amanda lives primarily primarily in her past, or the past she chooses to remember.  She constantly discussed how great her life was when she was younger.  In fact, she spends a large majority of her dialogue in Scene 1 discussing her past gentleman callers.  "AMANDA. 'One Sunday afternoon in Blue Mountain--your mother received--seventeen!--gentleman callers!'" (Williams, 1238).  Her past differs greatly from her present which appears somewhat dull and grey.  Laura's case is a little more peculiar than the others.  She lives in a world where overcoming her sense of inferiority seems an impossibility.  She has been classified as frail by society and therefore views herself as nothing more than this.  These specific character traits serve as the primary contributors to the stagnant nature the family currently discovers themselves in.