This was a timed essay on the play "The Glass Menagerie" by Tennessee Williams. I was asked to write a 5 paragraph essay in under 60 minutes with the following prompt: "Discuss the symbol of the glass menagerie collection. What does it represent? Does it represent the same things throughout the play, or does its meaning change?" I like how this class has us read a variety of literature, like poetry, plays, novels, and films!

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The Glass Menagerie, a play by Tennessee Williams set during the Great Depression, explores symbolism and how the characters are a reflection of things, people, and experiences. Tom, the narrator, has a peculiar older sister named Laura who chooses to stay inside and make animals of glass rather than find a husband or a proper line of work befitting a woman, much to their mother’s chagrin. Laura lovingly refers to her collection as a “glass menagerie.” This menagerie serves its purpose as a decoration in their house and as a passion of Laura’s, representing the fragility of appearance; its meaning changes throughout the story as the characters and events develop, and it shows how one can unwittingly embrace the purpose of the things surrounding them, coupled with their past experiences and the people closest to them.

In the beginning of the play, the glass menagerie can serve as a symbolism of how one chooses to present themselves outwardly in a way not befitting to their true selves. This is most acutely seen with Tom and Laura’s mother, Amanda. Amanda is a Southern woman who grew up believing that her worth and future lied in marrying a man and running the house. She prioritized her appearance, often resorting to masking her own thoughts and actions for the benefits of others. This is shown throughout the play several times, manifesting itself as her overbearance tendencies with her children: as Laura grows older, Amanda simultaneously wishes to hide Laura’s disability and show her off to find her a husband; when a “gentlemen caller” is invited to their house, Amanda scrambles to get new furnishings for the house, new clothes, and make the house spotless to impress their visitor. This can be connected to Laura’s glass menagerie. Just as the menagerie serves to decorate the house, Amanda tries to decorate her life. Her actions are always aimed to please those around her rather than serving any purpose for herself. Amanda and the glass menagerie are sentenced to always be on display, an object for others to admire rather than understand.

Although the glass menagerie serves as a symbol for prioritizing outward appearance, it can also be seen as a representation of fragility. The play shows this particularly with Laura. Laura is shy, with an “inferiority complex” that worsens her insecurity and makes her want to hide away. Tom refers to his sister as “too exquisitely fragile to remove from the shelf”. Laura’s fragility is seen throughout the play; for example, when she was taking classes for typewriting, she was overcome with nerves and vomited. Her humiliation was so great that she never wished to return and instead went to other locations while her mother remained oblivious to her whereabouts. Additionally, when the “gentleman caller”, Jim, paid them a visit, Laura was again riddled with anxiety and refused to see him or sit at the dinner table. Eventually, after dinner, Laura and Jim were alone and had a conversation. Sometime during their conversation, Jim accidentally knocked over an animal from Laura’s glass menagerie and it shattered. They kissed, and Jim revealed that he could not take anything further with Laura because he was engaged. This revelation, after such a substantial moment in her life, caused Laura much strife, and metaphorically “shattered” her, just as Jim had broken the glass animal. She retreated into herself after being broken in this monumental way. The fragility of the glass directly represents Laura’s fragility throughout the play through her experiences with those around her.

The glass menagerie also shows fragility in another way — Tom’s departure from their apartment at the end of the play. Objects made of glass are made by heating and pressuring the glass so it can be easily molded and blown into shapes; however, if it is heated too much, the glass cracks and can shatter. Throughout the play, Tom is put under pressure from Amanda to provide for the family. She constantly nags him to help his sister find a husband, to stop smoking, to eat differently, etc. As the pressure mounts over time, Tom is desperate to leave and believes he will find happiness by being away from the expectations of those around him. The play begins when Tom is “cracking” from the pressure; he goes out every night to escape his family and the confines of their small apartment. Eventually, as the play progresses and reaches its end, Tom hits his limit and “shatters”, leaving Laura and Amanda behind in search of his own goals. In this way, the glass menagerie can be seen as a symbol of how Tom’s surroundings and experiences shape and mold his actions, just as glass is shaped through heat and pressure.

Connecting these ideas together, both appearance and fragility, the glass menagerie serves to show the Wingfield family as their own glass menagerie. The menagerie sits on a shelf for those around them to observe, just as the Wingfields act out their lives on a literal and metaphorical stage, and it shows how two people can be pushed to opposite extremes under pressure; Laura retreats inwardly, while Tom escapes his confines. The Glass Menagerie teaches about the fragility of appearance and the appearance of fragility through a snapshot of Tom, Laura, and Amanda’s lives.