The Glass Menagerie

1. The Glass Menagerie By Blake Steele, Kyle

2. Through Soundproof glass • Our article “Through Soundproof Glass” analyzed the role of glass in the play “ The Glass Menagerie” • The basic thesis we were able to find for the article was “Despite the characters intentions, each character either forced a glass image of themselves onto another character or they had to deal with the image being forced onto them.”

3. What was our article? • Laura must look at the image of her moms “glory days” to compare to herself • Tom must look at the image of his father that Amanda has kept and compared him too • Jim comes into the home and brags about his very “self-confident” attitude and demeanor to Laura not so she can feel good but so he can feel better about himself that he is not in Laura's mental state • “Laura's limitation only enhances Amanda's excitement about her own "spectacular appearance!“ (Through soundproof glass)

4. Where is glass Used? • Although each character is unconsciously looking through glass at something, there are also times where glass actually is broken or used in the dialogue of the play itself • For example Tom breaks the glass when walking out the door and never coming back which cuts Laura and lets him move away from his mothers image • Whenever glass is broken or used the song “The Glass Menagerie” serves as the musical undertone for the play

5. Laura's use of glass • Other then Laura having to look at herself through the personality's and words of Amanda and Jim she also uses glass as an escape from the pressure but the glass also plays a part in her being put away and kept back from the real world • At one point she appears to make strides away from the glass when Jim breaks the horn off of her glass unicorn and she says “I'll just imagine he had an operation. The horn was removed to make him feel less... freakish!”(1672)

6. The convincing claims • In our opinion the author gives several very convincing claims that seem to support his thesis argument • The most understandable one is Amanda projecting a glass image of her prime of life on Laura which is an image Laura can not compare too • Another is Amanda bringing up Toms father and how he is “ just like him” all the time in his will to leave and how Tom always has his mothers image forced onto him at home

7. Confusing/weak claims • One weak claim that could be said in the article was the claim about Jims image leaving a bad impression on Laura because he had higher self esteem then her • In our opinion we believe that although Jim was a bit full of himself he still was able to make Laura think she might have a chance with another man later even with her disability

8. Glass and the projections • So now you may be wondering how this all connects with glass? • Each time a projection comes up it gives the audience a simple way to think or immediate foreshadowing • You are almost not meant to look at the meaning of the glass at all and look at the play as a “family drama” and not anything more then that • An example is when Jim is leaving and no longer has his image in the mirror of Laura and the legend reads “The Sky Falls” (1675) as if Laura's world has come crashing down, when really she could have gotten a mental boost from it.

9. Do we need the projections? • In our opinion the theme of the play and the content of the story are not lost at are not lost without the projections • For the most part they appear to simply fore shadow what will happen In the immediate future • An example is when the legend says “not Jim” and the very next line after is “Not Jim” (Williams, 1656) • At some points the projections just confuse the audience with images that seem to contradict what was happening or what you might have been thinking • If anything you are able to look further into the meaning of the context in the play without the headings