The attachment to illusion and their inability to embrace reality is reiterated in every character in “Glass Menagerie.” Among the three leading ones, the propensity toward wishful thinking and the inability to meet reality is particularly distinctively emphasized in Amanda. Remarkably, her version of an illusion is substantially different form that one of her children, both in its nature and its purpose. Specifically, Amanda uses her misconceived idea of reality to avoid facing the aspects of life that she finds inconvenient or annoying (Tabatabaei & Sarab, 2020). For instance, Amanda continuously misinterprets her daughter’s personality and needs in order to experience fulfilment that she never had as a young woman, thus, living vicariously through ger daughter (Abbass, 2019). Therefore, the nature of Amanda’s illusions is both shallowly selfish and thoroughly tragic. In fact, Williams draws attention to Amanda’s failure to grapple with reality as he introduces the characters of the play, describing her: as “clinging frantically to another time and place” (Williams, 2009, p. xiv). Therefore, the manner in which Amanda’s character uses illusions concerns primarily building the environment that serves to comfort her and create a setting where she would feel safe. The described propensity toward illusions is rather sad, yet it characterized Amanda perfectly as a relic of a different era, therefore, defining her role in the story as the force that constraints Tom’s and Laura’s potential, thus, promoting different types of response in them.
In turn, Laura, being affected by the influence exerted by her mother to the greatest extent, also has a plethora of illusions that she cultivates thoroughly, fearing to face reality. In fact, active fear of failure as the key motivation that guides Laura’s desire to live in the world of illusions is what sets her aside from her mother and brother. Whereas Amanda is obviously unwilling to face reality where she has aged and lost a substantial range of opportunities, Laura clearly fears to disappoint her mother, which further leads to her building a deliberate façade of cluelessness: “I took a business course at business college […] I had to drop out, it gave me – indigestion” (Williams, 2009, p. 75). Thus, Laura’s type of illusion is weaved around the idea of her being incapable, which does not allow her to explore her potential and, thus, shields her from the pain of suffering a failure (Yu, 2022). In fact, Laura’s type of illusion is coded into the very body of the play, thus, making her misperception of reality the principal and the most dangerous one (Hartanto et al., 2022). Specifically, at some point, it is mentioned that Laura has a menagerie of glass figurines: “She remains by the table, picks up a piece from the glass menagerie collection, and turns it in her hands to cover her tumult” (Williams, 2009, p. 75). The specified figurines serve as a symbol of illusions that have captured Laura and her family, perpetuated by her mother’s controlling and insistent nature. Moreover, the specified symbol allows examining the nature of the problem, exposing Laura’s, and., by extension, her family’s, illusions as exceptionally thoroughly crafted and seemingly cohesive, yet incredibly fragile, as if made of glass (Lee, 2019). Thus, the symbolism of the play explains the role that illusions play in the characters’ lives.
Compared to his mother and sister, Tom could be perceived as the most level-headed, rational, and therefore, disillusioned character. However, the specified impression also dissipates as Tom further proves that he has also been captured in the trap of illusions. As emphasized above, both Tom and his sister apply illusion-based thinking to their assessment of reality in a substantially different way than their mother, using it to examine the present and the future as opposed to living in the past (Rowell, 2021). However, tm’s illusion-based frame of mind also represents a unique situation when compared to the perspective of his sister. Namely, Tom’s illusions revolve around his effort to rebel against the stifling influence of his mother and escape the environment where his potential is being actively curbed: “Mother. I’ve joined the Hogan Gang, I’m a hired assassin” (Williams, 2009, p. 20). His threat to go to the opium dens and thus, engage in active self-harm also represents an illusion and a lie, yet the one that signifies his desire to rebel and become independent from his mother and her influence. Though clearly misguided and mishandled, the specified efforts demonstrate that Tom also lives in a world of illusion, where his ability to challenge his mother’s dominance and power has been rewarded, and where he has become the version of himself that he aspires to be (Nensia, 2018). Thus, though Tom is being active and fearless in the pursuit of his illusions, he is just as misguided and unaware of reality as his mother and sister are.
Representing the key theme of the play, illusions in Williams’s “Glass Menagerie” affect every character, though each experience them in a unique way. Specifically, Laura’s overbearing nature and her bitterness over the lack of fulfilment encourages her to live in the past, thus, creating an illusion of her desired life. In turn, Laura thrives in her world of illusion represented by her glass menagerie, fearing to live to the fullest and fail to meet her other’s expectations. Even Tom constructs a reality where he is more capable and independent, thus, succumbing to illusions. Thus, “Glass Menagerie” represents a scenario in which people bound by the same tragic propensity toward wishful thinking cannot escape their dependence.
References
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Williams, T. (2009). Glass menagerie. Penguin Classics.
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