Discuss The Glass Menagerie as a
memory play.
The
Glass Menagerie is a memory play – both its style and its contents are shaped
and inspired by memory. Tom, who is the narrator and also a character in the
play, states clearly that the play “is sentimental, it is not realistic”. As he
implies in the beginning the truth appears in the pleasant disguise of
illusion. All the characters live in the past; they “turn back time”. In
isolation from the outside world they are somehow set apart from reality.
Existing in their memories they are trying to escape from the responsibility of
dealing with the present.
The
mother, Amanda, is haunted by the memory of her youth. She was an extremely
popular and pretty young lady but she lost her chances. Now she refuses to
understand life and reality. She doesn’t accept the fact that she is already
old and repeats the same story to her children over and over again, trying to
protect them.
Another thing that gives the impression that Amanda
lives in the past is the way she treats Tom and Laura. For her they are still
small children and she ignores the fact that they have grown up. She doesn’t
let them face reality like adults. With this denial of the truth she prevents
Tom from becoming a man. Furthermore, she hopes to recreate the glamour of her
own youth through her daughter, but it is impossible. She doesn’t even accept
the fact that Laura is crippled. Because of that the young girl cannot become
an independent and separate individual. 