Реферат: The Glass Menagerie Symbols Essay Research Paper

about picking jonquils and supposedly having “seventeen gentlemen callers on one

Sunday afternoon.” Although Amanda desires to see Laura settled down with a nice

young man, it is hard to tell whether she wanted a gentleman caller to be

invited for Laura or for herself.

One symbol which is rather obvious is Laura’s glass menagerie. Her collection of

glass represents her own private world. Set apart from reality, a place where

she can hide and be safe. The events that happen to Laura’s glass affects

Laura’s emotional state greatly. When Amanda tells Laura to practice typing,

Laura instead plays with her glass. When Amanda is heard walking up the fire

escape, she quickly hides her collection. She does this to hide her secret world

from the others. When Tom leaves to go to the movies in an angered rush, he

accidentally breaks some of Laura’s glass. The shattered glass represents

Laura’s understanding of Tom’s responsibilities to her. Also, the unicorn, which

is important, represents Laura directly. Laura points out to Jim that the

unicorn is different, just as she is different. She also points out that the

unicorn does not complain of being different, as she does not complain either.

And when Jim breaks the horn off the unicorn, Laura points out that now it is

like the other horses, just as Laura has shed some of her shyness and become

more normal. When she hands the broken unicorn to Jim, this might represent

Laura handing over her broken love to Jim, as Jim has revealed that he is

engaged to be married.

As can be seen, there are quite a few symbols in this play. And a number of them

have diverse meanings. Most of these symbols have a direct meaning in the

author’s own life. This is understandable seeing that the play is supposed to be

“memory play.” It is obvious that this memory play is based on Williams’ own

memories.