Abstract

Escape from Reality in Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie

Dr Qassim Flayah Ubead

Volume: 12 Issue: 1 2022

Abstract:

Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie is peopled with powerless and defenseless characters. These characters are hypersensitive and in a constant search for protection. They are highly pressurized by life and its bitter reality. Adding to that they are haunted by their fear from the future. They are escapist who try their best to hide behind a protective shield. Their tireless search for security is never smothering. Their only possible defensive mechanism is to flee from their immediate hostile and aggressive surrounding. To achieve this aim, each character has improvised a method that suits him / her best. For example, one of the characters (Tom) sought refuge in alcohol and late night shows. While the other (Amanda) chose to re-live the golden days of her past through her recurrent recalling of these prime-times. As for the other one (Laura) she chose to sacrifice her maturity to flee to her child-like world of glass animals. Escape mechanism is slightly changed with the last character (Jim) who chose to attend night classes as a means to achieve this aim. Thus, all the major characters in The Glass Menagerie are trying their best to escape from their unbearable reality and to hide behind a protective shield even if this shield is a fragile one. They are psychologically ready and mentally prepared to run to their dreamy shelters rather than facing their brutal reality. Everything in these characters; every move, every gesture, every way of thinking can pinpoint their retreat and their escapist personality and the large photo of Mr. Wingfield (the biggest escapist) is an evidence.

DOI: http://doi.org/10.37648/ijrssh.v12i01.028

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