Line #17 Theatre/TheGlassMenagerie


1	[[quoteright:310:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_glass_menagerie.jpg]]
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3	''The Glass Menagerie'' is a 1944 play by Creator/TennesseeWilliams. His first major work, it is an important part of the American theatrical repertoire and continues to be performed successfully by both professional and amateur companies.
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6	Set in UsefulNotes/StLouis, Missouri during the 1930s, the play centers around the Wingfields ([[MyBelovedSmother Amanda]], [[AloofBigBrother Tom]], and [[ShrinkingViolet Laura]]), whose relationship has become strained since [[DisappearedDad Mr. Wingfield]] abandoned them. While Tom works in a shoe warehouse to support the family, he dreams of leaving home and frequently goes out to the movies as an escape. Amanda obsesses over finding a suitor for Laura, who's so painfully shy that she locks herself up in her room and admires the eponymous collection of glass animal figurines she keeps.
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8	Williams based the Wingfields on his own family; he himself was the basis for Tom, his mother Edwina for Amanda, and his sister Rose (who was diagnosed with schizophrenia in real life, and had undergone a lobotomy a year before the play's debut) for Laura.
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10	Now has a [[Characters/TheGlassMenagerie Characters page]].
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12	----
13	!!This play provides examples of:
14	* AntiEscapismAesop: [[spoiler: Tom's desire for adventure causes him to abandon his family... Which leaves everyone much worse off and miserable in the long run, with Laura and Amanda's fate unknown but likely decidedly unpleasant given they won't have enough money to support themselves, and Tom wracked with guilt for the rest of his life.]]
15	* BreakingTheFourthWall:
16	** The play opens with Tom explaining to the audience that the play is based on his memories.
17	** After Tom's first speech, the literal fourth wall of the apartment lifts.
18	%%* BrokenAngel
19	* BrotherSisterIncest: The {{subtext}} was definitely there between Tom and Laura in the movie remake, although very nonexistent in the original play, where Laura essentially served as Tom's MoralityChain instead, via BigBrotherInstinct.
20	* DamnItFeelsGoodToBeAGangster: {{Parodied}}[=/=]{{Discussed}}[=.=] After Amanda questions Tom about what's ''actually'' happening when he's "[[BlatantLies going to the movies]]" every night, he goes on a long angry rant about his (fictitious) double life as crime boss "Killer" Wingfield, who lives this trope to the full. This is all done to obfuscate the ''[[DrowningMySorrows real]]'' reason he keeps going out.
21	* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:Not only is Jim already engaged, Tom finally decides he has had it and abandons his family.]]
22	* DysfunctionJunction: The Wingfields have something approaching the complete opposite of a healthy family dynamic. [[MyBelovedSmother Amanda]], after being abandoned by Mr. Wingfield, is paranoid about her children's lives, spends most of her time living in the past and is ''extremely'' controlling, leading to clashes with the independently-minded Tom who is also resentful of his father's departure, forcing him to work an awful job to support the family, whereas Laura's anxiety isn't being made any better by the constant conflict nor Amanda's repeated, foolhardy attempts to model her daughter after herself.
23	* TheFilmOfTheBook: Several adaptations of varying quality. The two theatrical versions, Irving Rapper's 1950 film with Gertrude Lawrence, Arthur Kennedy, Creator/JaneWyman and a young Creator/KirkDouglas, and a 1987 adaptation directed by Creator/PaulNewman and starring Joanne Woodward and Creator/JohnMalkovich, have mixed critical reputations; while two made-for-TV productions, a 1966 version starring Shirley Booth and Creator/HalHolbrook and a 1973 film starring Creator/KatharineHepburn and Creator/SamWaterston, are much better-regarded.
24	* FlowerMotifs: Blue roses and jonquils.
25	* TheGreatDepression: The play is set during this, in 1930s St. Louis.
26	* ItWillNeverCatchOn: Jim remarks with starry-eyed glee on how wonderful the future in America is going to be, coming off as a daydreaming WideEyedIdealist -- but considering the unprecedented prosperity of the US in the 50s and 6s, it could be argued that he turned out to be somewhat correct.
27	* TheLastStraw: Amanda yelling at Tom for [[spoiler:inviting a man who's already engaged, which causes Tom to leave]].
28	* LikeBrotherAndSister: Jim keeps bringing up "If you were my sister" to Laura.
29	* MakeAWish: Played with. Tom assumed Amanda's wish on the moon would be a gentleman caller for Laura, but was actually the best for her children. Both wishes are subverted when [[spoiler:the potential suitor Tom finds turns out to be taken and neither Tom nor Laura are happy in the end]].
30	* MinimalistCast: The play only features four characters.
31	* NewMediaAreEvil: Tom goes on a long rant about how cinema pacifies people by offering them adventure through the medium of the silver screen, blinding them to the fact they aren't experiencing any adventures of their own.
32	* ParentalAbandonment: Mr. Wingfield.
33	* PoorCommunicationKills: Tom doesn't tell Jim that the dinner is supposed to introduce Jim as a suitor to Laura. [[spoiler:Jim is already engaged. Amanda is suspicious that Tom [[{{Troll}} did this on purpose]] but there's no clear indication of this, especially since after Jim revealed his engagement to Betty, he said that “the cat wasn’t out of the bag” at the warehouse, indicating that none of Jim’s co-workers knew.]]
34	* PricelessMingVase: The glass menagerie itself, especially [[spoiler:the little unicorn]]. Not PlayedForLaughs.
35	* TheReveal: [[spoiler:Jim is already engaged.]].
36	* RomanAClef: The play is very strongly based on Creator/TennesseeWilliams' own life -- he takes the form of [[AuthorAvatar Tom]], Laura stands in for his mentally disabled sister Rose (who he also felt guilty over not being able to help, especially after she suffered a botched lobotomy), Amanda, his mother, and Mr Wingfield his [[AbusiveParents abusive]], often-absent salesman father.
37	* ShaggyDogStory: The entire plan to bring Jim to a "casual dinner" [[spoiler:is ruined, and their sacrifices are made in complete vain]].
38	* SourceMusic: The theater near the tenement. Its music conveniently stops during TheReveal.
39	* TitleDrop: Happens twice, with both Amanda and Laura referring to the latter's collection as a "Glass Menagerie".
40	* ATragedyOfImpulsiveness: Tom and Amanda's arguments get increasingly bitter; a significant escalation is when Tom accidentally breaks one of Laura's figurines. He's sorry for it at once.
41	* WholeEpisodeFlashback: Most of the play is a flashback.
42	* YankTheDogsChain: Just when you think [[spoiler:Laura will "win" Jim due to their little dance and kiss, TheReveal hits.]]

Context Theatre / TheGlassMenagerie