Laura In The Glass Menagerie English Literature Essay
Laura is a character in Tennessee Williams “ The Glass Menagerie ” , which is set in past twenty-four hours St. Louis. The drama is about the Wingfield household ; Amanda, the female parent, Tom, her boy, Laura, the girl, and Jim O’Connor, a gentleman company. Tom is the supplier for the household and the drama is told from his memory. Laura is an highly diffident immature lady because of a childhood unwellness that left her crippled with one leg somewhat shorter than the other. She is controlled by her female parent whom is populating in the past and seeking to populate her dreams out through Laura. This drama is spliting with symbols, from images projected on the screen throughout the drama, music played in the background, and in the drama itself. This leads to the inquiry, what symbolizes Laura throughout “ The Glass Menagerie ” ? After analysing the stuff, Laura is symbolized by the blue roses, her glass menagerie, and the unicorn.
In “ The Glass Menagerie ” , one manner Laura is symbolized is through Jim naming her blue roses, which shows her singularity. When she returned to school after an onslaught of pleurosis, one of her schoolmates, Jim O’Connor thought she said she had bluish roses so he called her that throughout school ( 289 ) . Blue roses are highly rare merely like Laura is. Tom says that “ Laura is really different from other misss ” ( 304 ) . Most girls her age in the clip period were focused on happening a hubby and settling down, but Laura does non care about things like this. “ She lives in a universe of her ownaˆ¦ ” ( 304 ) , Tom said while speaking to his female parent about Laura. The bluish roses are besides used to typify the fondness Jim has for Laura that is showed at the terminal of the drama. He goes on stating of how wondrous different and beautiful she is. Jim says “ . . . being different is nil to be ashamed of. Because other people are non such fantastic people. . . They walk all over the Earth. You merely remain here. They ‘re common as-weeds, but-you-well, you’re-Blue Roses! ” ( 324 )
Laura is besides symbolized through her glass menagerie, which shows her fragileness. It is stated that “ aˆ¦she is like a piece of her ain glass aggregation, excessively finely delicate to travel from the shelf ” ( 281 ) . Laura is highly delicate where her emotions are concerned. At one point in the drama Tom throws his jacket across the room and interrupt one of her glass statuettes which cause Laura to hold a dislocation. She cries out “ My glass! -menagerieaˆ¦ ” Laura covers her face and cried as if she were wounded, ( 292-293 ) this proves how delicate Laura ‘s sprit is ; the smallest incident causes her to interrupt. When Jim comes to eat supper with the Wingfield household, Laura is so diffident that she does non desire to open the door for him and she pretends that she is ill and can non eat ” ( 308-309 ) . All these illustrations prove how delicate Laura is.
Finally, Laura is symbolized by the unicorn, which shows her growing. Throughout the class of the drama it is apparent how of import the glass menagerie is to Laura. When Jim is over for dinner she lets him keep the unicorn ; this alone is a immense measure for Laura because she does non allow anyone touch her darling glass statuettes. He places the unicorn on the tabular array and he and Laura begin to dance. They accidently bump into the tabular array strike harding the unicorn of the tabular array which broke his horn off. Previously in the drama Laura broke down when Tom broke one of her statuettes, but now she has grown and accepts what happened and takes is as a approval in camouflage, and says that he will suit in better now with the other Equus caballuss. ( 322-324 ) This is symbolic of Laura by demoing how much she has grown throughout the drama. In the beginning of “ The Glass Menagerie ” , Laura is merely a delicate immature miss who ‘s merely passion in life is her glass menagerie, but as the drama progresses she grows into a stronger immature lady who does non allow material things break her as earlier. It besides shows that she is no longer allowing her disability keep her dorsum from the things she aspires to make.
On the other manus, people may non believe that bluish roses, glass menagerie, or the unicorn symbolize Laura. Others may reason that the blue roses are merely Jim badgering Laura and do non stand for Laura as a alone immature lady but, the text proves that they are used to typify her. Jim even calls her bluish roses once more to explicate how different she is. ( 324 ) Besides critics may believe that the glass menagerie does non typify Laura. They may state it is merely a plaything that she is obsessed with, because in world it is merely a plaything, but Laura identifies with it. Merely as she is delicate, so are the glass statuettes ; the slightest autumn will do both Laura and the statuettes to interrupt. Yes, they may besides state that the unicorn is merely one of her glass ornaments she gave to Jim and that it does non intend anything, but in actuality it proves how much Laura has grown throughout the drama. At the terminal of the drama, Laura ‘s bosom is broken when Jim tells her that he will non be able to name her because he has a girlfriend. The one time weak-minded Laura would hold had a dislocation because of this but ; alternatively she briefly gets comforted by her female parent so gets herself together, blows the tapers out and moves on. ( 329 )
Throughout the class of “ The Glass Menagerie ” Laura has been symbolized in many ways ; the blue roses, the glass menagerie, and the unicorn ; all of which symbolize her in a different ways. The bluish roses show how beautiful and alone she is. Her glass menagerie symbolizes how delicate Laura is, and the unicorn represents her growing. Laura went from a distressingly diffident, scared small miss into a more confident, unfastened immature lady.
Work Cited
Williams, Tennessee. The Glass Menagerie. Researching Literature: Writing and Arguing About Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and the Essay. Ed. Frank Madden. 4th erectile dysfunction. New York: Pearson Longman, 2009. 281-329. Print.
