Glass Menagerie

In Tennessee Williams’s play The Glass Menagerie, the characters’ perspectives of reality are mixed with those of appearance. Amanda, the mother, tries to make the lives of her children perfect, but in doing so, only causes them grief and anguish. Amanda still lives in the past and sees no reason why her two children should live anything but perfect lives. However, her children, Laura, a crippled and unsociable girl; and Tom, an ambitious young man, believe they should be able to choose their own paths of life. William conveys the theme that several people feel a need to set unreasonable standards for those they love. Amanda’s unwillingness to see Laura for what she really is causes her to make expectations for Laura that are out of her reach, and forces Tom to escape his family so that he no longer feels the pressure of being good enough for his mother.
Amanda sets goals of unreachable status for her children and will not see them for what they really are. Amanda sees no ...