The Glass Menagerie is
a memory play, and its action is drawn from the
memories of the narrator, Tom Wingfield. Tom is a character in the
play, which is set in St. Louis in 1937.
He is an aspiring poet who toils in a shoe warehouse to support
his mother, Amanda, and sister, Laura. Mr. Wingfield, Tom and Laura’s
father, ran off years ago and, except for one postcard, has not
been heard from since.
Amanda, originally from a genteel Southern family, regales
her children frequently with tales of her idyllic youth and the
scores of suitors who once pursued her. She is disappointed that
Laura, who wears a brace on her leg and is painfully shy, does not
attract any gentlemen callers. She enrolls Laura in a business college,
hoping that she will make her own and the family’s fortune through
a business career. Weeks later, however, Amanda discovers that Laura’s crippling
shyness has led her to drop out of the class secretly and spend
her days wandering the city alone. Amanda then decides that Laura’s
last hope must lie in marriage and begins selling magazine subscriptions
to earn the extra money she believes will help to attract suitors
for Laura. Meanwhile, Tom, who loathes his warehouse job, finds
escape in liquor, movies, and literature, much to his mother’s chagrin.
During one of the frequent arguments between mother and son, Tom
accidentally breaks several of the glass animal figurines that are
Laura’s most prized possessions.
Amanda and Tom discuss Laura’s prospects, and Amanda
asks Tom to keep an eye out for potential suitors at the warehouse.
Tom selects Jim O’Connor, a casual friend, and invites him to dinner. Amanda
quizzes Tom about Jim and is delighted to learn that he is a driven
young man with his mind set on career advancement. She prepares
an elaborate dinner and insists that Laura wear a new dress. At
the last minute, Laura learns the name of her caller; as it turns
out, she had a devastating crush on Jim in high school. When Jim
arrives, Laura answers the door, on Amanda’s orders, and then quickly
disappears, leaving Tom and Jim alone. Tom confides to Jim that
he has used the money for his family’s electric bill to join the merchant
marine and plans to leave his job and family in search of adventure.
Laura refuses to eat dinner with the others, feigning illness. Amanda,
wearing an ostentatious dress from her glamorous youth, talks vivaciously
with Jim throughout the meal.
As dinner is ending, the lights go out as a consequence
of the unpaid electric bill. The characters light candles, and Amanda encourages
Jim to entertain Laura in the living room while she and Tom clean
up. Laura is at first paralyzed by Jim’s presence, but his warm
and open behavior soon draws her out of her shell. She confesses
that she knew and liked him in high school but was too shy to approach
him. They continue talking, and Laura reminds him of the nickname
he had given her: “Blue Roses,” an accidental corruption of pleurosis,
an illness Laura had in high school. He reproaches her
for her shyness and low self-esteem but praises her uniqueness. Laura
then ventures to show him her favorite glass animal, a unicorn.
Jim dances with her, but in the process, he accidentally knocks over
the unicorn, breaking off its horn. Laura is forgiving, noting that
now the unicorn is a normal horse. Jim then kisses her, but he quickly
draws back and apologizes, explaining that he was carried away by
the moment and that he actually has a serious girlfriend. Resigned,
Laura offers him the broken unicorn as a souvenir.
Amanda enters the living room, full of good cheer. Jim
hastily explains that he must leave because of an appointment with
his fiancée. Amanda sees him off warmly but, after he is gone, turns
on Tom, who had not known that Jim was engaged. Amanda accuses Tom
of being an inattentive, selfish dreamer and then throws herself into
comforting Laura. From the fire escape outside of their apartment,
Tom watches the two women and explains that, not long after Jim’s
visit, he gets fired from his job and leaves Amanda and Laura behind.
Years later, though he travels far, he finds that he is unable to leave
behind guilty memories of Laura.
