The Opening of Glass Menagerie Essay - 1000 Words

The Opening of Glass Menagerie The opening of Glass Menagerie is key in establishing themes, relationships, dramatic conventions character symbolism and style. Discuss. The opening of the play ‘Glass Menagerie’ let the audience know about various elements of the play such as themes, relationships, characters and dramatic conventions. This was done by detailed description of the setting and the narrator, Tom informing the audience. The main themes of the play could be found in the opening. The fact that the play was about memory had been made clear in the beginning with the line, â€Å"the scene is memory†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Once again confirmed very clearly by Tom who said, â€Å"the play is memory.† The audience could easily interpret that†¦show more content†¦Amanda was the obvious case of denying it. When Laura told her â€Å"I don’t believe we’re going to receive any† gentleman callers she frantically yelled â€Å"not one gentleman caller? It can’t be true!† Escaping was another main theme of the play which was introduced in the beginning. This theme was mostly related to Tom who always wanted to escape from Amanda and his hopeless, tedious and meaningless life. Tom addressed the audience in the beginning of the play standing near the fire-escape. The fire-escape was used to enter the apartment but to Tom, it was more than that. His frequent outing to the movies, which was his means of escaping from Amanda and his depressing life, was all done through the fire-escape. However, the audience were made aware of the fact that his escape in the end was not so delightful as the thought of leaving Laura haunted him after he left her. â€Å"Oh Laura, Laura, I tried to leave you behind me, but I am more faithful than I intended to be.† Maybe Williams was trying to say such thing, as a true escape did not exist in the first place. Relationships between the main characters and the characteristics of them were established in the opening. The most prominent ones would be the relationship between Amanda and Tom and Amanda and Laura. These two were contrasting due to theShow MoreRelated Tennessee Williams The Glass Menagerie Essay936 Words   |  4 PagesTennessee Williams The Glass Menagerie If The Glass Menagerie were performed without the effects Williams wrote into the script, then the play would barely have a plot. Williams use of music, lighting and a television screen add depth and meaning to the play. He uses effects to portray the feelings of the characters, rather than their words or actions. In Toms opening speech he states thatThe play is memory. Because it is about his memories of his mother and her memories. 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