EUROPEAN ACADEMIC RESEARCH

Vol. II, Issue 2/ May 2014

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Memory, Desire and the American Dream in

Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie

ABHISHEK CHOWDHURY
Ph.D Research Scholar
Department of English
University of Kalyani
India

Abstract:
Being one of the leading playwrights of the post World War II
America Tennesse Williams presents the socio-political conflicts of the
contemporary society in The Glass Menagerie in the form of a ‘memory
play’. The period which the play refers to is the Great Depression in
America in 1930s. Middle class people suffer most from this, and the
Wingfields are the representatives of this class of people. American
dream is a way of escape from this suffering, but people are unable to
reach it. This American dream is not always for material prosperity
and this dream is like a myth.

Key words: memory play, Great Depression, middle class people,

American dream, myth.

Tennessee Williams is one of the leading playwrights of the

post World War II America. He was very famous for presenting
the socio-political conflicts of the contemporary society, as well
as the people’s condition in the existing society in his plays. So
his plays appear to the reader as realistic plays. In his dramatic
career Williams wrote more than twenty full length plays but
reached the peak of popularity after the arrival of The Glass
Menagerie in 1945.This epoch making book makes Williams a
world class playwright with a distinctive voice .Through this
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Williams’ The Glass Menagerie

drama he portrays a vivid picture of the American society

during the first half of the twentieth century. Here he makes an
experiment with the dramatic technique. He divides the play
into seven scenes. There is no act division at all. He also
experiments with light, music and an onstage screen on which
words and images are projected .All these devices used here
make the play quite exceptional. However, this dissertation
analyses the significance of memory, desire and American
Dream in this play.
The play begins with an introductory speech by Tom.
Here he plays the role of a narrator. “[….] dressed as a
merchant sailor”, Tom enters the stage and, “[…] addresses the
audience” (The Glass Menagerie, 4), from the outside of the
play. As a narrator, he makes the audience familiar with the
characters, their socio-political background and also with some
strategies of the play. Actually, the playwright assigned him to
dual roles. He is both the narrator and the central character of
the drama. Thus he opens and closes the play. Here he
recollects the incidents before he left his mother and sister in a
very difficult situation of the economic depression. Except
Tom’s speech there is not much action in the play, everything is
the revelation of his point of view about the other characters of
the play. There are several loops of memories too. For example,
on the first hand, it is Tom’s memory; while on the other hand,
Amanda and Laura too recapitulate their past memory within
Tom’s memory.
All the characters in this play are obsessed with their
present condition. Amanda’s obsession is because of her
husband’s desertion in the midst of poverty and responsibility.
In this situation she is struggling as a single mother for her two
children. Her son Tom works at a shoe factory to fulfil the
needs of his family, but he desires for a successful poetic career.
For her physical disability Laura has a very little hope of
finding a husband, so she lives in her imaginary world of ‘glass
menagerie’. Thus all of them try to take refuge from their

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present condition with the help of their past memories.

As a result of this here memory is integrally related with
the desires of each character. Amanda recalls the social position
in the Blue Mountain in contrast with the present situation in
St.Louis.It gives her a scope to ignore the present condition.
Although she recapitulates those incidents to encourage Laura
because she has lost her desires to get a good ‘gentleman caller’
as her husband. It is also Amanda’s desire to see her daughter’s
future financially secured, for she knows very well that “Girls
that aren’t cut out for business careers usually wind up married
to some nice man” (The Glass Menagerie, 17). In the later part
of the play we can also see that Amanda is living in her
memories when she appears in” [….] a girlish frock of yellowed
voile with a blue silk sash” (The Glass Menagerie, 53).She was
used to wear it on Sundays to meet the gentlemen callers in her
youth. She wears it again when Jim came to their house. She
revives her youth by taking Jim as the gentleman caller.
For Laura, memory is more nostalgic in its turn. She
herself is the symbol of the ‘glass animals’ because of her fragile
and timid nature. Before the first appearance of Laura and her
glass collection on the forefront of the stage, the audience can
hear the musical piece entitled “Glass Menagerie” (The Glass
Menagerie, 10).She is afraid of the modern world, thus lives
with her glass collection. Things made of glass are very fragile
in nature because a gust of air can destroy it. In the play there
are not much instances of Laura’s memory. For the first time
she recollects the man whom she idolised at her school at the
end of the second scene. She admires him very much but does
not say anything to him. That is why when Jim O’Connor comes
to their apartment, she becomes nervous. For a few moments
she thinks that she is living her dream, but after Jim’s
revelation about his relationship with another girl, her all
hopes are shattered. And to escape it she again goes to her own
world of the glass animals and her old record player.
Tom too was obsessed with his present condition during

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the depression of thirties. His depression was due to his father’s

abandonment because he was left as the only man to earn for
his family. Tom introduces him as” a fifth character […] who
does not appear except in this larger–than-life-size photograph
over the mantle.[….] left us a long time ago” (The Glass
Menagerie, 5). The whole Wingfield family suffered for this
alcoholic ‘telephone man’ because he left them in the midst of
misfortune. But he has an overwhelming influence on the
memory of the other Wingfield characters. Amanda always
recalls him as the part of her happy life but ironically she
makes him responsible for her misfortune. On the other hand
she dislikes this alcoholic nature of Mr.Wingfield. That is why,
she worries about her son’s alcoholic nature and love for
adventure. Actually she becomes afraid of their devastating
insecure life. For Laura, her father’s memory is present in the
old victorla, which takes her into a nostalgic situation beyond
the real world. Tom is so much overwhelmed by his father’s
memory that following his father’s example he also leaves his
family, with the desire to reach the ‘South Sea Island’ of
adventure. He follows his father’s path and goes with the
Merchant Marine Naval Company leaving his mother and
sister in a critical situation. Thus he escapes from the
imprisoned life of the Wingfield apartment literally, but
actually he can not.
That is why, more than a decade after, he comes back
from his voyage and makes a very meticulous narration of the
incidents, which he recollects from his memory. The young Tom
whom we encounter in the play is the embodiment of older
Tom’s consciousness. Everything which the audience see here
is, not the action of the play but the action of Tom’s mind. Thus
memory for him is not a kind of escape, but a means to retreat
to the past. The more he tries to escape; he is more entrapped
in them. That is why at the end of the play, Tom says,
“Oh, Laura, Laura, I tried to leave you behind me, but I am
more faithful than I intended to be! I reach for a cigarette, I
cross the street, I run into the movies or a bar, I buy a drink,
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I speak to the nearest stranger---anything that can blow your

candles out![….]”(The Glass
Menagerie, 97).

Therefore, it is Tom’s feeling of guilty that haunts him during

his life of adventure and also entraps him in his memories. And
The Glass Menagerie is truly a depiction of Tom’s memory.
Here the playwright and the narrator make a very successful
use of this aspect.
Tennessee Williams portrays the real condition of the
contemporary American society in the form of a ‘memory play’.
While on the other hand, at the very beginning of the play the
narrator says,
“[….], I have tricks in my pocket, I have things up my sleeve.
But I am the opposite of a stage magician. He gives you
illusion that has the appearance of truth. I give you truth in
the pleasure disguise of illusion” (The Glass Menagerie,4).

So, from the very beginning, the narrator too, makes it clear
that the play has the touch of unreality over reality. He also
says,
“The play is a memory. Being a memory play, it is dimly
lighted, it is sentimental, it is not realistic. In memory
everything seems to happen in music. That explains the fiddle
in the wings” (The Glass Menagerie, 5).

Therefore, here the dramatist uses several stage devices to

make the drama a memory play. For instance, the episodic
structure is used to intensify the incoherent nature of memory.
Each scene is complete in itself. These are very loosely held
together with the thread of Tom’s memories. Secondly the use
of light is also very significant for the play. Throughout the play
only dim light is used to suggest the hazy atmosphere of
memory. Thirdly, the use of an onstage screen on which legends
and images are projected also plays a very important role here.
It acts like a dividing line between reality and unreality,

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between memory and real experience. But the most important

theatrical device used here is music. Sometimes music is an
internal part of the action, and sometimes it comes from the
external world. When it is within the play, both the characters
and the audience can hear it. But when it is from the outside,
the audience only can here it. For example before Tom
apologizes to Amanda the song “Ave Maria” is heard softly in
the scene four. Therefore here this song gives hint of the
probable incident of the play. All through ‘the glass menagerie’
music is like a recurrent theme of the play, it is related with
Laura and her collection of glass animals. These songs are
heard by the audience only. But the song which comes from the
Paradise Dance Hall is heard by both Tom and the audience.
The song “The World Is Waiting for the Sunshine!”(The Glass
Menagerie, 39), suggests something about the approaching
World War II and the contemporary social situation. In the
present context it suggests the news of Jim’s arrival in their
apartment, which may shine the dull life of his sister.
Nevertheless, in each cases music is related to a nostalgic
emotion, and as a memory play, the first condition of The Glass
Menagerie is also nostalgia. So music is central for this play.
Another American playwright Arthur Miller’s The Death
of a Salesman too is a memory play where the music of flute is
very important. In both plays music intensifies the nostalgic
mood of the play. But the difference between these two plays is
that Miller uses memory as a technique in the Death of a
Salesman, whereas it is both the theme and the technique in
Tennessee Williams’ play.
However, the socio-political condition of the
contemporary American society is very important for this play.
Tennessee Williams wrote The Glass Menagerie after the World
War II is over, but the period which the play refers to is
1930s.It was the time of Great Depression in America,
[….] when the huge middle class of America was matriculating
in a school for the blind. Their eyes had failed them, [….], so
they were having their fingers pressed forcibly down on the
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fiery Braille alphabet of a dissolving economy”(The Glass

Menagerie,5).

Therefore, the play also reflects on the condition of the middle

class people in the existing society.
Actually, from the very beginning of the Twentieth
century, the economic system of America is dependent on the
productive capacities of various industries. Therefore, a large
number of people from rural areas came to America in search of
job and material success. But a very few of them were able to
attain their desired success. They were largely exploited by the
existing system. And during the Great Depression country’s
economic condition faced a very hard time. The primary reason
behind this recession was the difference between the country’s
productive capacity and the people’s capacity to purchase. So
the economic system shattered, factories shut down and
resulted a large number of unemployment. Though in this
economic downturn people from every strata of society were
affected, but the condition of the middle class and the
immigrants was the worst. They have lost their individuality
and were looking for their identity.
In The Glass Menagerie, the Wingfields are the
representatives of,” [….] this largest and fundamentally
enslaved section of American society to avoid fluidity and
differentiation and to exist and function as one interfused mass
of automatism” (The Glass Menagerie, 1).Here Tom narrates
some past memories of that period of America. His family also
belongs to the agrarian south of America. But now they live in
an apartment in St. Louis, Missouri. Tennessee Williams
compares that apartment with hives and, therefore, the people
who live within it are like bees, the working class. Everybody in
this situation is obsessed with their own condition, therefore,
they try to escape from it. They try to reach their happy days of
the past with the help of their memories and desires .And these
memories and desires somehow lead them to achieve their
American Dream.
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The term American Dream has several implications, but

essentially it suggests that through hard work one can achieve
the desired thing to live happy, prosperous life. This idea is
older than the United States of America. A great number of
people from England came to the new land and established a
new country. Behind this establishment of new land their
desire was to live a prosperous life without any social or
religious bondage. Therefore, American Dream equates desire
for happiness. But attaining this prosperity is not very simple
for all the Americans. Because apparently America is a
classless society but it is not true all the time. People are
discriminated on the basis of monetary power.
In Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie some
features of American dream are also manifested through the
characters. Especially Amanda and Jim O’Connor‘s desires
truly lead them to their American Dream. Amanda’s dream
incorporates her desire to see her children prosperous and
happy in the existing society. She takes her children as
something extraordinary, therefore, ignores their deformities
and says “Both my children—they’re unusual children! Don’t
you think I know it? I’m so proud! Happy [….]” (The Glass
Menagerie, 31).She projects her aspirations on them to fulfil
her own desire, sometimes she appears as a controlling power
over Tom and Laura. So she sends her at Rubicam’s Business
College to make her future secured as a working woman. But
when she comes to know that Laura is unable to adjust herself
with the speed of the typewriter, thus leaves the institution she
becomes worried and says ,”What are we going to do, what is
going to become of us, what is the future”(The Glass
Menagerie,12)? Because she knows it very well that society will
be very harsh to a girl like Laura who lives in her own world.
She needs a financial security. So she thinks in another way to
secure Laura’s future. She seeks for a hardworking gentle man
as her husband and also tries to manage an amount of money to
spend on Laura’s wedding. She becomes so desperate that she

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calls several women to subscribe to a glamour magazine.

Her attitude to Tom is not much different from it. She
thinks that one day her son will bring them financial security
and happiness by working sincerely in the shoe company. So
she ignores the fact that tom dislikes his job and wants to get
rid of this boring lifestyle. And always gives him advice “Try
and you will succeed!” (The Glass Menagerie, 31) and to “Rise
and Shine”. All these underscore the basic features eof the
American Dream. That is why; he always reminds Tom that his
job is very much important for the security of their family. So
she dislikes Tom’s fondness of drinking, smoking and watching
movies and also says him that he has no right to jeopardize
their security by leaving them on the crisis. Even she advices
her son to reduce his smoking habit, so that he can save some
money for a night course, which will help him to improve his
career.
Although it is her desire to reach the American dream,
but like other Americans she is unable to attain it. She has the
desire to live a happy wealthy life, but what she actually does
is,
“Wished for on the moon. Success and happiness for my
precious children! I wish for that whenever there is moon, and
whenever there isn’t, I wish for it, too” (The Glass
Menagerie,40).

Except Amanda, the character of Jim O’Connor shows the true

embodiment of the American Dream. As Tom says in the first
scene that” He is the most realistic character in the play, being
an emissary from a world of reality that we were somehow set
apart from[….],he is the long-delayed but always expected
something that we live for”(The Glass Menagerie,5).In this play
he is the symbol of hope and desire. He is the high school boy
whom Laura admires and loves. He is also the gentleman caller
of the play and also desired by Amanda, for her daughter. Jim
appears in the play in the sixth scene, but from the very first
every member of Wingfield family expects someone to rescue
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them from the present condition.

But Jim is like other ordinary Americans. In his school
days he was very popular and
“seemed to move in a continual spotlight. He was a star [….]
always running or bounding, never just walking. He seemed
always at the point of defeating the law of gravity”(The Glass
Menagerie,50).

But after graduation his speed slowed down but he does not
become disappointed. He is ambitious and hard working. He
continues his study of engineering at night to improve his
condition. Thus he tries to adjust himself with the scientific
development of the modern world. Like the other characters he
does not try to escape the reality but to triumph over it. So once
he says to Laura,” I am disappointed but I am not discouraged”
(The Glass Menagerie, 78).Therefore, he represents the
unrealized dream of success which every American tries to
reach but a few can attain.
Truly he is the symbol of American dream because
Laura loves him from his school days. So she has a desire to get
him as her husband. But for her physical disability she never
expresses her feeling to him. But when Jim comes to their
apartment her desires begin to rejuvenate. But a few moments
later it again becomes unattainable for Laura because Jim is
engaged. Therefore, Laura’s American dream is not for material
prosperity but for happiness.
The dream of Tom also opposes the materialistic notion
of American dream. He does not like to work at the shoe
factory; for he thinks that there he has lost his individuality.
He dreams of a successful poetic career. According to Tom, to
succeed in such kind of dream what is needed is the desire for
adventure, because it will help him to gather experience and
knowledge. Adventure does not need much hard work too. For
that Tom takes the help of movies, magic shows, alcohol etc
.For him these are also the means of escape from the real world
to a world of fantasy and desire. So he is very much anti-
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capitalistic in his attitude. Therefore except Jim, the American

Dream in The Glass Menagerie is just like a myth for the other
characters and also integrally related to their memory and
desires.
Although in the Production Notes Tennessee Williams
himself writes,
Being a “memory play”, The Glass Menagerie can be
presented with unusual freedom of convention .Because of its
considerably delicate or tenuous material, atmospheric
touches and subtleties of direction play a particularly
important part[….] When a play employs unconventional
techniques in drama have only one valid aim, and that a
closer approach to truth.

However being a” memory play”, this play has also some

affinities with Tennessee Williams’ own life. So far as the play
is concerned, the likeness within The Glass Menagerie and
Tennessee Williams’ personal life are, the similarity between
the playwright’s childhood name and the narrator’s name, both
of them live in St.Louis, Tennessee Williams also worked in a
shoe factory and dreamt to be a successful author. His father
also emotionally abandoned them like Tom’s father” who fell in
love with long distances” (The Glass Menagerie,5).The
character of Amanda is also a reflection of the playwright’s
mother, who always wants to stick to the rituals of her bygone
days. Furthermore Laura, Tom’s shy and timid sister is also a
replica of Williams’ elder sister Rose. Thus memory is one of the
recurrent themes of this play which the dramatist used to
compelling his desire to write a play based on the real life
characters.
Although, in The Glass Menagerie, the characters are
drawn from the playwright’s own memories and experiences
but the events have not much association with the events of
playwright’s personal life .Actually he fictionalises his
memories and constructs a new story. Thus the play achieves
universality, and is not merely confined into the author’s past

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but depicts the condition of the middle-class people in the

American society during a period of transformation and conflict.

WORK CITED

Williams, Tennessee. 1999. The Glass Menagerie. New York:

New Directions. Print.

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