Illusion and Escapism in Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie

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Illusion and Escapism in Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie
Introduction
Synopsis
The play “The Glass Menagerie” by Tennessee Williams is largely a flashback about the Wingfields’ family shortly after the Great Depression. The story of the play is narrated by Tom Wingfield, the son of Mr. Wingfield and Mrs. Amanda Wingfiled. The play opens with Tom revealing that his father had deserted the family, leaving him to take care of his mother and sister, Laura. However, Tom is disillusioned about his present circumstances, and he tries to forget about his frustrations by getting drunk, gambling and going to the movies. On her part, Laura has withdrawn to her loneliness and collections of toys, which she uses to escape from and forget about the outside world. One of her legs is shorter than the other, and because of this she thinks that no man will want to marry her. As a result, she is suffering from low self-esteem, the reason why she does not want to interact with the outside world; she wants to hide her shortcomings. In contrast, their mother Amanda is hopeful and ambitious for her children, since she strongly believes that things will turn out for the better. She tries to make a positive change in their lives by encouraging Laura to enroll for a business course while asking her son to avoid the movies and alcohol. Regardless, the fact that each character views the world differently and are driven by different motivations- Tom to escape from his family obligations, Laura to hide her inadequacies from the outside world, and Amanda success for her children- suggests that the Wingfield family is not only existing under extreme tensions, but more seriously, drifting apart.
Thesis
The play’s setting, shortly after the Great Depression, a period when most American families were struggling financially, gives a clear hint of the thematic concerns that Williams explores in his play. Specifically, it points to the significance of socio-economic factors in family functioning. In addition, it suggests the role of parents in holding the family together and influencing the future of their children. In this regard, this essay examines the effects of changing socio-economic conditions on the family institution. It employs a realist perspective to show how frustrations and disillusionment about life forces individuals to escape from reality by living an illusionary life. It argues that the play’s characters are unable to come to terms with their socio-economic conditions, as they have chosen to escape into their private worlds of glass animals for Laura, Amanda into her glorious youth and dreams about her children’s prospects, and Tom to movies and alcohol.
Discussion
The absence of a father and husband is the first indication that the Wingfield family is dysfunctional. Although Mr. Winglfield has been away for many years and has never concerned himself with his family’s welfare, his photography still hangs in the living room, and everywhere on stage. While his absence is significant in suggesting family tensions, the presence of his picture, an image or copy of the real thing, suggests that the remaining Winglfield members are reluctant to accept reality- that there is no father and husband figure in the family. The reality is that Mr. Wingfiled has deserted his family. However, the characters in the play cling on to his photography to create the illusion that he is still there. Tom enforces this understanding when he 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 (Williams 4).
The absence of a father figure is one of the social realities that affected many American families at the time of the play’s setting. While some had dies in World War One, many were away working in the cities. Williamson infuses this reality into the play to portray the social constraints that families suffer when one parent is not there, either as a result of death, divorce, or job commitments. The loss of a father figure in The Glass Menagerie compels each of the characters to create their own “imaginary realities” as a way of escaping from the harsh realities of their actual circumstances (Janardan 27). Although Amanda tries to give her family a sense of direction despite the absence of a father figure, her ambitions are out of touch with reality because they are colored by the social circumstances of her youth, which are different from the realities of her children. For instance, she believes that Laura will be successful in life if only she can get a good man to marry her. She thinks that she should try and attract a gentleman like Jim to free her from her present situation. However, every prospective gentleman is struggling to achieve financial success and has little desire to start a family, portrayed by Jim’s wish to advance his education and become a company executive. However, Amanda is unaware of, or chooses to ignore, the socio-economic pressure than many young men are undergoing in the post-Depression period, which has made them to shelve marriage plans until they are financially stable.
The idea of Tom playing a father’s role, and his mother’s expectation for him to fit into his father’s shoes, is another indication of the illusory life that the characters in the play are living. At his age, Tom is not mature enough to assume the responsibilities of a father figure for his sister and the family. The responsibility of being the family’s breadwinner has rather been forced upon him by the absence of his father. The pressure of being the family’s breadwinner is heightened when his mother makes it clear that he’s expected to pay rent and get a marriage partner for Laura. Amanda is “stung by the Depression,” and expects her son to be the family’s saviour (Bloom 72). At the same time, she is keen to raise a family that appears to be normal and functional by demanding of her son to avoid going to the movies and drinking so as to allow him commit his time in taking care of the family. This is a lie, of course, not simply because Tom is unable to fully meet a father and husband’s obligations, but more so because he is unwilling to play these responsibilities. It is suggestive, indeed, that most of the times he comes on stage, and every time he complains about his present conditions, he is standing at the fire escape landing- an escape from the burdens he has been forced to shoulder, “the slow and implacable fires of human desperation” burning in the Wingfield household (Tueth 2013). In fact, he is gradually leaning toward deserting the family, a possibility that his mother suspects. She tries to prevent him from leaving by cautioning him against his outdoor tendencies, recalling that it was lifestyle that eventually made his father to drift away. She laments that her husband deserted the family because he “fell in love with long distances” (Williams 49). Tom is also falling in love with long distances by dreaming of getting away in search of adventure. He complains that he is not happy with his present life; it lacks excitement and adventure. The adventure and excitement he seeks in movies and in literature- he writes poems and reads literary works- is not fulfilling, hence his longing to go somewhere far away from his home.
Tom’s fascination with literature also portrays his desire to escape from reality (Vera 2013). Literature, by its very nature, is a mirror of reality, but it is not reality itself. It tries to portray what happens in reality. However, the elements of imagination and creativity in the creation of literature make it unreal. Tom finds this world of literature, with its imaginary and exaggerated depictions of reality, alluring, though not quite satisfying. Despite its failure to satisfy him, the fact that Tom finds literature fascinating and alluring portrays his alienation from reality. The romanticism of literature and poetry depicts the world that Tom could wish to live in, characterized by being free from the cares of the world as well as the social and economical constrains of his present life. However, this life is out of reach; in fact, it is unattainable for the very reason that it does not exist, it i...