2. This discussion is about one objective. It is to study
the reflection of William’s own life poured in the play.
The expressive approach is used in this analysis.
This drama is the reflection of playwright’s own life.
It is a story of unhappy family life after being
deserted by the father and the daughter has problem
in socializing.
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3. EXPRESSIVE APPROACH
An approach that focuses its attention to the man of letters as a
composer or the author of literary work.
AUTHOR
WORKS
( IDEAS, EMOSION, EXPERIENCES )
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4. Because this approach is an approach that associates a literary work by
the author.
The first step in applying the expressive approach, a critic must know
the biography of the author of literary works that will be studied.
The second step is interpreting the understanding of the elements
contained in the literature, such as theme, style / diction, imagery, and
so on.
The third step, declare the results of the measurement is based on a
review of psychological / psychiatric author.
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5. The Glass Menagerie is a four-character memory play
by Tennessee Williams which premiered in 1944 and
catapulted Williams from obscurity to fame.
Published
: 1945
Playwright
: Tennessee Williams
Characters
: Amanda Wingfield, Laura Wingfield,
Tom Wingfield, and Jim O’connor.
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6. THE SYNOPSIS
The action of the play centers on Tom, his mother Amanda, and his sister Laura. In 1937
they live together in a small apartment in St. Louis. Their father abandoned them years
earlier, and Tom is now the family's breadwinner. He works at the Continental Shoemakers
warehouse during the day, but he disappears nightly "to the movies." Amanda is a loving
mother, but her meddling and nagging are hard to live with for Tom, who is a grown man
and who earns the wages that support the entire family. Laura is a frightened and terribly
shy girl, with unbelievably weak nerves. She is also slightly lame in one leg, and she
seldom leaves the apartment of her own volition. She busies herself caring for her "glass
menagerie," a collection of delicate little glass animals.
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7. Amanda dreams constantly of the long-ago days when she was a young Southern belle
and the darling of her small town's social scene. She enrolled Laura in classes at
Rubicam's Business College, hoping that a career in business would make Laura selfsufficient. She discovers that Laura stopped attending class a long time ago, because the
speed tests on the typewriter terrified her. After the fiasco at Rubicam's, Amanda gives
up on a business career for Laura and puts all her hopes into finding a husband for her.
Amanda's relationship with Tom is difficult. Tom longs to be free – like his father - to
abandon Amanda and Laura and set off into the world. He has stayed because of his
responsibility for them, but his mother's nagging and his frail sister's idiosyncrasies make
the apartment a depressing and oppressive place. Tom also hates his job. His only
escape comes from his frequent visits to the movies, but his nightly disappearances
anger and baffle Amanda. He fights with Amanda all the time, and the situation at home
grows more unbearable.
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8. Amanda, sensing that Tom wants to leave, tries to make a deal with him. If Tom and
Amanda can find a husband for Laura, a man who can take care of her, then Tom will
be free of his responsibility to them. Amanda asks Tom to bring home gentlemen
callers to meet Laura. Tom brings home Jim O'Connor, a fellow employee at the
warehouse. He is an outgoing and enthusiastic man on whom Laura had a terrible
crush in high school. Jim chats with Laura, growing increasingly flirtatious, until he
finally kisses her. Then he admits that he has a fiancé and cannot call again. For
fragile Laura, the news is devastating.
Amanda is furious, and after Jim leaves she accuses Tom of playing a cruel joke on
them. Amanda and Tom have one final fight, and not long afterward Tom leaves for
good. In his closing monologue, he admits that he cannot escape the memory of his
sister. Though he abandoned her years ago, Laura still haunts him.
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9. Thomas Lanier "Tennessee" Williams III (March 26, 1911
– February 25, 1983) was an American best known playwright,
author of many stage classics. He was born of English, Welsh and
Huguenot descent, in Columbus, Mississippi, the second child of
Edwina (née Dakin) and Cornelius Coffin (C.C.) Williams.
His father, Cornelius Williams had a violent temper and
was a man prone to use his fists. He disdained his son's
effeminacy and his mother Edwina, locked in an unhappy
marriage, focused her overbearing attention almost entirely on her
frail young son. Many critics and historians note that Williams
found inspiration for much of his writing in his own dysfunctional
family.
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10. By the mid-1930s his father's increasing alcoholism and abusive temper (he
had part of his ear bitten off in a poker game fight) finally led Edwina to separate from
him, although they never divorced.
Throughout his life Williams remained close to his sister Rose who was
diagnosed with schizophrenia as a young woman. In 1943, as her behavior became
increasingly disturbing, she was subjected to a lobotomy, unfortunately with disastrous
results, and was subsequently institutionalized for the rest of her life. As soon as he was
financially able to, Williams had her moved to a private institution just north of New York
City where he often visited her. He gave her a percentage interest in several of his most
successful plays, the royalties from which were applied toward her care. The
devastating effects of Rose's illness may have contributed to Williams' alcoholism and
his dependence on various combinations of amphetamines and barbiturates.
On February 25, 1983, Williams was found dead in his suite at the Elysee Hotel
in New York at age of 71.
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11. CHARACTER AND CHARATERIZATION
1.
Amanda Wingfield - Laura and Tom’s mother. A proud, vivacious woman, Amanda clings fervently to memories of a vanished,
genteel past. She is simultaneously admirable, charming, pitiable, and laughable.
2.
Laura Wingfield - Amanda’s daughter and Tom’s older sister. Laura has a bad leg, on which she has to wear a brace, and walks
with a limp. Twenty-three years old and painfully shy, she has largely withdrawn from the outside world and devotes herself to
old records and her collection of glass figurines.
3.
Tom Wingfield - Amanda’s son and Laura’s younger brother. An aspiring poet, Tom works at a shoe warehouse to support the
family. He is frustrated by the numbing routine of his job and escapes from it through movies, literature, and alcohol.
4.
Jim O’Connor - An old acquaintance of Tom and Laura. Jim was a popular athlete in high school and is now a shipping clerk at
the shoe warehouse in which Tom works. He is unwaveringly devoted to goals of professional achievement and ideals of
personal success.
5.
Mr. Wingfield - Amanda’s husband and Laura and Tom’s father. Mr. Wingfield was a handsome man who worked for a telephone
company. He abandoned his family years before the action of the play and never appears onstage. His picture, however, is
prominently displayed in the Wingfields’ living room.
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12. THEME
A story of unhappy family life after being deserted by the father.
SETTING
In the house of that family only
PLOT
The drama of the glass menagerei using chronological or progressive plot. This story really
starts from the exposition, complication, climax, and ending with troubleshooting. The author
presents the story in sequence or in nature. This means that the order of time sequence of
events A, B, C, D and so on.
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13. The play the glass menagerie is truly a reflection of the playwright’s life,
including his family’s and his own life’s experiences. The setting of The Glass
Menagerie comes through in the Wingfield family’s daily life. It can be seen after
this next slide.
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14.
Similarities between The Glass Menagerei and Williams’s Life:
Williams' father, a traveling salesman, was transferred to the home office
in St. Louis.
Williams also work in a shoe factory before going to a university and
starting to write.
Mother -- lives in the old glory of Southern belle.
Sister – suffers from mental problems.
Differences:
The father does not leave them behind.
William takes care of his sister off and on;
There are two brothers; the family situation is not that bad.
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15. Characters in his plays are often seen as representations of his
family members. Laura Wingfield in The Glass Menagerie was
understood to be modeled on Rose. Some biographers believed that
the character of Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire is also
based on her. Amanda Wingfield in The Glass Menagerie was
generally seen to represent Williams' mother, Edwina. Characters
such as Tom Wingfield in The Glass Menagerie and Sebastian in
Suddenly, Last Summer were understood to represent Williams
himself.
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