Glass Menagerie and Mother Essay

Open, View, and/or
Download this Document

Total Length: 775 words ( 3 double-spaced pages)

Total Sources: 1

Page 1 of 3

Williams and His Work

Williams used the theater as a way to vent his own heart -- as Lahr notes, the playwright produced works that allowed him "to be simple, direct and terrible" (Lahr xiv). Thus, Williams' plays were "an emotional autobiography" (Lahr xiv). Beginning with his first success, The Glass Menagerie, Williams showed that he would draw from his own life and experiences to put something dramatic on the stage to which people would respond. It was his way of talking to the world and opening up.

Some of the unique things we learn about Williams' life are the fact that the more he tried to open up and show his own heart on the stage, the more his real heart disappeared and became a "leftover" thing (Lahr 377). His writing became his real life in a sense, and his real life became a scrap -- a shell. Williams would also clash with his actors, actresses and producers. For example, with Menagerie, he complained that one of the actresses cast did not resemble his mother, who was a lady -- and later with Sweet Birth of Youth, he clashed with Kazan even as he attempted to become one with the directer so that there was no space between them and no gaps between what Williams intended and what managed to get on stage.

Stuck Writing Your "Glass Menagerie and Mother" Essay?

View All Our Example Glass Menagerie and Mother Essay

Have A Custom Example Essay Written

Williams became paranoid that others were trying to subvert his work and his intentions. He wrote about characters full of self-loathing even as he loathed himself. Perhaps one of the reasons for this was his sexual life, which existed at a time before homosexuality was accepted in public.

Thus, it could be that Williams' plays really do reflect his own character, heart and mind -- for just as he struggled to understand himself and present something true on stage, his own personal life never arrived at a place where he might be happy and serene. His feeling was basically like that of Chance or Tom or any of the other characters he wrote about: all fleeing something -- some truth, some unpleasant reality -- home, life, something. Just like Tom turned his back on his home, Williams was turning his back on an idea -- an idea that he could be a real person. He sought real life in his plays, in drama, in the stage; and meanwhile real life eluded him in his own life.….....

Show More ⇣

     Open the full completed essay and source list


OR

     Order a one-of-a-kind custom essay on this topic


sample essay writing service

Cite This Resource:

Latest APA Format (6th edition)

Copy Reference
"Glass Menagerie And Mother" (2016, October 13) Retrieved May 22, 2025, from
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/glass-menagerie-mother-2162722

Latest MLA Format (8th edition)

Copy Reference
"Glass Menagerie And Mother" 13 October 2016. Web.22 May. 2025. <
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/glass-menagerie-mother-2162722>

Latest Chicago Format (16th edition)

Copy Reference
"Glass Menagerie And Mother", 13 October 2016, Accessed.22 May. 2025,
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/glass-menagerie-mother-2162722
   

Open, View, and/or
Download this Document
order custom essay example