All Students
Summer Reading: The Glass Menagerie
The Glass Menagerie, by Tennessee Williams
Summer Reading Response
We will have a unique opportunity to attend a live performance of Tennessee William’s famous
play The Glass Menagerie at the Weston Playhouse shortly after you arrive in September. We
ask that you read the play and respond to the Summer Reading assignment below preparation for
our theater visit. It’s also a nice idea to try to watch one of the many versions that are available
on DVD and via stream.
As a bit of background, Tennessee Williams is one of America’s most famous playwrights, and
The Glass Menagerie is one of his most famous plays. He led a life filled with personal
challenges, and these are often reflected in his plays. He described The Glass Menagerie, set in
St. Louis in1937, as a “memory play”, and it is narrated by one of its main characters, Tom
Wingfield. If you’re interested in more about Tennessee Williams life, you might start here:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0931783/bio
Some central themes that you can focus on as you read include:
• illusion vs. reality and the difficulty of accepting one’s situation (pay close attention to
the reality of the family versus the individual illusions to which each member seems to
cling)
• the role of familial responsibility and duty in determining one’s actions
• personal dreams and aspirations vs. one’s duty to family
• loneliness and ways of escape
• memory and the past
• self-delusion
You might address some of these as you answer the writing responses below.
Assignment: In comprehensive paragraph form, please answer five of the following prompts.
Whenever possible, please use quotes from the play to support your answers. When citing from
the play, please remember to include the page number in parentheses at the end of your sentence
(we will work on citation methods during the school year). All summer reading responses will be
submitted to Turnitin on the first day of school:
(the following prompts were provided by or adapted from the Weston Playhouse Study Guide for
the play).
1. As a child, Tennessee Williams and his family moved from Mississippi to St. Louis,
Missouri. Williams reflected on this as a traumatic time in his life. He described his life
in St. Louis as “fairly lonely and miserable”. Why did he choose to set his play in St.
Louis? How are some of his feelings from his youth reflected through characters in the
play? Use specific examples to support your answer.
2. Choose at least two characters and create a complete character portrait based on
information in the play. Pay attention to both what the character say, as well as how
others describe them. Importantly, pay close attention to William’s detailed stage and
character description. Write an extensive paragraph highlighting some of these character
traits for each character you choose.
3. Amanda uses her soliloquies to temporarily escape from the situation in which she finds
herself. It can be argues that she also reminisces in order to encourage Laura and to spark
hope and purpose in her daughter. Do you believe Amanda’s description of her past is
accurate? Why or why not?
4. The apartment building in which the Wingfield family resides is described as a building
that is “always burning with the slow and implacable fires of human desperation.” What
does Tennessee Williams mean by this description? Explain its relevance for each of the
Wingfields.
5. Amanda becomes very upset when Laura confesses that she has not been going to
business school. She accuses Laura of deliberate deception and seems more concerned
about how this duplicity will reflect on her than about what it implies for Laura. Why do
you think this is so? What truth does the revelation of Laura’s truancy force Amanda to
face about her daughter? What steps does Amanda take in order to surmount this apparent
defeat? What does this tell you about Amanda’s determination?
6. In response to Amanda’s inquiry, Tom replies that he goes to the movies so often because
“I like adventure. Adventure is something I don’t have much of at work, so I go to the
movies.” Why is adventure so important to Tom? What else does he do to fulfill his
desire for adventure?
7. Amanda states, “my devotion has made me a witch and so I make myself hateful to my
children.” Why does she say this to Tom? How does Tom respond to her statement? Do
you feel that her statement is an honest self-evaluation, or is she trying to manipulate
Tom’s feelings for another purpose? Support your opinion.
8. Laura’s extreme shyness and sense of insecurity do not allow her to function well in
social situations other than those involving her mother and brother. When she feels
pressured, her feelings manifest themselves as symptoms of physical illness. Explain why
Jim’s impending visit causes the same nervous and sick feelings in Laura. Why does she
feel as if she is in a pressure situation? From what source or sources does that pressure
come?
9. Amanda says that she wants only the best for her children, and is determined that they
shall have the best, but she fails to understand that what they want may be different from
what she wants for them. Explain these differences. Is this situation unique to the
Wingfield family? Can you find any other examples of disparity between a parent’s
desire for a good future for his/her offspring and the desires of the offspring in other
plays? In films? Literature? Life?
10. In what ways do we see Laura’s personality change during her conversation with Jim?
Why does she change? Would this alteration have occurred if they had met in a place
other than Laura’s home?
11. What significance can we attach in terms of Laura’s future to the breaking of the
unicorn’s horn? Why does Laura give the broken animal to Jim as a “souvenir?”