Essay on "Glass Menagerie the Autobiographical Pretenses"

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Essay 3 pages (1023 words) Sources: 2 Style: MLA

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Glass Menagerie

The Autobiographical Pretenses of the Glass Menagerie

A textual analysis of Williams' work must be entered with a thorough understanding of his biographical experiences. Though these do not form the basis for an analysis of his literature, which may stand up to critical scrutiny apart from the figure of the writer, the details of Tennessee Williams' life form a compelling backdrop for the settings, subjects and ideals purported within his work. Thus, a consideration of the biographical context of the 1945 play, The Glass Menagerie, will be useful and illuminating as we venture to interpret the moral intentions this work.

This is certainly true from a consideration of his childhood and early adulthood in St. Louis. Williams would feel himself quite personally alienated by the aggressive, almost archaic behavior of the blue collar classes in this southern city. As such though, St. Louis would be a veritable incubator for the birth of Williams' imaginary south. "Remembering the South as a kind of "prelapsarian Paradise" (xii), Williams later transformed memories of people he met or knew into immortal characters, and their distinctive use of southern speech became, in Williams's romantic imagination, a medium of poetic expression at once universal in appeal and importance." (Holditch et al., 1)

Most significant among the figures that would become his archetypal southern models would be his sister Rose. Her relevance to the direction of his career cannot be overstated. Afflicted by grave emotional disturbance even as she served to influence Williams tremendously in both disposition and intellect, Rose's descent into sch

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izophrenia would provoke one of the determinant events in his life.

His "transfer to the University of Iowa took him away from home in the fall, so he was absent when Rose's doctors convinced her parents that a prefrontal lobotomy was the only possibility for cure. Williams blamed his mother, who in turn claimed that her husband, Cornelius, made the final decision. Clearly, however, the family shared the burden for what happened to Rose, and no matter what he said, Williams would seek many times to exorcise his guilt over Rose's illness." (O'Connor, 3) This is an important moment in his life, for without question, Rose's figure looms like a ghost in the world of the playwright. Her mental illness haunts the author, and indeed, so many of his figures.

More even than this, though, the presence of such a stigma, shared guilt and volleyed recrimination within a family can be observed to have deprived Williams of the refuge which a home should be. As a consequence, home is so often a place made intolerable by the resentment gravitating around its inhabitants in his plays. Tom's disposition in The Glass Menagerie depicts home as nothing less than a prison to his desires, emotions and ambitions. More so, Williams would battle throughout his life with his own mental illness, perhaps never fully succumbing to and yet never fully overcoming his affliction. The forced mental incapacitation of his sister can perhaps be seen both in his frequent depiction of society as quite literally forcing normalcy upon… READ MORE

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Quoted Instructions for "Glass Menagerie the Autobiographical Pretenses" Assignment:

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I need a 3 page essay that follows the guidelines of my abstract (below). I would like to request the ***** who wrote my abstract:

Order ID: 103398

Topic: Glass Menagerie

*****s Username: *****

If ***** is the ***** of this essay, please notice that I changed the abstract you wrote a little bit, so please follow my abstract.

In this 3 page essay I need 2 sources cited within the paper. One book is already provided, however I need it cited within the essay. The book is written by Nicholas Pagan, titled: Rethinking Literary Biography: A Postmodern Approach to Tennessee Williams. I need one more source cited in the paper preferabily an article or book, however it can be a reliable internet source. And I need to know how to cite it on my works cited page in MLA. The source doesn't have to be about the glass menagerie, it can be about psychoanalysis.

Below is my abstract, so please use it as a guide for the essay.

Abstract

*****The Glass Menagerie***** is told entirely from the viewpoint of Tom, who is somewhat a representative of the author, Tennessee Williams. This play is largely a way for Tom (and Tennessee) to rationalize away the guilt he feels at being unable to help his sister. This thesis is important to me because it addresses the reasons behind the creation of the play. In addition, the issue of narration interested me, because the perspective of the play is essential to its interpretation. This makes the research helpful to all who wish to fully understand the play.

Because Tom is the narrator of the entire play, everything is seen as he relates it. Every instance could be used in the development of this paper. Especially important moments include the Blue Roses story and the breaking of the unicorn. Even though these experiences show Laura with Jim rather than Tom, they are the clearest evidences of Tom*****s inability to protect his sister and help her lead a normal life. Tom*****s monologue is also highly important, as it shows him justifying his actions and feeling guilty over them.

The critical approach used in this paper will be psychoanalysis. An understanding of Tennessee Williams***** relationship with his real-life sister Rose sheds some light on the origins of the play*****s story. The psychoanalysis of Tom*****s character will reveal the guilt he feels towards his sister and how it is tied to his relationship with his mother.

Nicholas Pagan*****s book Rethinking Literary Biography: A Postmodern Approach to Tennessee Williams is an interesting look at the author*****s life and how it intersects with his literary work. There are portions of the book that would help support my thesis, as well as some conclusions that Pagan draws that disagree. Both of these would be useful in clarifying and proving my point.

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