The Glass Menagerie Symbols and Themes Storyboard
You can find this storyboard in the following articles and resources:
The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams
Lesson Plans by Kristy Littlehale
Tennessee Williams was known to draw heavily on his own life and family experiences in his works, and his breakout play, The Glass Menagerie. The work highlights many of the tumultuous and labored decisions he himself felt as a young man. Learn more and engage students with these activities!
Storyboard Description
The Glass Menagerie Themes, Symbols, and Motifs
Storyboard Text
- EXAMPLES
- THE GLASS MENAGERIE
- THE GENTLEMAN CALLER
- THE MOVIES
- Robert Smith and Willa Rogers in: Travel the World with Me!
- LIGHT
- The glass menagerie collection mirrors Laura’s own inner self. It is fragile and delicate, with a beauty that comes out with light, and with people who bring out that light. Unfortunately, however, the glass collection is not really useful for anything other than admiration; it does not have a function.
- Tom himself says that the gentleman caller is not really the point of the play; instead, it is a symbol of “the long-delayed but always expected something that we live for.” The gentleman caller gives Amanda purpose, in order to ensure a good future for her daughter. The caller is another source of anxiety for Laura.
- The movies are an escape for Tom from his duties at home to his sister and mother, and from the societal pressures that keep him stuck in his position at the shoe warehouse. Tom sees the movies as a way to live life vicariously through the characters on the screen, to travel and move as much as they do.
- Light highlights the emotional attachments to Tom in his memory. The rose-colored light of the lamp in the living room seems to reflect an inner light coming from Laura with Jim. Light also plays off the glass animals, highlighting their inner beauty, a symbol of her own. The lights going out in the apartment create a mood of romance and mystery.
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