The Glass Menagerie is a memory play by Tennessee Williams that premiered in 1944 and catapulted Williams from obscurity to fame. The play has strong autobiographical elements, featuring characters based on its author, his histrionic mother, and his mentally fragile sister Rose. In writing the play, Williams drew on an earlier short story, as well as a screenplay he had written under the title of The Gentleman Caller.
The play premiered in Chicago in 1944. After a shaky start it was championed by Chicago critics Ashton Stevens and Claudia Cassidy, whose enthusiasm helped build audiences so the producers could move the play to Broadway where it won the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award in 1945. The Glass Menagerie was Williams' first successful play; he went on to become one of America's most highly regarded playwrights.
Video The Glass Menagerie
Characters
- Amanda Wingfield
A faded Southern belle, abandoned by her husband, who is trying to raise her two children under harsh financial conditions. Amanda yearns for the comforts of her youth and also longs for her children to have the same comforts, but her devotion to them has made her - as she admits at one point - almost "hateful" towards them.
- Tom Wingfield
Amanda's son. Tom works at a shoe warehouse to support his family but is frustrated by his job and aspires to be a poet. He struggles to write, all the while being sleep-deprived and irritable. Yet, he escapes from reality through nightly excursions to the movies, but also to local bars. It is loosely implied that he is a closeted homosexual and his excursions might actually involve anonymous encounters with random men. Tom feels both obligated toward yet burdened by his family and longs to escape.
- Laura Wingfield
Amanda's daughter and Tom's older sister. A childhood illness has left her with a limp, and she has a mental fragility and an inferiority complex that have isolated her from the outside world. She has created a world of her own symbolized by her collection of glass figurines. The unicorn may represent Laura because it is unique and fragile.
- Jim O'Connor
An old high school acquaintance of Tom and Laura. Jim was a popular athlete and actor during his days at Soldan High School. Subsequent years have been less kind to Jim; however, and by the time of the play's action, he is working as a shipping clerk at the same shoe warehouse as Tom. His hope to shine again is conveyed by his study of public speaking and ideas of self-improvement that appear related to those of Dale Carnegie.
- Mr. Wingfield
Amanda's absentee husband, and Laura's and Tom's father. Mr. Wingfield was a handsome man, full of charm, who worked for a telephone company and eventually "fell in love with long distance," abandoning his family 16 years prior to the play's action. Although he does not appear onstage, Mr. Wingfield is frequently referred to by Amanda, and his picture is prominently displayed in the Wingfields' living room. This unseen character appears to incorporate elements of Williams' own father.
Maps The Glass Menagerie
Plot summary
The play is introduced to the audience by Tom, the narrator and protagonist, as a memory play based on his recollection of his mother Amanda and his sister Laura. Because the play is based on memory, Tom cautions the audience that what they see may not be precisely what happened.
Amanda Wingfield, a faded Southern belle of middle age, shares a dingy St. Louis apartment with her son Tom, in his early twenties, and his slightly older sister, Laura. Although she is a survivor and a pragmatist, Amanda yearns for the comforts and admiration she remembers from her days as a fêted debutante. She worries especially about the future of her daughter Laura, a young woman with a limp (an after-effect of a bout of polio) and a tremulous insecurity about the outside world. Tom works in a shoe warehouse doing his best to support the family. He chafes under the banality and boredom of everyday life and struggles to write, while spending much of his spare time going to the movies -- or so he says -- at all hours of the night.
Amanda is obsessed with finding a suitor (or, as she puts it, a "gentleman caller") for Laura, her daughter, whose crippling shyness has led her to drop out of both high school and a subsequent secretarial course, and who spends much of her time polishing and arranging her collection of little glass animals. Pressured by his mother to help find a caller for Laura, Tom invites an acquaintance from work named Jim home for dinner.
The delighted Amanda spruces up the apartment, prepares a special dinner, and converses coquettishly with Jim, almost reliving her youth when she had an abundance of suitors calling on her. Laura discovers that Jim is the boy she was attracted to in high school and has often thought of since, though the relationship between the shy Laura and the "most likely to succeed" Jim was never more than a distant, teasing acquaintanceship. Initially, Laura is so overcome by shyness that she is unable to join the others at dinner, and she claims to be ill. After dinner, however, Jim and Laura are left alone by candlelight in the living room, waiting for the electricity to be restored. (Tom has not paid the power bill, which hints to the audience that he is banking the bill money and preparing to leave the household.) As the evening progresses, Jim recognizes Laura's feelings of inferiority and encourages her to think better of herself. He and Laura share a quiet dance, in which he accidentally brushes against her glass menagerie, knocking a glass unicorn to the floor and breaking off its horn. Jim then compliments Laura and kisses her. After Jim tells Laura that he is engaged to be married, Laura asks him to take the broken unicorn as a gift and he then leaves. When Amanda learns that Jim is to be married, she turns her anger upon Tom and cruelly lashes out at him, although Tom did not know that Jim was engaged. In fact, Tom seems quite surprised by this, and it is possible that Jim was only making up the story of the engagement as he felt that the family was trying to set him up with Laura, and he had no romantic interest in her.
The play concludes with Tom saying that he left home soon afterward and never returned. He then bids farewell to his mother and sister, and asks Laura to blow out the candles.
Original Broadway cast
The Glass Menagerie opened on Broadway in the Playhouse Theatre on March 31, 1945, and played there until June 29, 1946. It then moved to the Royale Theatre from July 1, 1946, until its closing on August 3, 1946. The show was directed by Eddie Dowling and Margo Jones. The cast for opening night was as follows:
- Eddie Dowling as Tom Wingfield
- Laurette Taylor as Amanda Wingfield
- Julie Haydon as Laura Wingfield
- Anthony Ross as Jim O'Connor
Laurette Taylor's performance as Amanda set a standard against which subsequent actresses taking the role were to be judged, typically to their disadvantage. In the 2004 documentary Broadway: The Golden Age, by the Legends Who Were There, Broadway veterans rank Taylor's performance as the most memorable of their lives.
The play won the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award as Best American Play. Williams gave credit to two Chicago critics, Claudia Cassidy and Ashton Stevens, for "giving him a 'start...in a fashion'..." Cassidy wrote that the play had "the stamina of success ..." Stevens wrote that the play had "the courage of true poetry ..."
Autobiographical elements
The characters and story mimic Williams' own life more closely than any of his other works. Williams (whose real name was Thomas) closely resembles Tom; his mother, Amanda. His sickly and mentally unstable older sister Rose provides the basis for the fragile Laura (whose nickname in the play is "Blue Roses", a result of a bout of pleurosis as a high school student), though it has also been suggested that Laura may incorporate aspects of Williams himself, referencing his introverted nature and obsessive focus on just one aspect of life (writing for Williams and glass animals in Laura's case). Williams, who was close to Rose growing up, learned to his horror that in 1943 in his absence his sister had been subjected to a botched lobotomy. Rose was left incapacitated (and institutionalized) for the rest of her life. With the success of The Glass Menagerie, Williams was to give half of the royalties from the play to his mother. He later designated half of the royalties from his play Summer and Smoke to provide for Rose's care, arranging for her move from the state hospital to a private sanitarium. Eventually he was to leave the bulk of his estate to ensure Rose's continuing care. Rose died in 1996.
Development
The play was reworked from one of Williams' short stories "Portrait of a Girl in Glass" (1943; published 1948). The story is also written from the point of view of narrator Tom Wingfield, and many of his soliloquies from The Glass Menagerie seem lifted straight from this original. Certain elements have clearly been omitted from the play, including the reasons for Laura's fascination with Jim's freckles (linked to a book that she loved and often reread, Freckles by Gene Stratton-Porter). Generally the story contains the same plot as the play, with certain sections given more emphasis, and character details edited (for example, in the story, Jim nicknames Tom "Slim", instead of "Shakespeare"). Another basis for the play is a screenplay Williams wrote under the title of The Gentleman Caller. Williams had been briefly contracted as a writer to MGM, and he apparently envisioned Ethel Barrymore and Judy Garland for the roles that eventually became Amanda and Laura, although when the play was eventually filmed in 1950, Gertrude Lawrence was cast as Amanda and Jane Wyman as Laura.
Film adaptations
Two Hollywood movie versions of The Glass Menagerie have been produced. The first, directed by Irving Rapper in 1950, starred Gertrude Lawrence (Amanda), Jane Wyman (Laura), Arthur Kennedy (Tom) and Kirk Douglas (Jim). Williams characterized this version, which had an implied happy ending grafted onto it in the style of American films from that era, as the worst adaptation of his work. Bosley Crowther of The New York Times wrote, "As much as we hate to say so, Miss Lawrence's performance does not compare with the tender and radiant creation of the late Laurette Taylor on the stage." The film has never been released on either VHS or DVD.
The second film directed by Paul Newman in 1987, starred Joanne Woodward (Amanda), Karen Allen (Laura), John Malkovich (Tom), and James Naughton (Jim) and, if anything, was even less well-received than the earlier film and sank without much attention. However, The New York Times reviewer noted "starts out stiffly and gets better as it goes along, with the dinner-party sequence its biggest success; in this highly charged situation, Miss Woodward's Amanda indeed seems to flower. But quiet reverence is its prevailing tone, and in the end that seems thoroughly at odds with anything Williams ever intended." It is available on DVD.
There is an Indian adaptation of the play, filmed in the Malayalam language. The movie titled Akale (meaning At a Distance), released in 2004, is directed by Shyamaprasad. The story is set in the southern Indian state of Kerala in the 1970s, in an Anglo-Indian/Latin Catholic household. The characters were renamed to fit the context better (the surname Wingfield was changed to D'Costa, reflecting the part-Portuguese heritage of the family -- probably on the absent father's side, since the mother is Anglo-Indian), but the story remains essentially the same. Prithviraj Sukumaran plays Neil D'Costa (Tom Wingfield in the play), Geethu Mohandas plays Rosemary D'Costa (Laura Wingfield), Sheela plays Margaret D'Costa (Amanda Wingfield), and Tom George Kolath plays Freddy Evans (Jim O'Connor). Sheela won the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress, and Geethu Mohandas won the Kerala State Film Award for the best actress.
The Iranian film Here Without Me (2011) is also an adaptation of the play, in a contemporary Iranian setting.
Radio productions
The first radio adaptation of the play was performed on Theatre Guild on the Air in 1951 starring Helen Hayes as Amanda with Montgomery Clift as Tom, Kathryn Baird as Laura, and Karl Malden as Jim. A 1953 adaptation appeared on the radio series Best Plays starring Evelyn Varden as Amanda and Geraldine Page as Laura. Jane Wyman recreated her film role of Laura for a 1954 adaptation on Lux Radio Theatre with Fay Bainter as Amanda and Frank Lovejoy as Tom and Tom Brown as Jim. The 1953 version is not known to survive but recordings of the other two are in circulation.
In 1964 Caedmon Records produced an LP version of the Glass Menagerie as the initial issue of its theatre series. The production starred Jessica Tandy as Amanda, Montgomery Clift as Tom, Julie Harris as Laura, David Wayne as the gentleman caller. The recording is now available in the form of audio app.
Television productions
The first television version, recorded on videotape and starring Shirley Booth, was broadcast on December 8, 1966, as part of CBS Playhouse. Barbara Loden played Laura, Hal Holbrook played Tom and Pat Hingle played the Gentleman Caller. Booth was nominated for an Emmy for her performance as Amanda. The videotape, long thought to be lost, was reconstructed from unedited takes found in the archives of the University of Southern California and an audio recording of the original telecast. On December 8, 2016 -- fifty years to the day after the original telecast -- a re-assembled version of the play was shown on TCM.
A second television adaptation was broadcast on ABC on December 16, 1973, starring Katharine Hepburn as Amanda, Sam Waterston as Tom, Michael Moriarty as Jim, and Joanna Miles as Laura. It was directed by Anthony Harvey. (Tom's initial soliloquy is cut from this version; it opens with him walking alone in an alley, sitting on a rampart to read the newspaper and having his sister's and mother's voices conjure up the first domestic scene.) All four actors were nominated for Emmy Awards, with Moriarty and Miles winning.
Later stage productions
The Glass Menagerie has had a number of Broadway revivals. Maureen Stapleton, Anne Pitoniak, Jessica Tandy, Julie Harris, Jessica Lange, Judith Ivey, Harriet Harris, Cherry Jones, and Sally Field have all portrayed Amanda Wingfield.
- May 4, 1965, to October 2, 1965, at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre
- George Grizzard as Tom Wingfield
- Pat Hingle as Jim O'Connor
- Piper Laurie as Laura Wingfield
- Maureen Stapleton as Amanda Wingfield
- December 18, 1975, to February 22, 1976, at the Circle in the Square Theatre
- Pamela Payton-Wright as Laura Wingfield
- Paul Rudd as Jim O'Connor
- Maureen Stapleton as Amanda Wingfield
- Rip Torn as Tom Wingfield
- December 1, 1983, to February 19, 1984, at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre
- Jessica Tandy as Amanda Wingfield
- Bruce Davison as Tom Wingfield
- John Heard as Jim O'Connor
- Amanda Plummer as Laura Wingfield
- 1989 at the Royal Exchange, Manchester directed by Ian Hastings
- Avril Elgar as Amanda Wingfield
- Linus Roache as Tom Wingfield
- Geraldine Somerville as Laura Wingfield
- November 15, 1994, to January 1, 1995, at Criterion Center Stage Right
- Julie Harris as Amanda Wingfield
- ?eljko Ivanek as Tom Wingfield
- Kevin Kilner as Jim O'Connor (Drama Desk Award nomination, Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play)
- Calista Flockhart played Laura in her Broadway debut. For her performance as Laura, Flockhart received a 1995 Clarence Derwent Award for Most Promising Actress.
- March 22, 2005, to July 3, 2005, at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre
- Jessica Lange as Amanda Wingfield
- Josh Lucas as Jim O'Connor
- Sarah Paulson as Laura Wingfield
- Christian Slater as Tom Wingfield
- April 2008 at the Royal Exchange, Manchester directed by Braham Murray
- Brenda Blethyn as Amanda Wingfield
- Mark Arends as Tom Wingfield
- Emma Hamilton as Laura Wingfield: she won a TMA Award for her performance
- Off-Broadway at the Roundabout Theatre Company, March 24, 2010 to June 13, 2010
- Patch Darragh as Tom Wingfield
- Judith Ivey as Amanda Wingfield
- Keira Keeley as Laura Wingfield
- Michael Mosley as Jim O'Connor
- 26 January to 29 April 2017, at the Duke of York's Theatre, London
- Cherry Jones as Amanda Wingfield
- Kate O'Flynn as Laura Wingfield
- Michael Esper as Tom Wingfield
- Brian J. Smith as Jim O'Connor
- February 7 to May 21, 2017 at the Belasco Theatre, Broadway
- Sally Field as Amanda Wingfield
- Madison Ferris as Laura Wingfield
- Joe Mantello as Tom Wingfield
- Finn Wittrock as Jim O'Connor
The 2013 Broadway revival began previews on September 5 with an official opening on September 26, 2013, at the Booth Theatre and closed on February 23, 2014. The cast featured Cherry Jones as Amanda Wingfield, Zachary Quinto as Tom, Celia Keenan-Bolger as Laura and Brian J. Smith as Jim and was directed by John Tiffany. This production received seven 2014 Tony Award nominations, including Best Revival of a Play, Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play (Cherry Jones), Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play (Brian J. Smith), Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play (Celia Keenan-Bolger), Best Scenic Design of a Play (Bob Crowley), Best Lighting Design of a Play (Natasha Katz) and Best Direction of a Play (John Tiffany). and three Drama Desk Award nominations, including Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play (Brian J. Smith), Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play (Celia Keenan-Bolger), and Outstanding Music in a Play (Nico Muhly).
In 1997, Kiefer Sutherland returned to his theatrical roots, starring with his mother, Canadian actress Shirley Douglas, in a Canadian production of The Glass Menagerie at the Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto.
In October 2016 it was announced that The Glass Menagerie would be returning to the West End, opening in February 2017 at the Duke of York's Theatre.
Awards
Original Broadway Production (1945)
1994 Broadway Revival
2013 Broadway Revival
Parodies
The Glass Menagerie was parodied by Christopher Durang in a short one-act titled For Whom the Southern Belle Tolls, in which Laura is replaced by a wimpy hypochondriac son named Lawrence, and the "gentleman caller" becomes Ginny, a butch female factory worker with a hearing problem. Lawrence, instead of prizing a collection of glass figurines, here is obsessed with his collection of glass cocktail stirrers.
Ryan Landry and The Gold Dust Orphans did a parody called The Plexiglass Menagerie, set in a FEMA trailer in post-Katrina New Orleans, with Landry playing Amanda in an all-male cast.
References
External links
- Detailed plot summary and analysis of The Glass Menagerie
- The Glass Menagerie at the Internet Broadway Database
- Study resource for writing about The Glass Menagerie
- 1951 Theatre Guild on the Air radio adaptation at Internet Archive
- Museum of the City of New York - Theater still photos of the 1945 production of The Glass Menagerie
- Why Expressionism? "The Glass Menagerie": A Common Core Exemplar
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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