The Glass Menagerie: Analysis of Setting
"The Glass Menagerie" is a memory play by Tennessee Williams that explores the complex dynamics of the Wingfield family through its carefully crafted setting. The primary location is the cramped Wingfield apartment in St. Louis, which symbolizes the constraints and struggles faced by the characters. The apartment is depicted as worn and inadequate for the family’s needs, with Laura sleeping on a sofa bed in the living room, highlighting the themes of confinement and longing for a better life.
Williams contrasts this dingy urban environment with Amanda Wingfield's nostalgic memories of her youth in rural Mississippi, particularly the idyllic front porch where she once received numerous suitors. This juxtaposition emphasizes Amanda's dissatisfaction with her current reality, as she reminisces about a life filled with possibility. The alleys surrounding the apartment, described as murky and cluttered, serve as a visual metaphor for the characters' entrapment and societal pressures, further contrasting Amanda's romanticized past. Additionally, the Famous-Barr department store, where Amanda works, represents her frustrations and the sacrifices made in the pursuit of stability. Overall, the setting in "The Glass Menagerie" plays a crucial role in reflecting the characters' inner lives and their struggles against the backdrop of societal expectations.
The Glass Menagerie: Analysis of Setting
First published: 1945
First produced: 1944
Type of work: Drama
Type of plot: Psychological realism
Time of work: 1930’s
Asterisk denotes entries on real places.
Places Discussed
Wingfield apartment
Wingfield apartment. St. Louis, Missouri, home of the narrator, Tom Wingfield, and his mother and sister. Along with its outside fire-escape landing, this apartment is the setting for the entire play. It is too small for the Wingfields’ needs—Laura sleeps on a sofa bed in the living room—and its contents are worn and aging. The contrast between the dingy apartment and the world in which Tom’s mother, Amanda, alludes to having grown up in is striking. During the play’s first scene, Amanda relates a well-worn story of her youth in Blue Mountain in rural Mississippi. Her story contains a significant allusion to the front porch on which she received gentleman callers—some seventeen young men by her account. Williams contrasts the porch in Blue Mountain with the apartment’s fire-escape landing, on which the family watches the moon rise over a delicatessen.
Alleyways
Alleyways. According to Williams’s opening stage directions, the play’s audiences should see alleyways running on either side of the apartment building and its rear wall before they see the apartment rooms in which the action will take place. The alleys are described as “murky canyons of tangled clotheslines, garbage cans, and the sinister latticework of neighboring fire escapes.” This is significant, as the alleys remain visible throughout the play. Williams uses them to generate a constant visual comment on the action within the apartment. The alleys strike a strong contrast to the idyllic life Amanda describes from her youth and are in conflict with Tom’s vision of a life of high adventure.
*Famous-Barr Department Store
*Famous-Barr Department Store. St. Louis’s leading department store at the time in which the play is set, in whose lingerie department Amanda works. Williams uses the store to emphasize Amanda’s frustration over the way her life has turned out. In the opening scene when she talks about her suitors, she blames her poor choice as the cause of her public humiliation of having to sell bras at Famous-Barr.
Suggested Readings
Bigsby, C. W. E. A Critical Introduction to Twentieth Century American Drama. 3 vols. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1982-1985.
Devlin, Albert J., ed. Conversations with Tennessee Williams. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1986.
Donahue, Francis. The Dramatic World of Tennessee Williams. New York: Frederick Ungar, 1964. A discussion of Williams’ plays, with a focus on The Glass Menagerie.
Leavitt, Richard F., ed. The World of Tennessee Williams. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1978. A competent introduction to the playwright and his plays, focusing on his themes.
Leverich, Lyle. Tom: The Unknown Tennessee Williams. New York: Crown, 1995.
Nelson, Benjamin. Tennessee Williams: The Man and His Work. New York: Obolensky, 1961. The first comprehensive study of the playwright and his work.
Spoto, Donald. The Kindness of Strangers: The Life of Tennessee Williams. Boston: Little, Brown, 1985. The first complete critical biography of Williams. Delineates the connections between the playwright’s work and life.
Stanton, Stephen S., ed. Tennessee Williams: A Collection of Critical Essays. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1977. Cogent, in-depth analysis of Williams’ plays, including The Glass Menagerie.