The Glass Menagerie Essay

make a good turn in which a central character be engages in an psychoneurotic manner. Describe the temperament of the characters obsessive demeanor and discuss the influence this behaviour has on your understanding of the character in the twist as a whole.The Glass Menagerie is a play written by Tennessee Williams. The play is semi-autobiographical, told from the point of view of the writer. It is a computer memory play set in the home the Wingfield family. The play is about a young man, tom, who lives with his mother, Amanda and his sister, Laura. The play explores the various struggles of each individual during the great depression. The characters all in all have their flaws and motives which help us to understand them and sympathise or harmonize with them. All the characters in the play behave in some shield of obsessive manner however, Amanda behaves most strongly this way.Amanda Wingfield is one of the main characters and plays a great role in the indorsers understand ing of the play as a whole. She behaves in a very obsessive manner throughout the play and this creates conflict between the other characters. In Scene one, we argon introduced to Amandas obsessive and controlling behaviour. As gobbler eats at the dinner party table, Amanda continuously pesters him, telling him how to eat his food. Dont push with your fingers. If you have to push something, the thing to push with is the crust of breadSo quite a little your food and give your salivary glands a chance to function Amanda treats Tom like a child which frustrates him. He is very short inured and easily irritated by Amandas everyplace controlling and obsessive personality. She also obsesses over Toms bad habits, proclaiming that you smoke too much. Amanda is constantly kick about Tom and criticising him, this is due to her infatuation and constant desire for flawlessness in all aspects of her life. She is like this as she cares for them but does not recognize that she is smothering her children.In Scene ternary, Amanda has a heated argument with Tom. This is instigated byAmandas act of throwing out Toms books. She exclaims that she took that horrible novel back to the library. This angers Tom and he vents all his frustration on her controlling nature and the reason of entrapment as a consequence of this. Amanda is also very controlling over Toms actions as she gets suspicious of what he gets up to at night. This emphasises the lack of immunity that Tom feels due to her behaviour and it creates tension and arguments between them. Tom feels the require to escape but Amanda is obsessed with the incident duty and responsibility comes first. Amanda is dysphoric about her children and feels that it is her responsibility to monitor their actions at all times, however she fails to shed light on the effect this has on them.Amanda also obsesses over Laura in Scene three Laura began to play a more and more important part in Mothers calculations. It became an obse ssion the image of the gentleman caller taken up(p) our small apartment. She is preoccupied with finding Laura a gentleman caller as she feels that this would be best for the family. Laura, being disabled, puts financial strain upon the family. If Amanda was able to insure a gentleman caller for her, this would ensure a better shade of living for her and the family. Amanda constantly tells Laura to expect many gentlemen callers and decides to ignore her disability. She tells Laura to stay youngful and pretty for gentleman callers. Amandas insensitivity in this matter crushes Lauras confidence.In Scene sextet, on hearing the news of the arrival of the electric potential gentleman, Amanda has worked like a Turk in preparation. This implies her obsession with style and impressing Jim. She deceives people into reservation them think that they are a wealthy family despite the fact they are not rich. She attempts to make a lasting impression on Jim in the hope that he may be thei r saviour from poverty. Amanda is doing this for the benefit of both herself and her family.Whilst trying to secure a suitor for Laura, Amanda oftentimestimes reminisces about her take past. She is still living in the past and speaks of it often so often that Tom and Laura can already foresee what is coming next.Tom I know whats coming.Laura Yes. But let her tell it She loves to tell it. She often talks of her seventeen gentlemen callers. Amanda is self obsessed and narcissistic, implying that she judges a cleaning womans worth by the amount of attention she receives further make Laura to feel insecure about herself. Amanda is vain and egotistical and obsesses over her mien. In Scene two she is described as wearing cheap or imitation velvety-looking cloth coats with imitation fur collar. She cares very much for her appearance and she takes pride in it.Her clothes show that she is still living in her own past yet now is provided a bleached southern bell. Amanda is used to a ttention and in Scene seven, she makes sure to sever attractively, despite the fact that it is supposed to be Lauras night. Amanda wears a immature frock of yellowed voile with a blue silk sash the legend of her youth is nearly revived. The occasion of Jim the potential gentleman caller, reminds her of her own past, in which she had absolute gentleman callers.Not only does Amanda obsess over her own appearance but also the appearance of her children. Before Jim arrives, in Scene six Amanda produces two powder puffs which she wraps in handkerchiefs and stuffs in Lauras bosom. This highlights the recurring head of appearance versus reality, which is evident in many of Amandas actions. She is so intent in her actions, she I willing to deceive people in parliamentary law to get what she feels she needs. She obsesses over many things in Scene seven, for example, she insists that Laura open the verge to Jim and Tom and is insensitive to Lauras anxieties and insecurities. However Am anda is only doing this due to the fact that Jim acts as a beacon of hope for them all and she is eager for the eve to be a success.In conclusion, Amanda is deeply flawed throughout in regards to her obsessive and over controlling manner. Due to her behaviour, she eventually drives Tom away. However, she only means well in her actions. She is critical of her children because she feels she knows what is best for them. Her obsessive nature influences the readers understanding of her character in the play as a whole. It helps the reader understand Amandas and her childrensstruggles, hopes and fears.