The Glass Menagerie Individualism Analysis - 1302 Words

Individualism is a staple piece of a person’s character not only in a book, but in life as well. Some people pride themselves on their individuality, while others spend their lives working to establish a concrete personality and purpose in life. In The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams, individualism is a key component in the themes of the story and portrayal of unique characters. With there being only four characters in the play, each of them have to be vibrant, diverse individuals in order to keep the reader in touch with the story. Each character in this play has their own flaws, as well as positive attributes that provide the reader with deep and interesting characters with layers of personality to analyze. One such character†¦show more content†¦These similarities, while sometimes bringing the two together, also make their disagreements more intense. The pressure Laura’s mother puts on her to be just like every other girl has had an negative impact on her growth as a person. By refusing to acknowledge Laura’s personal and physical issues, Amanda has installed a lack of confidence and an inferiority complex in her daughter. These issues have hindered Laura’s social skills, as well as caused her to frequently detach herself from reality to escape her problems. Laura’s relationship with her mother has had an obvious negative impact on her evolution as an individual. Additionally, a major part of Laura’s character is her debilitating anxiety. The stem of this issue can be traced back to an illness in her childhood that left one leg shorter than the other, requiring a brace be worn. From that moment on, she is cursed with a limp that sets her apart from everyone else. This alone plays a major role in the development of her anxiety and low self confidence. Throughout the story, it becomes clear that Laura blames many inconveniences on her disability, in a way using her limp as a crutch in order to take press ure off of herself. The first instance her anxiety is mentioned in the story, it is during a dramatically furious performance from Amanda after learning that her daughter hadn’t been attending business school. In actuality, she spent her days walking, in a wayShow MoreRelatedThe Glass Menagerie And Winnie Holzman And Stephen Schwartz s Mega Musical Wicked1316 Words   |  6 Pagesto life a more flashy, commercialized interpretation of this tool, and played to the societal theme of entertainment, as seen in the increase of musical theater (Janaro). A true example of this stark contrast is Tennessee Williams’ tragedy The Glass Menagerie and Winnie Holzman and Stephen Schwartz’s mega-musical Wicked. Although from fundamentally different eras and using the employment of distinctive structures that correlate with the different branches of theater, at the core, these stories speak