The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams
One of the famous play by the playwright Tennessee Williams is The Glass Menagerie. This play had brought fame to him and he came in the limelight. There are many people who suggest that the play was more of an autobiographical play written by Tennessee. There were characters in the play that the writer took inspiration from his life. There was one character who resembled his dramatic mother. He introduced a character who resembled a lot like his sister. In the analysis of this brilliant play, written by one of the renowned playwrights of the last century, there are several characters who were beautifully written and described by Tennessee, but there was this one character in the play, Tom Winfield. The entire play is being told to the audience by Tom. He is the narrator and a single son of her mother. He has a sister, who is very fragile, whom he cares a lot for. In this character analysis, it is Tom Wingfield who is being analyzed.
Tom Wingfield lives with her mother and a sister. His father left him and him his sore about everything that goes around him. He works in a workshop and lives at home. He does not have any separate apartment or a room. He does not have an independent life. Tom would much prefer to die than to live in his hometown. He will do anything to change his life. He wants to be a writer, but her mother keeps on deterring him to do that. She wants Tom to work and earn for his family. Tom is an ardent reader of books and likes to watch movies. The one thing that he truly wants, and that is to experience life to the fullest. He wants to go on a journey, he wants to go and see places. But his desire for an adventure is not possible as long as his sister, Laura, is not married or taken care of and someone who can make sure that she is always safe.
Tom wants to leave his hometown very badly. He is willing to do anything to get out of that place. He goes to the cinema to watch movies just to experience what it is like to travel. But in the core of his heart, Tom knows he will eventually leave his family for the sake of adventure. It does not have to do with his burning desire to go and see the rest of the world, but he tries to somewhat ward off that guilt of leaving his family by saying that his father also left his family, and he thinks that he will definitely do the same sooner or later, like father, like son.
Tom uses the excuse of his father to prepare himself to leave the house. He is concerned about his family. Tom realizes that if he is gone, then there will be no one trustworthy that his mother and sister would rely on for their protection. But on several occasions, he finds himself saying he will also leave his family because it is in his blood to do such an act; leave the house and family and never come back. This is probably his own way of dealing with the guilt that he will experience in the future.
In the waning moments of the play, Tom starts to act very strangely. He does not pay the electricity bills and fights with his mother. He wants his friend, Jim, to marry his sister, but he soon finds out that Jim is already engaged. Tom and his mother have an altercation and after that, he goes to watch the film. It is probably the last nail in Tom’s coffin and he decides to leave at last. He makes his decision and leaves behind his mother and sister. He tells the audience the guilt of leaving his sister always remained in his heart even when he is traveling and experiencing everything he always wanted. But there was a price to pay for his adventures and that price was the guilt.
