On Escapism In Tennessee Williams's The Glass Menagerie

Tennessee Williams is primarily acclaimed, for his crafting over 60 plays, 30 screenplay adaptations of his work, 8 collections of fiction, and various books of poetry and essays, as one of America's greatest playwrights, and the greatest ever from South. Nearly all of his plays are set in the South, but at their best rise above regionalism to approach universal themes, one of which is escapism. The Glass Menagerie (1945), the first play to establish Williams as a major new playwrights and Broadway success, has been said to mark the beginning of the Post-war American drama. It tells a compelling story of a St. Louis family struggling to escape the harsh realities of the Great Depression and the bitter memories that haunt them.My thesis attempts to delve into the theme of escapism in The Glass Menagerie by analyzing the main characters' spiritual world and their existential predicaments, their pursuit of spiritual freedom as well as their psychological process of self-recognition in cruel realities.This thesis is composed of an introduction, four chapters, and a conclusion. The introduction offers a literature review of The Glass Menagerie, and gives the general aims of this thesis.Chapter One mainly focuses on Williams's personal life and the social background of his time in order to explore the relationship between his life and his work in terms of escapism.Chapter Two mainly focuses on the escape of Amanda and analyzes the major factors that cause Amanda to live in her illusionary world. It analyzes the character of Amanda, who is actually the victim of the traditional values of the old South. Having no ability to deal with such a harsh life, Amanda does one thing: living in her illusory world, where she vigorously upholds traditional morality as a former Southern belle.Chapter Three is about the escape of Tom, the narrator and acharacter of the play. Tom's inner conflicts reflect the conflict between individual freedom and the social reality, including his responsibility of his family. To Tom, escape means the suppression and denial of these emotions in him. As The Glass Menagerie is the most consciously autobiographical of all Williams' plays, it is natural to associate the life of Tom with that of Williams himself. As a matter of fact, Tom is the portrait of early Williams. So this part also intends to discuss Williams's psyche and motivation to create the narrator, Tom, and the theme of escape in the play.Chapter Four intends to explore the particular way of escape chosen by Laura, a fragile and disabled girl. Laura's misery is the most severe compared with that of her mother and brother during such a social turmoil. Facing the cruel reality, she can do nothing but to escape into her spiritual refuge—the glass menagerie. Meanwhile, her relationship with the two men in the play, Tom and Jim, helps to hasten the tragic ending of her life.The conclusion reiterates my argument: escapism is universal in human life, especially true in the harsh realities of the Great Depression. When faced with the existential crisis, man can do nothing but escape spiritually or physically. The play ends with the catastrophe of the family but not violence. The tragedy is muted. Set in America during the Great Depression, the tragedy of the Wingfields is a miniature of American tragedy of that time.