“[They suddenly bump into the table, and the glass piece on it falls to the floor. Jim stops the dance.]
Jim: What did we hit?
Laura: Table.
Jim: Did something fall off it? I think-
Laura: Yes
Jim: I hope that it wasn’t the little glass horse with the horn!
Laura: Yes [She stoops to pick it up.]”
The Glass Menagerie, Act VII pages 85-86
The Glass Menagerie is a short play, set in 1937, that revolves around Amanda Wingfield’s effort to get her daughter Laura married. She has her son, Tom, invite over one of his co-worker and friend, Jim, in hopes that he will be kind-hearted enough to over look Laura’s bad leg. Little do Amber and Tom know that Jim is superficial and newly engaged.
The passage above is taken from the final act of The Glass Menagerie, where readers expect Jim and Laura to somehow fall in love. The author Tennessee Williams has them share a some what intimate moment in which the two talk about life after high school and dance. Instead, this excerpt was installed by Williams to confuse his readers; he gives them a sense of false hope for Laura, knowing that she can never be loved by someone as superficial as Jim. The glass figure that breaks in the passage, serves as an ominous warning. Any chance of Laura finding happiness with Jim is lost when the main topic of their conversation, Laura’s glass unicorn, is broken.
After reading this passage in the play, I was extremely happy for Laura; I thought the glass unicorn breaking meant her shyness was lost, that she could finally find happiness with Jim as a secure adult. I was completely wrong, but after breaking the figure, Williams further confuses readers by having Jim kiss Laura. When Jim finally confesses that he is in love with another woman and will never see Laura again I was devastated. I felt bad for her, not only did she have a pushy mother, but now she was going to be alone.
Wow Briana, what a depressing book. I mean I thought Medea was a little on the downcast side, what with all the cheating hubbies and killing of children and what not. But your book takes the cake. I find myself wondering what was wrong with her leg that made it "bad" like... did she have a clubfoot? Or were her toes black? Or was it like a nerve issue where she couldn't really use it? I don't know, I'm just wondering. But that's a really mean thing of the author to do, to build up the reader's hopes just to crush them in six simple lines. When I first read the passage I was thinking what on earth is Briana thinking, why is this significant in any way, but you really convinced me and it makes a lot of sense now. This passage basically captures the essence of the entire novel and answers all questions that may have been raised. I don't think I would want to read this though... it seems really upsetting.
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