What happens to Laura as she goes to purchase groceries in Scene 4?
Laura gets Tom out of bed and implores him to apologize to their mother. He remains reluctant. Amanda then sends Laura out to buy groceries on credit. On the way down the fire escape, Laura slips and falls but is not hurt.
What does Amanda ask Tom to do for Laura in Scene 4 Why does she ask this?
She has seen the letter that Tom has received from the Merchant Marine and knows that he is planning to leave them, but she tells Tom that he must first see to it that Laura is provided for, because Laura can’t spend her life playing old phonograph records and fooling with “those pieces of glass.” Amanda then asks Tom …
Is Tom actually going to the movies in The Glass Menagerie?
TOM: I go to the movies because — I like adventure. Adventure is something I don’t have much of at work, so I go to the movies.
What is the significance of the coffin trick?
The description of the coffin trick––an escape from a confined space without removing a single nail––perfectly symbolizes the predicament Tom perceives himself as being in, and his wish that he could escape it without harming anything—and Tom himself recognizes this symbolism.
What is Laura’s physical disability?
Laura has a slight physical defect — a limp — but she has magnified this limp until it has affected her entire personality. Laura’s oversensitive nature makes her think that everyone notices her limp; it becomes for her a huge stumbling block to normal living. She cannot get over it and into the real world.
What was wrong with Laura in The Glass Menagerie?
Laura Wingfield: Amanda’s daughter and Tom’s older sister, Laura suffers the results of a childhood illness which left one of her legs malformed and in a brace. As a result, Laura is painfully shy and has withdrawn herself the outside world. She is much like her beloved glass figurines: delicate and frail.
How does Tom almost destroy both Amanda and Laura at the end of this scene?
How does Tom almost destroy both Amanda and Laura at the end of Scene Three? Be specific about what he says and how these words are destructive. He almost destroys both of them by breaking the menagerie and telling his mother she is to dependent on him.
Why does Amanda blame Tom for the failure of the evening?
Why does Amanda blame Tom for the evening’s failures? Because Jim is Tom’s “best friend” at the warehouse, she thought he would know that Jim would be engaged. What do we learn about tom and Laura in the first scene? In the play, how does Amanda treat her children?
What do the movies symbolize to Tom?
Tennesse Williams uses the movies to symbolize Tom’s desire for a thrilling lifestyle and his disappointment of the baring life he is stuck in. When Tom watches movies, he is aware the action in the movies are fictional. However, he continues to watch them because he yearns for the adventure his life lacks.
What does Laura’s leg brace symbolize?
The Gentlemen Caller As Laura and Jim are dancing, the unicorn falls and the horn breaks off. The horn symbolizes Laura’s brace and the insecurities brought on by it. Once the horn breaks off, Laura begins to realize that she is not much different from everyone else.
What magic trick does Tom say is his favorite?
As for the quote, Tom’s favorite trick was when the magician was able to free himself from a closed coffin without opening it or breaking it at all.
Why is Laura called Blue Roses?
Jim calls Laura “Blue Roses,” a mispronunciation of “pleurosis,” a disease that caused Laura to miss some school during high school. The name “Blue Roses” turns Laura’s defect into an asset: her unusual, otherworldly qualities are seen as special rather than debilitating.
Why is it significant that Amanda calls Laura sister?
Why is it significant that Amanda calls Laura “sister”? Amanda’s happiest memories are those of her own youth in Blue Mountain. She wants to hold on to those moments and delude herself into thinking that not much has changed in her life since then, so she refers to herself as Laura’s sister rather than her mother.
Why did Jim Call Tom Shakespeare?
Jim called Tom “Shakespeare” because of his habit of writing poems in the warehouse bathroom when work was slow.
Who is the most flawed character in The Glass Menagerie?
In Tennessee Williams’, “The Glass Menagerie” Amanda was a woman who liked to reminisce about the past in order to escape from reality. Amanda was not wicked but intensely flawed. Her failures were centrally responsible for the adversity and exaggerated style of her character.
What does the fathers picture symbolize in The Glass Menagerie?
The giant, grinning picture that Tom describes as almost being a fifth character, during his part as narrator (Williams 656), stands as a reminder to Tom of how, if he leaves his family, he will be following in his father’s footsteps.
What is the coffin a symbol of in Glass Menagerie?
At the beginning of Scene Four, Tom, returning home from the movies, tells Laura about a magic show in which the magician performs the coffin trick. Tom, who dreams of adventure and literary greatness but is tied down to a mindless job and a demanding family, sees the coffin as a symbol of his own life situation.
What is the significance of Scene 4 in the Glass Menagerie?
The Glass Menagerie Summary and Analysis of Scene 4. The magician’s most impressive trick becomes a symbol for what Tom wishes he could do – to make a clean, easy escape, without destroying the coffin or removing any nails. The use of the coffin as a symbol for Tom’s predicament shows the depth of his unhappiness.
What is the theme song of the Glass Menagerie?
Amanda makes another call for the magazine subscription drive, and then the lights fade. For the first production of The Glass Menagerie, the composer Paul Bowles wrote a musical theme entitled “The Glass Menagerie.” This music plays when Amanda discusses Laura at the breakfast table with Tom and at other crucial moments involving Laura.
Why is Laura crying in the Glass Menagerie?
She then turns the discussion to Laura as the “Glass Menagerie” music begins to play. Amanda has caught Laura crying because Laura thinks that Tom is not happy living with them and that he goes out every night to escape the apartment.
What does Tom try to escape from in the Glass Menagerie?
Tom continues to try to escape through the movies and through drink, but he is always pulled back his family and his job. The Shakespearean name Malvolio connects to Tom’s poetry, as Jim calls him “Shakespeare” in Scene Six. The rainbow-colored scarf is reminiscent of the rainbow-colored light refracted through Laura’s glass menagerie.