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Welcome to English III. This is our blog spot. Here we will share our feelings and ideas about the works we are studying. I encourage you to be honest, but I EXPECT you to be mature and respectful.

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

"You manufacture illusions..."

The characters in The Glass Menagerie live in the same apartment, but in very different worlds. Tom seeks a world of adventure in his movie going while Laura lives in a world of old phonograph records and tiny glass figures. What about their mother? In what world does she live? How does this world comfort or protect her from her reality? What is Tennessee Williams saying about her illusive world? (The deadline to post a response to this blog question is midnight April 20, 2011.)

12 comments:

Joseph J said...

The character Amanda lives in a world like her childhood, full of parties and gentlemen callers. This allows her to look past her daughter's defects and plan for a better future. It also helps her to see the potential life her son might lead, causing her to crticize him constantly. T.Williams says that her world is a memory that she is trying to sustain, and cannot last.

Aaron said...

Amanda, the mother in the play, lives in her own world from the past. She lives in a time of when used to be a Southern Belle and act gay and merry all the time and have parties constantly with suitors lining up to take her away. She constantly remembers her world and uses this to help take away the fact her daughter is cripple and anti-social and her son is trying to leave their little world and venture off into his own life. Williams is saying that she lives in memories of her past, but she cannot do this forever.

J Reppel said...

Amanda lives in a world of what could have been. She could have married a rich man and stayed rich. She could have had parties and a large house. However, she married Mr. Wingfield, and lost all of that. When Mr. Wingfield left, she could not handle that she lost all that she had, including love, and tried to get it back in her mind. She acts as though Laura gets gentlemen callers, as seen in the beginning of the play. She also expects her son to act as a Southern gentleman, but he doesn't. This is the root of her constant harping and nagging. Williams is saying that one cannot focus on what could have been. One should instead keep their reality grounded and be realistic with life.

Unknown said...

Amanda lives in a world of the past and future. She constantly reminds herself of how glamorous her life used to be in the south. She also dreams of a better life for her family. She does everything in her power to better their lives. Through this hope and memory, she neglects to live in the present and avoids both the problems she faces and reality itself.

Unknown said...

Amanda lives in a world of the past. She thinks all these men are lined up waiting for Laura like they were for her. She thinks that is how it is supposed to be. She wants Tom to be a hard working man and not a poet. She thinks everything is supposed to be like it was in the South. She does not want to believe that her children want different lives than what Amanda is accustomed to. Tennessee Williams is saying that in her world every thing must be like it was in the South. It is not until the end that she realizes her children want other things and are not completely cable of her goals for them.

karceneaux said...

Their mother Amanda is glued to the past. She thinks it will simple to find a gentleman caller for her daughter Laura because it was easy for herself in the past. She does not realize Laura is very different from her, and doe nto attract many callers. She also believes Tom will stay and prays for him to have a respectable job in business. Her world comforts her because her past overshadows her present. She doesn't see how different Laura is and how inevitable her solitude is. She doesn't see that Tom wants to be so much more than a warehouse worker and has aspirations that does not include his mother. Williams is saying one must not harp on the past, because progress lies within the present and future.

Melinda P said...

Amanda lives in her past. She is constantly talking about how she lived on plantations and had gentleman callers visit her everyday. Amanda's world protects her from her daughter's crippled condition. It allows her to fantasize about her and her daughter's happy futures. Williams is saying that Amanda must focus on reality because her world will not last forever.

Laura W. said...

The character Amanda lives her life in the past. She brings up her former adventures often and she misses her exciting past. She tries to live through Laura but Laura does not live the same way Amanda once did. Amanda also lives in regret, especially of her marriage. She tries to be happy but she clearly regrets the path her life has taken.

Channing Boone said...

Amanda, the charater who plays the mother in this play, lives in her past. She tries to relive her childhood and teenage years through her daughter Laura. Even though Laura has a disability, her mother looks past it by encouraging her to go to school, talk to gentlemen callers, and act more like a lady. Williams is trying to help the audience realize that one must move foreward and what has happened in the past, should be left in the past.

Mallory P said...

Amanda, lives in her past. She always relives her childhood stories and tells her children about how things use to be when she was young, rich, and single. By revisiting her past life, Amanda stays comforted. It keeps her hopeful that one day her children will be able to live the life she use to have. She is hopeful that they will be successful and not end up marrying a poor man like her. Tennessee Williams is trying to show how people have to forget the past and make the best out of the life they are living in the present.

Lauren Bishop said...

Amanda lives in a world that revolves around her past. She cannot seem to let go of the good things she had and what used to be. However, she is now trying to relive her past through her daughter. She ignores Laura's imperfections and tries to view her daughter as perfect as she sees herself. Amanda fills her daughter's life with the need for gentleman callers and good fortune like she had, but this is not want Laura wants.

Abigail J. said...

Amanda lives in a world that centers around her past. She finds happiness in remembering how her life once was. She enjoys thinking of a time when she was wealthy and always surrounded by men. Amanda lives in a fantasy world where everything is perfect even to the point of believing Laurs will live a normal life. Williams is trying to show that Amanda needs to comme back to reality and quit living in a fantasy world.