After finishing scene six of The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams, I have realized I am either very confused or simply wrong. For some reason, I thought I read that the families father had passed away, I'm not sure where I came up with that, but scene six has told me otherwise. Amanda tells Jim O'Connor, the gentleman caller, "I married a man who worked for the telephone company!- That gallantly smiling gentleman over there! A telephone man who- fell in love with long-distance!- Now he travels and I don't even know where!- (1270). This statement from Amanda shows that her husband hasn't died, he has just left the family. Maybe this is why she seems so bitter towards him, insisting Tom not be like his father. I am still very curious as to whether I made up the idea of the father being dead or if it actually said it somewhere.
Something I have noticed to occur throughout the play is that the stage directions tell the reader when music will play and what song is playing. And often times the music seems to change the mood of the scene a great deal. Tom tells Jim of his idea to move, and when Jim asks Tom to where, the stage directions read, "(The music seems to answer the question, while Tom thinks it over)" (1268). I enjoy that the author included these stage directions and I find it interesting that at different points in the play the music seems to speak when no words are said.
No comments:
Post a Comment