The Glass Menagerie Lecture Review

Compulsory practice flashcards covering plot, characters, and production techniques of Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie based on the provided transcript.

What is the significance of the year 1945 in relation to Tennessee Williams' 'The Glass Menagerie'?

It is the year the play was published and first became a major success.

How does Tennessee Williams define the purpose of 'Expressionism' in drama within his production notes?

Its only valid aim is a closer approach to truth, attempting to find a more penetrating and vivid expression of things as they are compared to straight realistic plays.

What is the 'screen device' described in the author's production notes?

A device using magic-lantern slides to project images or titles on a wall between rooms to give accent to certain values or primary points in each scene.

How is the recurring music titled 'The Glass Menagerie' described?

It is like circus music heard from a distance; light, delicate, and sad, expressing the surface vivacity of life with an underlying strain of immutable sorrow.

In what way is the lighting in the play 'non-realistic'?

The stage is dim with shafts of light focused on selected areas, such as using a distinct 'pristine clarity' of light on Laura's figure similar to that in religious paintings like El Greco's.

How is the character Amanda Wingfield described in the list of characters?

A little woman of great but confused vitality clinging frantically to another time and place, possessing endurance and heroism but often unwittingly cruel.

What physical condition defines Laura Wingfield's character?

A childhood illness left her crippled, with one leg slightly shorter than the other and held in a brace, contributing to her fragile, shelf-bound nature.

What is Tom Wingfield's dual role in the play?

He is both the narrator and a character in the play; a poet who works in a warehouse.

According to Tom, what is the 'social background' of the play's 1930s setting?

The Great Depression where the middle class was matriculating in a 'school for the blind,' with labor disturbances in cities like St. Louis and the Spanish Civil War (Guernica) occurring abroad.

What message was written on the postcard the father sent from Mazatlan?

'Hello—Good-bye!'

Why did Laura drop out of Rubicam's Business College?

She became physically ill from anxiety during a speed-test, her hands shaking so much she couldn't hit the keys, eventually leading her to throw up on the floor.

Where did Laura go during the day when she was pretending to go to business college?

She walked in the park, visited the art museum, the birdhouses at the Zoo (visiting penguins), and spent time in the 'Jewel-box' tropical flower house.

What nickname did Jim O'Connor give Laura in high school and why?

'Blue Roses' because when she told him she had been out with pleurosis, he thought she said Blue Roses.

What magazine does Amanda sell subscriptions for to earn extra money?

'The Homemaker's Companion.'

What specific book does Amanda confiscate from Tom, leading to their violent argument?

A novel by D.H. Lawrence, which she describes as 'filth' and the output of a 'diseased mind.'

What are Tom's wages at the Continental Shoemakers warehouse?

$65$ dollars a month.

Who is 'Malvolio the Magician' and what specific trick fascinates Tom?

A magician Tom saw at the movies; his favorite trick was the 'coffin trick,' where he escaped a nailed coffin without removing a single nail.

What is Jim O'Connor's role at the warehouse and what is his salary?

He is a shipping clerk who earns approximately $85$ dollars a month.

What subjects is Jim O'Connor studying at night school?

Radio engineering and public speaking.

What is the 'Gay Deceivers' mentioned in the play?

Two powder puffs wrapped in handkerchiefs that Amanda makes Laura wear in her bosom to enhance her appearance.

What happens to Laura's glass unicorn during her dance with Jim?

It falls off the table and its horn breaks off, making it 'just like all the other horses.'

What revelation does Jim make to Laura after kissing her?

That he is 'going steady' with a girl named Betty and they are to be married the second Sunday in June.

What does Laura give to Jim as he is leaving the apartment?

The broken glass unicorn, as a 'souvenir.'

Why was Tom Wingfield eventually 'fired' from the warehouse?

For writing a poem on the lid of a shoe-box.

What is the final line/command of the play spoken by Tom?

'Blow out your candles, Laura—and so good-bye.'