Tennesse Williams The Glass Menagerie Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Tennesse Williams The Glass Menagerie - Essay Example In Act One, Scene One, the stage setting is described as having a ‘dark, grim rear wall of the Wingfield tenement’. There are stage directions where the actors and actresses enter and exit the stage using the props like stairs and this is difficult or impossible to accomplish using an arena stage. (Williams 12).An arena stage is a central stage that has surrounding seats and this gives no leeway except to ascend or descend from the stage. Then the actor or actress has to sit down at the level of the audience, or walk all the way to the nearest dressing room. An arena stage is similar to a theater in the round, which has the audience seated on all sides of the performance stage. A thrust stage is most suited for this play because it allows the actors and actresses entrance and exit routes and help to make the play a realistic drama. In Act One, Scene One, the stage directions say that; ‘The scene is memory and is therefore non-realistic.’ (Williams 12). Amanda and Laura are seated at the dinner table behind the scrim to symbolize their need for privacy since they are eating. Williams highlights the unrealistic nature of the play by stating that; ‘Eating is done by gestures without food or utensils.’ (Williams 15). This play is also unusual in having a character, Tom, in the play, assume the multiple roles of being the narrator and stage director too. This makes the play realistic because the play is Tom’s testimony. Some characters are unrealistic in the play. In Act One, Scene Two, Amanda discovers that Laura has been skipping her typing class and deliberately deceiving her. Laura is an unrealistic dreamer. She fails to understand the importance of earning her stripes with a formal education and getting a relevant job to be self-supportive, if not contributing to the family household income. Tom is rooted in realism although his responses to the pressure are human and hints of escapism. Amanda