Characters: Tom Wingfield

Tom Wingfield, the narrator of the play, is Amanda's son and Laura's brother. He feels trapped by his familial responsibilities and his monotonous job at a shoe warehouse. Raised solely by his overbearing mother after his father left when he was very young, Tom finds himself yearning for escape, much like his father before him. Amanda's pushiness has an opposite effect on Tom compared to Laura; it incites his anger and frustration, pushing him...

Characters: Laura Wingfield

Laura Wingfield, Amanda's daughter and Tom's sister, is painfully shy and lives with a limp that makes her self-conscious. Her disability is both physical and psychological, as her shyness renders her unable to engage in ordinary social interactions. Her experiences in secretarial school, where a vomiting episode caused her to abandon classes, and her belief that her limp was offensive to her classmates, underscore her fragility and social...

Amanda Wingfield is the mother of Tom and Laura. Abandoned by her husband, she struggles with a deep sense of humiliation and clings to the past where she imagines herself as young, beautiful, and charming. Her constant urging of Laura to be more assertive seems to echo her own regret for not being more so herself. This might be exacerbated by her husband's departure, which left her unable to see herself as the captivating young woman she once was.

Amanda's vivacious nature, once enchanting, has now grown overbearing. Her frequent retellings of her youthful romance stories only accentuate her inability to accept present reality. Her energetic personality often becomes intrusive, particularly in her interactions with Tom, where her nagging and critical nature drive him away. This dynamic may reflect the turbulent relationship she had with her own husband, possibly contributing to his departure.

She lives for her children yet inadvertently suffocates them with her intensity. Amanda's recollections of a more glamorous past provide a stark contrast to her current dreary lower-middle-class existence. Her vanity can sometimes appear pitiable, and her overzealous attempts at gaiety can seem exaggerated. Amanda's interaction with Jim O’Connor, Tom's friend, is a poignant example of her habit of overcompensating for Laura’s shyness, which also highlights Amanda's instinctive seeking of male attention.

Jim O’Connor, a friend and co-worker of Tom, represents the outside world for the Wingfield family. During high school, Jim was a popular figure, confident and admired, and Laura harbored a secret crush on him. Tom invites Jim over for dinner, and in doing so, Jim inadvertently becomes Laura's first and only "gentleman caller," a term that Amanda eagerly embraces.

Jim is a warm and kind individual, yet his actions reveal complex layers. Despite being genuinely considerate towards Laura, he fails to disclose his engagement to Betty to Tom, indicating a lack of trust in their friendship. This omission, driven by a desire to avoid discomfort, highlights a duplicity in Jim's character, as he seeks admiration and relives past glories during his interaction with Laura.

Jim's kiss with Laura, meant to boost her confidence, misleads her into hopes of a romantic future. His subsequent revelation about his engagement devastates Laura and disappoints Amanda, echoing the betrayal and abandonment represented by Mr. Wingfield. Jim's conventional aspirations and failure to realize his high school potential further underline the theme of unfulfilled dreams prevalent in the play.

Mr. Wingfield, the absent husband of Amanda and father of Tom and Laura, remains an enigmatic figure whose presence is felt only through his portrait on the wall. Described by Amanda as charismatic and charming, his decision to abandon his family sixteen years before the play's events casts him as selfish and irresponsible.

Amanda's descriptions of him as a "drunkard" suggest a propensity for unreliability, with his alcoholism possibly contributing to his absence from family life. The memory of Mr. Wingfield haunts the Wingfields, especially Amanda, who continually compares Tom to his father, possibly as a misguided attempt to reconcile the loss with familiar traits in her son.

Mr. Wingfield's legacy is one of desertion and unfulfilled responsibility, impacting his family's dynamics and leaving enduring scars on their emotional landscape. His decision to leave sets a precedent that both Amanda and Tom grapple with: Amanda in her cling to the past, and Tom in his struggle to escape a similar fate while ultimately following in his father's footsteps.