Discussion Topic
Laura's background and social difficulties in The Glass Menagerie
Summary:
Laura in The Glass Menagerie faces significant social difficulties due to her extreme shyness and physical disability. Her background includes a sheltered upbringing by her overprotective mother, Amanda, and a deep connection to her collection of glass animals, which symbolizes her fragility and desire to escape reality.
What are Laura's social difficulties in The Glass Menagerie?
The social difficulties and issues of Laura's character in The Glass Menagerie stem from the woman's evident social anxiety. In turn, the social anxiety is caused by a combination of her mother's overprotective nature and the fact that Laura has a slight deformity in her leg that makes her wear a brace. The latter is particularly embarrassing for Laura because she had to go through her teenage years in that condition.
Laura's anxiety is so intense that she cannot even complete a typing course. She hardly spoke to anybody, and she focuses her stalled energy on her collection of glass animals. Williams correlates Laura to her collection of glass animals not only because she is fragile and unique like the unicorn, but also because of her ephemeral, almost incomprehensible faintness of personality.
she is like a piece of translucent glass touched by light, given a momentary radiance, not actual, not...
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lasting
Laura's social difficulties precede her and continue to follow her as in a curse through the years. As a result, she lives in her own fantasy world, isolated from the world, and stuck in the past. This is why it is such a blow to her to find that Jim O'Connor is no longer the high school hero, but a straight up man, about to get married, and moving forward in life. Instead of changing, Laura seems to get deeper into her fantasy world. Unfortunately for her, this will translate into a never ending cycle where she will never get ahead.
What is Laura's background story in The Glass Menagerie?
Part of the background story on Laura is that she lives in a house where the dominant personalities of Tom and Amanda have overtaken everything else. Laura is not given much of a chance to express herself given the animosity and intensity of emotions between both Tom and Amanda. Part of Laura's background is that she is viewed as a means to an end by Amanda, whether as a reflection of the perceived cruelty that life has directed towards her or as a portal to see her own youth. For his part, Tom is driven by the need to get out that he fails to acknowledge the condition of his sister, instead choosing to focus on his own melancholy.
It is from this that Laura emerges, displaying a general discomfort around people and a preference for animals or objects. Laura's own condition is a reflection of the need to find sanctuary away from the harshness of the world of humans and from the humans with whom she lives. Due to this, Laura has a resilience or a strength that Tom and Amanda lack. Laura's experiences with the harshness of human beings gives her a strength that emerges as the play continues, reflective of the background of her characterization.