Amanda, a single mother, is obsessed with the notion of filial piety, and much of her conversation with Tom concerns his duties and responsibilities to his family. She speaks often of her disappointment and rage at being abandoned by her husband, and when she is angry at Tom, she compares his behavior to his father’s. When Mr. Wingfield rejected his family, he abandoned his filial duties, broke his wife’s heart, and damaged his wife’s self-perception. The effects of these consequences play out throughout every scene of the play.

Tom’s natural desire for freedom violates the sense of duty Amanda believes he should prioritize, and this conflict of interests creates tension in the Wingfield household. Amanda believes that Tom’s role as the man of the household is to provide and to ensure that the female members of the family are looked after. Tom is a young man, however, and he is full of curiosity and wanderlust; he resents his mother’s insistence that he take over the duties shirked by his father, especially because Tom works a job he dislikes in order to pay the bills for his mother and sister. Every bit of poorly timed criticism that Amanda sends his way damages their relationship and gives Tom even more motivation to leave.

Amanda’s interpretation of her responsibility to her children is as flawed as her approach to communication. Her desire to take care of Laura is authentic but clumsy, and she refuses to listen to either of her children. Amanda’s inept parenting lets both Laura and Tom down, and while Tom can leave to go to the movies when the pressure builds, Laura cannot. Her disability holds her back in multiple ways, and her fragile nature suggests that she will not be able to endure Amanda’s forcefulness for long.