Glass Menagerie Blog 3

                Tennessee Williams’ emphasis on memory throughout The Glass Menagerie not only served the purpose of examining the impact of such memories on reality, but also the purpose of observing the tendencies of humankind to dwell on the past. This concept is exhibited most prominently in the character of Amanda Wingfield. As the play progresses, the fact that Amanda desires so incurably to relive the “glory” days of her youth is manifested in her frequent flashbacks and elaborate tales. For example, when discussing the need for Laura to receive some gentleman callers, she pours out her heart recounting how popular and vibrant she was a young woman, as well as how frequently she was graced by the presence of pining gentleman callers. Amanda’s obsession with reminiscing incessantly calls to question her motives in doing so. Because Amanda chose to marry a heartless man who abandoned his family for purely selfish reasons rather than marry any of the other more respectable bachelors from Blue Mountain, one may imagine that she recalls the more pleasant aspects of her past as a mechanism to ignore the unfortunate reality of her poor choice. Regardless, Amanda’s obsession has clearly caused her to become delusional at times, permanently impacting her present life.

                Williams models through the character of Amanda how living in the past rather than the present may quickly become a harmful practice. Amanda has harbored her memories for such an extent of time that she has ripped herself out of touch with reality and sentenced herself to a life of delusion. Amanda’s loss of reality is made evident when she dresses herself in a hideous dress from her youth and claims that “styles haven’t changed so much after all” (Williams, 1263)! Despite the fact that the styles had obviously changed quite dramatically, Amanda’s perceptions of her own memories led her to ignore this fact. Amanda warns Tom not to dwell in his past, yet she becomes the worst offender of her own principles throughout the course of the play by doing the exact act she tried to protect her children from performing. Therefore, Williams establishes Amanda as a character who best embodies the unfortunate mistake of allowing the past to overtake the present.