The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams || Book Review

This was a required read in my high school that I actually enjoyed reading.

I kept the book all these years on my shelf because it was short, sweet and filled with powerful symbolism. I reread it this year just as a reminder to why I loved it so much, and as an adult I appreciated it more with new understanding.

DISCLAIMER: This review could contain possible spoilers based on my opinions. All opinions and views are my own.

Book Review: The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams #bookreview #bookblogger #bookblog #tennesseewilliams #classicbooks
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Originally published: 1945

Pages: 90
Format: Hardcover

Plot from GoodReads:

Tom is frustrated in his job and distressed at home by the mental withdrawal from life of his crippled sister Laura. His energetic but misguided mother clings frantically to the idea that Laura can lead a normal life while Laura lives for her glass figures – ‘the small and tender things that make life endurable’.

Thoughts:

Each character brings a different perspective to the reader about what challenges and illusions they experience.

You have the mother, Amanda, who is strong and proud, but hangs on to unrealistic expectations for the world as well as her daughter, Laura.

Laura, innocent and weak, her mental illness is quite apparent and her loneliness in the world is understandable.

Tom, a dreamer, who wishes to escape his life and live his dream of becoming a poet.

It’s a story about relationships with parents, children and siblings. How each sees the world and what they wish was different, the opposite of the situation they find themselves in.

It takes on the topics of status, poverty, love, lost dreams and illusions versus reality.