Discuss ”The Glass Menagerie” as a memory play.

Answer

Discuss ”The Glass Menagerie” as a memory play. [2021, 2018, 2015] ✪✪✪  

A memory play means the story is told from recollection, not direct reality, where feelings matter more than facts. “The Glass Menagerie” (1944) by Tennessee Williams (1911–1983) is the best example of memory play. He called it a “memory play.” Through Tom Wingfield’s memories, Williams reveals his family’s fragile world of love, guilt, and regret.       

Meaning of a Memory Play: A play built on feelings, not facts, is called Memory Play. In this play, the events come from the heart of the narrator. Williams says through Tom in Scene 1,

“I give you truth in the pleasant disguise of illusion.”   

This line shows that memory makes its own truth. Tom’s mind recreates his past. Everything we see on stage, like light, music, and movement, comes from his memory, not from how things truly happened. Williams said that memory is emotional, not logical. So the play’s scenes look soft and dreamlike. In Scene 1, Tom tells the audience,

“The scene is memory and is therefore nonrealistic.”

This means that the play shows feelings, not reality. The music plays softly whenever Laura appears, creating the delicate mood of remembrance. 

Tom as the Memory Holder: Tom is both the narrator and a character. He stands between the past and the present. He tells us about his mother, Amanda, his sister Laura, and his wish to escape. Yet, his memory never lets him rest. At the end, he says in Scene 7,

“Blow out your candles, Laura — and so goodbye.” 

This line shows his deep guilt. He left his family, but his mind remains with Laura. His memory becomes his punishment. Tom’s memory is full of sadness and longing.  In Scene 1He tells us that,

“In memory, everything seems to happen to music.” 

Music is part of his emotional world. It helps the audience feel what he feels. The