The Glass Menagerie Scene 6

EVENTS

Put the following events of scene 6 in the correct order.

-Tom and Jim ring at the door

-Amanda prepares herself and Laura for the arrival of the gentleman caller

-Grace is said

-Tom tells Jim of his frustration

-Laura is overcome to discover she may already know the gentleman caller

-Laura is too 'ill' to come to the table

ATMOSPHERE

Tennessee Williams uses his stage directions to indicate what sort of atmosphere there should be on stage at different moments in the scene.Read the following quotations and analyse what sort of atmosphere Williams was intending to create.

P 51 / "a delicate lemony light"
P 51 / "A coloured paper lantern conceals the broken light fixture"
P 53 / "A wind blows the white curtains inward in a slow, graceful motion and with a faint, sorrowful sighing."
P 54 / "The music becomes ominous"
P61 / "The incandescent marquees and signs on the first-run movie houses light his face from across the alley. He looks like a voyager."
P61 / "The music seems to answer the question"
P 65 / "Outside a summer storm is coming abruptly/ There is a clap of thunder."

THE GENTLEMAN CALLER

How do each of the characters see the gentleman caller? Use quotations to support your ideas.

Suggestions:

Amandasees'a gentleman caller'; 'hope'
Tom sees'a colleague'; 'a confidante'
Laura sees'a high school sweetheart'
Jim O'Connorsees 'a self-made man', 'a great future'
(how does he see himself?)

Questions

  1. Laura's fragility becomes very clear in this scene. Find a quotation from Williams' stage directions that demonstrates this.
  2. How does the world of Jim O'Connor compare with that of the Wingfields?

-Think about how he sees the warehouse compared to Tom

-Does he look to the future or live in the past, like Amanda?

-What are Jim's ambitions? Compare them to Tom's.

  1. Do you think T Williams wants us to see Jim as having an 'ideal' life compared to the Wingfields? Or do you think he is critical of Jim? Give reasons for your answer.
  2. Comment on Tom's quotation: "people go to the movies instead of moving!" p61
  3. Comment on Amanda's behaviour in this scene. Focus on:

-P 52 dressing Laura

-P53 reminiscing about the South

-P57 reaction to Laura who feels sick

-P63, 64 Amanda's behaviour with Jim

What do these different parts of the scene tell us about Amanda's character? You may want to use the following words in your analysis:

Anxious polite a caricature bullying excited a perfect hostess realist hypocritical girlish