"The Glass Managerie" by John Osborne and "Look Back in Anger" by Tennessee Williams.

Essay by seviyorum May 2003

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Compare and contrast The Glass Managerie and Look Back in Anger

During the following passage, two plays Look Back in Anger (John Osborne) and The Glass Managerie (Tennessee Williams) will be compared and contrasted in respect to their technical structures.

Firstly in order to understand the technicalities of the two plays, a very short and brief summary of each play will be issued, starting with Look Back in Anger. Look Back in Anger is about Jimmy; young man about twenty-five years of age who is born out of his time. He constantly feels angry and is an abusive character throughout the play. He believes that there no longer exists a good reason for living or dying. He is married to Alison a member of the upper-class, and they live in the same flat along with a friend named Cliff who is also a member of the lower class like himself.

The Glass Managerie also takes place in a flat and its characters as suggested by its title are fragile pieces of glass. They however do not think on the same wavelength as Jimmy does about life, but its main character Amanda Wingfield lives in the past. She constantly drifts back to her youth years and speaks of them as if she were re-living them. However, much more won't be told about the plays and the rest of the passage will tell the tale of the two plays in its own way.

Analysing the titles of the two plays, they both give suggestions to what the contents of the plays could be about and are both symbolic representatives of one of the characters taking part in the play. Looking more closely at Look Back in Anger, the title literally depicts Jimmy's view of his past life and him literally...