"When people have some slight disadvantage like [being crippled], the cultivate other things to make up for it..." (Amanda The Glass Menagerie) In the Glass Menagerie, each of the characters represent a characteristic of human frailty in society. Each is searching to find there place in a world that seems so out of control.
Before the story even begins it presents the title, The Glass Menagerie. Glass is fragile, and easily broken. This image must play a key part in the story. Menagerie, the next key word is , "A diverse or miscellaneous group." Each of these characters then, and since we are dealing with the conditions of being human, must be a group of representatives of the frailty of humanity. Already, before the story has even begun we are presented with this.
Laura, who is the main character of the story, is the owner of this "glass menagerie".
The Glass Menagerie (1973 film)
Performance Saratov Puppet Theatre "Teremok" «Gla...
The Glass Menagerie (1987 film)She is the most literal and straight forward example of being fragile, in that she is extremely shy and skittish, and lives inside of her own small and childish world. This is what usually comes to mind when one thinks of fragile, or someone who is emotionally unstable. In scene six, after Jim asks Tom what is wrong with Laura he replies, "Oh-with Laura? Laura is-terribly shy."(481); a simple and most accurate summation of Laura personality. She is also crippled in the play. So not only is she emotionally frail, she is also physically. She depends heavily on being able to stay in her world, and is most likely to fail if she were to leave it. For instance, in scene 4, Laura slips after stepping just out the door, saying, "I'm all right. I slipped, but I'm all right."(pg 458) Here, her falling physically represents how she falls...