Character Analysis

Analysis of Major Characters:

Tom Wingfield: Not only is Tom a major character in this play, but also he is the narrator.  He is the only character that addresses the readers directly trying to give an explanation of the family's situation and an assessment of what is going on onstage.  Tom is a character filled with contradictions.  He always reads and wants to go out to the movies in search of adventure and as an escape from reality, but yet, he is stuck living in his house supporting his family.  He only talks about the things he wants to escape from, but never describes where he wants to escape to.  Tom's relationship with Amanda and Laura is very strange.  He has strong feelings for Laura and wants to make sure that she is safe and happy.  However, he has a lot of anger towards his mother; she always complains and comments about Tom which drives him crazy.  Even with his strong feelings towards Laura and feeling like he is the one that has to support the family now that the his father left, Tom still decides to desert his family in search of his adventure.

Amanda Wingfield: Amanda is the typical Southern belle that suffered a reversal of economic and social fortune.  She feels the need to comment on everything that goes on around her and remind her children of her past.  She loved her life before she met her husband when there were male callers all the time and men wanting her. She uses the contrast between her and Laura to accent on her earlier life and the glamour of her own youth and also tries to relive her youth through Laura.  Amanda's constant nagging of Tom and her refusal to see Laura for who she really is are certainly reprehensible, but it is her outspokenness and flaws are responsible for the tragedy and comedy in this play.  Like her children, Amanda withdraws from reality into fantasy. Unlike them, she is convinced that she is not doing so and, consequently, is constantly making efforts to engage with people and the world outside her family.

Laura Wingfield: The physically and emotionally crippled Laura is the most unique character in this play.  She is a selfless character who does not speak as much as the rest of the characters in the play.  The symbols of blue roses and the glass unicorn also help describe her uniqueness and her delicateness.   Even though her mother wants her to lead a certain type of life, Laura knows that that type of life is not for her.  After she drops out of school and never has any male callers, her mother realizes that Laura's life is not going to go the way she wanted it to.  Because Laura is crippled, she isolates herself into her own world with her own glass menagerie