What are the key symbols used in The Glass Menagerie?

Symbols

• Laura’s Glass Menagerie. As the title of the play informs us, the glass menagerie, or collection of animals, is the play’s central symbol.
• The Glass Unicorn. The glass unicorn in Laura’s collection—significantly, her favorite figure—represents her peculiarity.
• “Blue Roses”
• The Fire Escape.

What does the shattered glass symbolize in The Glass Menagerie?

Tom returns to pick up the glass but is unable to utter a word. This symbolically represents Laura’s inner feelings. Thus, the shattered glass seems to represent Laura’s shattered inner feelings. In the next scene, she will attempt to reconcile Tom and Amanda.

What does the broken unicorn symbolize in The Glass Menagerie?

Glass Unicorn Symbol Analysis. Laura presents the broken unicorn to Jim as a souvenir. The figurine becomes a memory of Laura that Jim can bring with him when he leaves Laura and returns to his life, but it also signifies the normal woman that Laura will never become.

Who is in a nailed up coffin?

Who is in a “nailed-up coffin” and who found a way out of one? Tom is in a nailed up coffin because he can’t escape his mom and sister, but he eventually leaves. What does Amanda ask of Tom?

Who escaped the coffin without removing a single nail?

Tom expresses his immense desire to escape the household but is also fully aware of the consequences, hence the description of escaping the coffin without removing a single nail.

What is the most important symbol in The Glass Menagerie?

The title of the play, and the play’s most prominent symbol, the glass menagerie represents Laura’s fragility, otherworldliness, and tragic beauty. The collection embodies Laura’s imaginative world, her haven from society.

What does the Victrola symbolize in The Glass Menagerie?

The Victrola is a reminder of Mr. Wingfield; Laura often plays records to avoid the present and thinks pleasantly about the times she had with her father. When Laura stopped going to Rubicam’s Business College, she would spend many of her days at the zoo or park.

What is wrong with Laura in The Glass Menagerie?

Laura Wingfield: Amanda’s daughter and Tom’s older sister, Laura suffers the results of a childhood illness which left one of her legs malformed and in a brace. As a result, Laura is painfully shy and has withdrawn herself the outside world. She is much like her beloved glass figurines: delicate and frail.

What does Laura’s glass menagerie symbolize?

Why is Laura so anxious about Tom and Amanda getting along?

Why is Laura so anxious about Tom and Amanda getting along? They aren’t wealthy, so they don’t have a porch, but Amanda had one (used to sit on the porch & entertain 17 gentlemen callers). Also, a porch is designed to relax and linger and a fire escape is designed to escape.

What does Amanda accuse Tom of doing?

Amanda accuses Tom of being an inattentive, selfish dreamer and then throws herself into comforting Laura. From the fire escape outside of their apartment, Tom watches the two women and explains that, not long after Jim’s visit, he gets fired from his job and leaves Amanda and Laura behind.