The character of Tom Wingfield in The Glass Menagerie is a complex and conflicted young man. On the one hand, he is a dreamer and an artist, yearning for a life of adventure and excitement. On the other hand, he feels trapped by his responsibilities to his family, particularly his disabled sister Laura. This conflict creates great internal tension for Tom, which is often reflected in his behavior.
While Tom clearly loves Laura, he also resents her at times. He feels that her disability prevents her from living a full and satisfying life, and as a result he sometimes treats her harshly. For example, when she begs him not to go out with Jim O’Connor, he responds by telling her that she should be grateful for the attention Jim is giving her. Yet at other times, Tom is incredibly protective of Laura, doing everything he can to shield her from the harsh realities of the world.
Tom’s conflict between his responsibilities and his dreams comes to a head at the end of The Glass Menagerie. Faced with the prospect of having to support Laura for the rest of her life, Tom decides to run away from home. In some ways, this can be seen as a selfish act, but it also reflects Tom’s deep frustration with his life. He knows that he can’t continue living in the same way, and he believes that leaving is the only way to make things better for himself and for Laura.
While The Glass Menagerie is ultimately a tragedy, Tom’s character provides some hope for the future. He may be flawed and conflicted, but he also has the potential to lead a better life. His dreams may never be realized, but his love for Laura shows that he has the capacity for great compassion. In the end, Tom Wingfield is a complex and sympathetic character who readers can’t help but root for.
Tennessee Williams was an renowned American playwright and theorist in the early 20th century. Some of his famous works are A Streetcar Named Desire, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and The Glass Menagerie. Out of all these plays, The Glass Menagerie is considered to be the work that made him notable in literary history. It has been given the title of being a “memory play” due to its unique content; this is attributed to Williams as he called for a new type theatre , one that goes beyond conventional realism.
The story is based on Williams’ own life, with Tom Wingfield being a version of the author himself. The character of Tom Wingfield is multifaceted and his role in The Glass Menagerie is crucial to the development of the plot.
Tom Wingfield is first introduced to the audience as the narrator and protagonist of The Glass Menagerie. He is a young man who is caught between two worlds – the world of his past and the world of his present. He is struggling to come to terms with his own identity and find his place in the world. The first thing that we learn about Tom is that he has a “poetic” imagination. This is seen in the way that he describes the family apartment, which he calls a “fire-escape landing”. He is also able to see the beauty in his sister Laura, who is considered to be disabled and unattractive by most people.
Tom is a complex character who is conflicted between his responsibility to his family and his desire to escape from his mundane life. On the one hand, he feels obligated to take care of his mother and sister. He is the only breadwinner in the family and he knows that it is up to him to support them financially. On the other hand, Tom longs for adventure and excitement. He dreams of traveling the world and seeing new places. The conflict between these two forces creates a great deal of tension for Tom throughout the play.
While Tom is not always likeable, he is a sympathetic character. The audience can understand and empathize with his situation. We see that he is struggling to do the best that he can in a difficult situation. In the end, Tom makes the decision to leave his family behind in order to pursue his own dreams. This is a brave and heroic act. It takes a lot of courage to walk away from everything that is familiar and safe. Tom’s decision to follow his heart is something that we can all admire.
Tom Wingfield is a complex and fascinating character. He is an important part of The Glass Menagerie and Tennessee Williams’ masterpiece.
Tom, the protagonist and narrator of the play, creates it entirely from his memory. Payal Nagpal argues that because William presents Tom as somebody who can take liberties with “dramatic convention”, he is also presenting a counter to the “stage magician” whose tricks show illusion as truth. In other words,Tom reflects real life events back at us through his fabrication of them- disclosing truths in forgiving ways disguised as fiction.
The first time Tom appears on stage, he is already in the role of a magician as he puts out the light to start the play by saying “Let us not take it for granted that life is significant”. The stage directions also tell us that there should be an “aura of mystery” about him as he stands in the dark. Thus we see Tom as a disillusioned dreamer who tries to escape the reality of his life through alcohol and movies. He is also a frustrated poet who wants to write but can never find the time or peace to do so.
Tom Wingfield is a complex character and Williams has given him many layered dimensions. He is at once both an unreliable narrator as well as a very reliable one. As an unreliable narrator, he tells us the story from his own biased and subjective point of view. He is not always accurate in his memory of events and he often deliberately withholds information or gives us only part of the story. However, he is also a very reliable narrator in the sense that he is honest about his own feelings and motivations. He does not try to hide his flaws or present himself in a false light. He is a complex character who is both flawed and sympathetic at the same time.
Tom is a victim of his own circumstances as well as his own choices. He is trapped in a dead-end job and a loveless marriage. His home life is unhappy and suffocating. He feels trapped by his responsibilities to his family and longs for escape. He tries to find release in alcohol and movies, but these are only temporary escapes from reality. In the end, he is forced to face the truth of his life and make a difficult choice.
