Research Paper on:
Archetype Characteristics of The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams

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Almost all the elements in literature are based on timeless, and thus archetypal, themes. In Tennessee Williams "The Glass Menagerie" we see archetypes from many different perspectives. The myths or  archetypes that are involved are perhaps very common and very understandable. In the following paper we examine Williams work and his characters, illustrating how they are archetypal. Archetype  "The Glass Menagerie is set in a shabby St. Louis tenement apartment occupied by Amanda Wingfield and her two adult children: shy, fragile Laura, and Tom, a restless, poetic soul  trapped in a stifling factory job. Tom Wingfield narrates this self-described memory play, revisiting a time when his family longs to escape their meager existence by creating idealized fantasy worlds"  (Anonymous The Glass Menagerie By Tennessee Williams glassmenagerie.html). In this very simple illustration of the story we see many elements that are timeless, and thus are archetypes. We see a  family stuck in a financial and environmental position where they can find no hope, save through dreaming. They envision a better world, and they each immerse themselves in their own  small fantasy world, presented by the glass menagerie. From these perspectives we have a tale that talks of the mythic quality of life in terms of it frailty. The  character of Laura is very illustrative of this, and she is somewhat reminiscent of such women as Ophelia, from Shakespeares Hamlet. While Ophelia had more confidence and more power, she  was a weak woman who was caught up in a fantasy world as well. And, when Ophelia was scorned she completely lost her mind and entered into a fantasy world  where she ultimately committed suicide. Both Laura and Ophelia are symbolic representations of the archetype, the mythic, woman who is frail and easily destroyed by love or a lack of