Card Report: “The Glass Menagerie”

Conflict

The major conflict in “The Glass Menagerie” is the feeling of hopelessness that each of the Wingfield’s struggles with. Amanda’s hopelessness comes from the feeling that she isn’t as important as she once was, as though her fame/glory is slowly fading away. It is this fear that causes her to push Laura to become more socially accepted and popular with others. Laura is extremely afraid of seeing Jim O’Connor, and beneath that we can see her insecurities about her physical appearance and her fear of being able to be a productive member of society. Tom’s desire to create poetry stems from his fear of being stuck in a job where he feels he won’t make a difference, that isn’t taking him …show more content…

The second one is that Tom’s repeated trips to the fire escape foreshadow his leaving.

Dramatic Question The dramatic question in “The Glass Menagerie” is our wondering if Tom will leave, or if Amanda will succeed in keeping him there with her and Laura.

Climax “The climax of her [Laura’s] secret life” also happens to be the climax of William’s play. Jim O’Connor’s connects with Laura, kisses her, and then manages to break the horn off of her favorite unicorn figurine. I see this as the climax because as a reader, I knew Laura would eventually have a male interest at some point in the play. Also, knowing that there are all of these tiny glass figurines is just asking for one of them to break at some point in the story.

Resolution and Denouement Tom decides to leave his family shortly after the whole ordeal between Jim O’ Connor and Laura. We aren’t really given much to work with about his leaving, except just to know that he left.

Rising and Falling Action
The Rising Action in “The Glass Menagerie” takes place after Laura leaves the business school that her mother sent her to. It is at that point and time that Amanda decides Laura’s only option left is to get married. Amanda and Tom discuss who would make potential candidates for husbands, and Tom invites Jim O’Connor to dinner. Amanda prepares both her house and herself at length for Jim’s visit, hoping that Jim