Amanda and Laura in Scene Essay

The second scene of Tennessee Williams play The Glass Menagerie is mainly about the relationship amongst Amanda and her daughter Laura. Williams uses every(prenominal) way possible to give the audience an idea of this relationship, from body language, stage directions and language, to the set, clothes and props.Throughout the play, Williams uses images set against screens to accentuate the mood, or theme, of the upcoming scene. The image presented at the start of this scene is blue roses, this being the nickname Laura was given at school by a boy she was fond of When I had that attack of pleurosis he asked me what was the matter when I came back. I said pleurosis he thought that I said Blue Roses Ironically, blue roses is more than just a name for Laura she is visualised as a rose, pure, innocent and delicate, and the adjective blue gives the characterization of coldness, which could be linked to Lauras sad and lonely differentiate.Lauras mental and physical state is central to Amanda and Lauras relationship, as it is through this that difficulties arise (although it is quite likely that Amanda would always be a rather demanding mother). Laura is crippled we are given the impression that it isnt particularly serious, scarcely conversely, nothing to be brushed lightly aside either. Amandas inability to subscribe to this fact creates a tension between not only Amanda and her daughter, but gobbler as well who feels he has to protect Laura from her mothers ambitions for her.It is important to realise that Amanda does know her daughter is crippled, but just cannot accept the fact that this disability could have a very real negative effect on her daughters life. At the fire of Scene 2, Amanda sums up her feelings towards Lauras problem when she says Nonsense Laura, Ive told you never, never to use that word. Why, youre not crippled, you just have a little demerit hardly noticeable evenHere we can see that Amanda is convincing herself that all she is really doing is being supportive to her daughter, trying to make Laura feel burst but in reality, she is unable to face the fact that her daughter isnt as physically attractive as Amanda was at the same age. This all drives pull down to one of the underlying themes of the play a mother trying to live her life once more through her daughter and Amanda must eventually come to realise that Laura is a completely different person.An important part of this scene is that, through the screenplay between Amanda and Laura, we see that these two characters are very different on that point is a total contrast between mother and daughter. This is a common trick of playwrights, although usually the main characters arent contrasted quite so obviously in Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet, the characters Benvolio and Tybalt were contrasted excellently, one a natural peacemaker and the other a warmonger.Here, Amanda is dramatic, determined, dominant and self-assured on the outside at least whi lst Laura is shy, quiet, insecure and nervous. Laura seems horrified to become involved in real-life situations, and is much more at home with her glass menagerie and music. Amanda appears to lead a busy life, which some might speculate she is happy with but she is actually living a shadow of her former existence.She came from a rich and successful family, and now lives in a vast hive-like cellular living unit as Williams describes her building. She is constantly living in the past and referring to her suitors, tangled up in the biggest mistake as she sees it that she ever made, which was to marry Tom and Lauras father. With little left of her former glory, Amanda is desperate for her daughter to make the right choice this time, to escape the trap she found herself in.This is why she refuses to accept that her daughter has a defect, she sees Laura as her last chance at success. This is perhaps best shown in the passage beginning So what are we going to do with the rest of our l ives? Throughout this passage, Amanda refers to we instead of you here she really is showing her true colours, that she can only live her life fully if Laura is successful.