The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams and Death of a Salesman by Arthur Millar were written on a backdrop of a painful time in American History, the Depression. The plays main dramatic action is brought about through painful memories. The characters fixate on the past in an attempt either to escape or improve their present situation. Taking into account the context of the plays, memory was most likely an important institution within American minds, a question of what went wrong in relation to the boom of the twenties and the depression of the Thirties. Also remembering fonder times and the traditions and values present in a previous America.
Death of a Salesman brings in the larger social context of the American dream, but both plays are more specifically dealing with what is in the minds and memories of its characters and these memories as a fundamental part of their existence.
“Not only are American plays about recognizable people in a recognizable world, but they are about the personal lives of these people”[1]
The style and content of “The Glass Menagerie” is directed by memory. As Tom blatantly points out, it is a memory play and its lack of realism, its production, and even its music all have their origins in memory. The advantage of it being memory play is that memories are based on “real” events; therefore it need not follow the generic conventions of realism in order for it to appear real.
“The play is memory. Being a memory play, it is dimly lighted, it is sentimental, It is not realistic. In memory everything seems to happen to music. That explains the fiddle in the wings.”[1]
The play shows how the nature of memory is problematic; memory involves confronting a past where one was not as virtuous as one is now.
The main action of “The Glass Menagerie” is drawn from the memories of the play’s narrator, Tom Wingfield. His character underlines the play’s tension between an objective representation of dramatic truth and memory’s distortion of truth. Tom often addresses the audience directly in an attempt to provide an objective view of events but frequently displays childlike emotions. Because of this, the audience questions whether Tom has the ability to relay events without emotional involvement. His character is a filled with contradiction. He writes poetry, reads books and dreams of escape but through his memories centred around his family, his mother Amanda and sister Laura, he is inextricably bound to that what he apparently wants to escape.
“The focus is on these three characters, in the internal qualities that created their shared adventure and on its effects on them.”[2]
Amanda is possessed by recollections of her bygone youth and childhood. The social distinctions and values she grew up with have been reversed and she has trouble coming to terms with her new place in society. Thus her character seems deeply flawed which appears through her constant pestering of Tom and her blatant disregard fro who Laura really his.
Laura’s glass menagerie is an important symbol of memory. Tennessee Williams’ own sister had a collection of glass figurines of which he stated “…came to represent in my memory all the softest emotions that belong to recollection of things past.”[2]
From this it is evident that the playwright’s intention, with the glass menagerie as the central symbol, was for it to embody the combined memory of the Wingfield family. The unicorn was Laura’s favourite figure in her collection and at one point in the play, Tom points out that they are extinct. In terms of memories embodied in the conscious of the family, it is true that the past is extinct (it does exist anymore), but like the unicorn, it still manages to be a fixture in the present.
Tom’s direct address to the audience identifies the biased portrayal of past events they should expect. As Tom is the narrator, everything we see will be filtered through his eyes and through his memories. His role of narrator allows him some distance from the action but as a participating character also he is emotionally involved in the events of the play.
“Tom cannot shake the memory of his family form his mind; the dissolution of time and space in the play – that is, in his consciousness – heightens the importance of what he is remembering to make it the most significant thing about his existence.”[3]
A photograph of Mr. Wingfield hangs over the dramatic action of the play, indicating that although he is a figure of the past he still plays a role in the family. Amanda’s memories of his abandonment of the family are paramount in her treatment of Tom. Her husband left her as he “fell in love with long distances”[4] and this accounts for her constant concern with what her son reads and where he goes at night. She rejects Toms need to escape both mentally and physically as her suspicions dominate their relationship.
Through the presence of the photograph and the memories of his father’s abandonment, Tom is haunted by the fact that now he is the dominant male in the family, he may follow in his father’s footsteps and leave his family.
“There is a fifth character in the play who doesn’t appear except in this larger-than-life-size photograph over the mantel. This is our father who left us a long time ago.”[5]
Amanda is characteristically a fallen “Southern Belle” and the memories of her pampered past are ones she cannot escape as a struggling single mother in her present.
“Mother Amanda is a former Southern Belle inclined to live in the memories and values of her past.”[6]
Because of this she inflicts he own values on her children rather than accepting their own hopes and dreams. Her past is evidently unfulfilled but she refuses to accept this fact and convinces herself that Laura can live the life she wanted for herself. It is also apparent that her children’s inability to deal with the past is inherited from her.
The introduction of the character of Jim as a suitor for Laura gives hope to Amanda that her dreams for Laura may be fulfilled. Amanda lives in a past filled with gentility and tradition which contrasts with Jims futuristic views of a tomorrow with science and business. However he is a gentleman and good-natured and these traditional values held in high esteem by Amanda give the traditions from her past a place in the present.
The presence of Jim sheds light on the alienation of the Wingfields, as a family possessed by memories, in their modern society. It also leads to an acceptance of the family when compared with Jim’s somewhat materialistic views of the world.
Each character in the Glass Menagerie is trying to find an escape route from their present situation. Amanda seeks solace in memories of her youth. Tom’s at first lacked definition. He was a struggling poet but through creating this play, he has found his escape mechanism. Through the act of creation he managed to cleanse himself of his memories and find freedom.
“In Salesman, the action moves effortlessly from the present – the last twenty-four hours of Willy’s life – into memory symbolized in the stage setting by the idyllic leaves around his house that, in past moments, block out the threatening apartment houses.”[7]
In Death of a Salesman, we are presented with two plots. The external plot represents the succession of events as observed by Willy. The internal plot deals with Willy’s conscious, his memories of the past and the obsessions created by these memories. Millar uses music as a tool to direct the audience between past and present action in the play.
Inside Willy’s head past collides with present. His memories continually impinge on the dramatic action of the present situations. Willy allows himself to be distanced from the present by the constant flood of recollections.
Within Willy’s mind past and present exist on the same plane. Willy sees himself with a dual existence, living both in the present and in the past. His character could be described as somewhat schizophrenic. Worry, guilt and lost dreams have delivered Willy to a land where a sense of time and place, cease to exist. It is through Willy’s “madness”, Millar can use his memories as a tool to direct the action of the play.
As stated previously, time has indeed been abolished and to allow memory to function successfully in the play, the idea of place has been abolished also. We see the dramatic action jump from a number of locations, Boston, New York… To remember entails a variety of temporal levels and through these we loose any sense of fixed identity in Willy’s character.
In order for memory to be constructed and function in Death of a Salesman, Millar introduces time as a fluid notion. The past and present flow together simultaneously. It is important we are aware that the idyllic past that Willy creates is one he reinvents. It merely functions as an escape from his present. His true past is one that influences constantly and from that he cannot escape. He searches his past for a mistake that he can make accountable for his present unhappiness, one that has frustrated his hopes for fortune and destroyed his relationship with his son, Biff.
In Act II, Willy is immersed in the memory of Biff as a teenager coming to visit him in Boston. His memory involves Biff knocking incessantly at his hotel room door while Willy is inside with his mistress. The woman persists that Willy should answer the door. Biff’s realisation of the affair results in him losing faith in his father and hence his father’s wishes for him. Willy concludes that Biff’s disillusionment experienced because of this affair accounts for his failure to succeed. Losing faith in his father means losing faith in his father’s ambitions for him too. The audience is made aware of the reason for the present conflict between Willy and Biff through Willy’s reminiscence.
The dramatic arrangement of the play may be attributed to the tension between Willy's memorial episodes that are populated by almost mythical figures and his having to come to terms with real, unexceptional characters that inhabit his real life.
Throughout the play, Willy’s inherent obsession with “The American Dream” is permanent fixture. He believes sincerely in what he believes the promise of the American dream to be. That is that a “well liked” and “attractive” man in business will achieve all the material and personal comforts existing in his Modern America. This obsession has lead to a superficial fixation which contrasts with the American “work ethic”, which is to work hard with out complaint and you will reap the rewards and be successful. This is a more general perception of what the American dream is. As well, Willy’s idea of being “well liked” is superficial. He has a childish resentment for Bernard as he regards him as a “nerd”. This fixation with this feeble American Dream leads to his continual disappointment with his life and it leads the audience to question why he has these superficial dreams and desires.
“The inevitable corollary to the belief that success is available to everyone is the conclusion that failure can only be the fault of the individual.”[8]
Willy’s obsession, with making his family conform to the ideals of the American Dream are deep rooted in the memories of his childhood and the trauma brought about by his abandonment by his father. Since his father left him with nothing, Willy projects the memories of emotional and material deprivation of his childhood into the lives of his sons. He sees, the matter of setting them out on his perceived “right path in life” to be of utmost importance. These obsessions are magnified onto the character of Biff.
“Willy risks everything on making it to the top. When he cannot do so, biff must.”[9] He assures himself that he is an authority on this matter and is capable of deciding how his sons should live their lives. This leads to an exaggerated self-importance, for example when he tells his sons how well known he is in New England. Another consequence of his abandonment is he vaguely knows his father and relies on second hand memories from his brother Ben, to draw a questionable picture of who he is.
Willy sees in his sons, characteristics of his abandoners. Biff resembles his father through his sense of adventure and artistic temperament. Happy corresponds with unscrupulousness of his uncle. His memories of past abandonment by these figures with the similar qualities inherent in his sons, serves to transport the issues of rejection from his past into the present. Thus, Willy’s need to be “well liked” and succeed is emphasised.
This constant struggle by Willy, to create the perfect “American Dream” family seems to constitute his attempt to rebuild the dysfunctional family of his upbringing. In other words, it is a feeble effort at creating a present situation that can counteract the bitter memories of his past. His ambition to be a good salesman, a good father and provider is a manifestation of how his own father failed. Willy is preoccupied with leaving his sons a solid material legacy, in response, to his childhood, where he was left with nothing.
Willy’s memories of abandonment account for his obsession with being “well liked”. In a childish fashion, He craves acceptance and retorts at any hint of dislike from another person by either an outburst of anger or weeping in self pity. Willy believes his childhood abandonment was a result of his father and brother not liking him enough. Willy’s memory of Ben visiting his home is flooded with his fears of abandonment. He presents his sons to Ben with pride, almost pleading for approval. When Ben mentions his need to leave for his train, Willy begs him to stay. He begs Ben to tell Biff and Happy about his father, their grandfather, as he realizes he cannot feed his sons with memories of his father, himself. This ability to pass on a record of family history to your children is a characteristic of the American Dream that Willy holds in high esteem.
It is evident that his memories of abandonment have moulded his present relationship with Ben and other characters in the play. Willy is abandoned when Howard fires him, when Biff and Happy abandon him in the restaurant and because of these rejections he returns home like a miserable child. After this series of rejection, Willy’s fantasies used previously to mask unpleasant realities have abandoned him as well.
His memories of rejection have resulted in a delusion of what it is to be well liked. Linda loves Willy unconditionally despite his imperfections in contrast with his mistress who merely likes him. She falls for his sales-pitch, which boots his confidence but does not have deep emotion for him like Linda does. For Linda Willy’s job is merely that, a job. She draws a clear line between Salesman Willy and husband Willy. Willy cannot draw this line and fails to benefit and seek sanctuary in the love his family can provide him with.
“Willy’s sin is the lack of self-consciousness, the lack of critical knowledge; it is the sin of not keeping his inner life inviolable.”[10]
The product Willy sells and also the woman he commits adultery with, remain nameless. These details are irrelevant as they merely represent his dissatisfaction with his life. His mistress is merely another in a line of emotional props used by Willy as a means for him to feel “well liked”. His past has infused him with self doubt and he needs her to reassure him that he is ok. When Biff finds out about the affair it is a sign that his ambitions, instilled in him from his father are not as great as he once thought.
Willy’s long struggle with his family experience is transferred onto his professional existence. When he talks of a man called Dave Singleman, he exaggerates his success to almost heroic proportions. He mentions that hundreds attended his funeral and believes it is because he was a well liked individual. The inappropriateness of Willy’s beliefs exposes itself in his mourning over the loss of friendship and camaraderie in his profession. The friendships in various cities, he used to boast to his sons are merely delusions, inflicted through the rejection he has suffered in the past and his continuing to suffer through his memories in his present.
Willy never manages, through his searching his memories, to achieve self-knowledge like a traditional tragic hero. While he begins to understand his professional nature, he does not realize that his superficial values he has inflicted on his family are the reasons for his personal failure.
“It is the American Dream – the cultural doctrine that America is by definition the land of opportunity, the place where any boy can grow up to be president, the place where success is a birthright waiting to be claimed, ‘and that’s the wonder, the wonder of this country, that a man can end up with diamonds here on the basis of being liked”[11]
Willy’s obsession with his “holy grail” the American dream has only lead to a lack of personal or emotional understanding.
“Willy is cheated by life and duped by society in matters large and small.”[12] His memories and the influence of his past have induced a fear in Willy’s life that prevents him from ever discovering what is really important. A stronger character may have over come this hurdle but for Willy suicide is the only escape from what he sees as a worthless existence and a wealth of memories he can never escape from.
The function of memory in both of the plays is primarily to allow the audience a greater understanding of the motivations of the characters. In The Glass Menagerie, memory is more of a focus of escape rather than the analysing of the past in Death of a Salesman. However, similarities lie in that both Willy Lowman’s and Tom Wingfield’s abandonment by their fathers in their childhood and both use memory as an escape mechanism. Amanda and Willy also share the need to force their own hope and dreams onto their offspring, Amanda with Laura, Willy with Biff. But the main idea we can gather from both plays is that one must make peace with one’s past before they can enjoy the conflicts in their present situation are resolved.
Notes:
[1] Berkowitz, Gerald, M, Introduction, American Drama of the Twentieth Century, Longman Group U.K. Ltd.:1992, p.3.
[2] Williams, Tennessee, The Glass Menagerie, Ed. Browne, E. Martin, London: Penguin Books, 1988, Scene 1, P.14.
[3] Berkowitz, Gerald, M, 1945 – 1960: The Zenith of Broadway Theatre, American Drama of the Twentieth Century, Longman Group U.K. Ltd.:1992, p.89.
[4] Evans, Jean, The Life and Ideas of Tennessee Williams, Conversations with Tennessee Williams, Ed. Devlin, Albert J.,U.S.A.: University Press of Mississippi, p.12
[5] Scanlan, Tom, Reactions I: Family and Society in Arthur Millar, Family, Drama, and American Dreams, Connecticut: Greenwood Press Inc., 1978, P.167.
[6]Williams, Tennessee, The Glass Menagerie, Ed. Browne, E. Martin, London: Penguin Books, 1988, Scene 1, P.14.
[7] Williams, Tennessee, The Glass Menagerie, Ed. Browne, E. Martin, London: Penguin Books, 1988, Scene 1, P.14.
[8] Berkowitz, Gerald, M, 1945 – 1960: The Zenith of Broadway Theatre, American Drama of the Twentieth Century, Longman Group U.K. Ltd.:1992, p.88.[9] The Norton Anthology of American Literature, Sixth Edition, Volume E, Ed. Baym, Nina, New York: bW. W. Norton & company, Inc. 2003.
[10] Berkowitz, Gerald, M, 1945 – 1960: The Zenith of Broadway Theatre, American Drama of the Twentieth Century, Longman Group U.K. Ltd.:1992, p.80.
[11] Scanlan, Tom, Reactions I: Family and Society in Arthur Millar, Family, Drama, and American Dreams, Connecticut: Greenwood Press Inc., 1978, P.136.
[12] Scanlan, Tom, Reactions I: Family and Society in Arthur Millar, Family, Drama, and American Dreams, Connecticut: Greenwood Press Inc., 1978, P.136.
[13] Berkowitz, Gerald, M, 1945 – 1960: The Zenith of Broadway Theatre, American Drama of the Twentieth Century, Longman Group U.K. Ltd.:1992, p.80.
[14] Scanlan, Tom, Reactions I: Family and Society in Arthur Millar, Family, Drama, and American Dreams, Connecticut: Greenwood Press Inc., 1978, P.135.
Bibliography
1)Miller, Arthur, Death of a Salesman, The Norton Anthology of American Literature, Sixth Edition, Volume E, Ed. Baym, Nina, New York: bW. W. Norton & company, Inc. 2003.
2) Scanlan, Tom, Family, Drama, and American Dreams, Connecticut: Greenwood Press Inc., 1978
3) Evans, Jean, Conversations with Tennessee Williams, Ed. Devlin, Albert J.,U.S.A.: University Press of Mississippi, 1986
4) Williams, Tennessee, The Glass Menagerie, Ed. Browne, E. Martin, London: Penguin Books, 1988
5) Berkowitz, Gerald, M, American Drama of the Twentieth Century, Longman Group U.K. Ltd.:1992
About the Author:
I'm a twenty something Irish girl with a real passion for writing and the media. I have just completed my B.A. in English with Journalism at the university of Wales. I was lifestyle Editor of my college paper ( you can view some if my work on our website: http://www.seren-bangor.co.uk/ During secondary school I was the entertainment editor of our school paper. I am in the process of creating a blog specifically to allow me to practice my writing I will post the link in due course.
