Glass Menagerie is a story full of symbols. The symbols convey a different significant meaning that figuratively leads the reader to understand the characters and the themes in the story better. The author chose to use these symbols because they would help communicate to the reader better.
Laura’s Glass Menagerie
Laura’s Glass Menagerie is the major symbol in the play as depicted by the title. Her collection of animals is a representation of some of the aspects of her behavior. Laura is traditional in her behavior, mild and fantastic. Naturally, glass is clear and with a correct passage of light through it, some of the light gets refracted leading to formation of rainbow colors. Laura shows a strange character just like light to those who decide to copy her.
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The Glass Unicorn
It is Laura’s most preferred figure which represents her individuality. According to Jim, unicorns are in existence in the present time since they are now dissimilar to other horses. Also, Laura is seen to have developed loneliness, ill-adapted and uncommon for the modern world. In Scene Seven, Laura’s fate is seen to be in bigger-scale in comparison to unicorn’s fate. Whenever Laura and Jim kiss, the Unicorn’s horns fall off and become another distinct horse. Laura becomes a bit normal due to Jim's advances, which makes her similar to other girls. But this normalcy depicts that Laura cannot become normal without devastating outcomes. Finally, Jim receives unicorn from Laura as a token. The unicorn is more appropriate for Jim than to Laura when it has no horns, an illustration all that Jim has taken/destroyed from her
Blue Roses
This is Laura’s nickname that was given to her by Jim while they were in high school. It is a symbol of Laura’s attractiveness, yet she seems unusual. Besides, the name shows how Jim was attracted to Laura and the level of happiness he brought to her face due to better treatment. It also brings the memory of the characters of Rose, Tennessee Williams’s sister, which Laura portrays.
Fire Escape
When moving out of Wingfields’ apartment, there is a fire escape with lighting which symbolizes and exit from the fires of hindrances and dysfunction rage in the household of Wingfield. In Scene four, Laura slides on the fire escape, insinuating her incapability to save herself from her state.
In a nutshell, these symbols effectively communicate various meanings throughout the play. Every symbol has a different meaning which in turn changes with time. The symbols help the reader understand the characters, their challenges, and their motivations.
