The Glass Menagerie: Author's Background and Cultural Context

The Glass Menagerie premiered in Chicago in 1944 and was published in 1945. Thomas Lanier Williams, also known as the famous author Tennessee Williams, was born in a small town in Columbus, Mississippi on March 26, 1911 and died on February 25, 1983. Williams received theoretical awards for The Rose Tattoo (1951), A streetcar Named Desire (1948), and Cat on a Hot Roof (1955). He lost a writing contest and moved to the University of Iowa were he received his name “Tennessee”. “He spent most of his time closing his eyes. He could see wonderful, magnificent scenes in his mind.” He spent his time doing this because his childhood was not the best. William’s father was a shoe salesman, a heavy drinker, and was never around for his childhood. Therefore, he was forced to spend time with his sister Rose, his mother Amanda, and his grandmother.  Tennessee was diagnosed with Diphtheria at the age of seven and for two years he could do nothing so, his mother encouraged him to use his imagination. Because of his magnificent imagination, he became an overnight success as a result of The Glass Menagerie. The Glass Menagerie has some biographical background to it; he himself is “Tom” and shows how he struggles to support his mother and sister after his father leaves.

The Glass Menagerie takes place in St. Louis, Missouri during the 1930s, the era of Great Depression. Abandonment was common during the Great Depression because of their was no money to support a family. This illustrates the plot of the play. War in Guernica and turmoil in Spain compared to the uneasy peace in America, establishes a tense atmosphere as the play’s background. Americans of the thirties lived in relative peace but the 1945 audience of the play believed that the thirties would be seen as more calm before WW2. Therefore there is symmetry between the uneasy time period and uneasy peace in the Wisngfield’s house.

"Tennessee Williams." The Mississippi Writers Page Online." www.olemiss.edu/depts/english/ms-writters/dri/williams-tennessee/ 2/21/01 

Ms. Roz is this what you wanted us to post or the first impressions in reading the first few scenes of the play?