1. Outline on the Glass Menagerie
Amanda sees the fire escape as an opportunity for gentleman callers to enter Laura's life. ... Wingfield, the absent father of Tom and Laura and husband to Amanda. ... Amanda always makes negative comments about her missing husband, yet his picture remains. ... When Amanda tells Laura to practice typing, Laura instead plays with her glass collection. When Amanda is heard walking up the fire escape, Laura quickly hides her collection. ...
Amanda, who lives her life through her children, is trying to escape the hardships that her family has endured by reliving her youth. Amanda desperately tries to push her children into seeking a better future. This delusion is in direct contradiction to Amanda's own past, who married, only to have her husband run off, leaving her with two children. ... Tom, Laura and Amanda all seem to think, incorrectly I might add, that escape is possible. ... Wingfield and Tom's departure prove to be a dead end in many ways. ...