The Glass Menagerie is a play of a family of three: a mother and two grown children, who live in a St. Louis apartment. Once Amanda's husband leaves because he loved long distance than his wife, they struggle to live through the money from Tom's job at the shoe warehouse. Everyone in the family is trying to escape the difficult situation that they are in which eventually but only is successful.
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. It is because of her failed marriage, in fact, that the family is in such poor shape, emotionally and financially. The absence of a father figure has forced Tom into the position of being sole breadwinner. She also believes that Tom will turn on her and Laura because he is tired of the life his mother is living and wants to escape from it. She points this out, "More and more you remind me of your father! He was out all hours without explanation---Then left! Goodbye! And me with the bag to hold I know what you"re dreaming of But not till there's somebody to take your place" (439). She does not mind him leaving, but she wants him to make sure that she and Laura will be financially taken care of. .
Tom, also referred to as Shakespeare, is the main character in the play. He spends much of his time at home standing on the balcony, smoking, listening to music from the Paradise Dance Hall across the street and going out to movies. He says, "I go to the movies because--I like adventure. Adventure is something I don't have much of at work, so I go to the movies" (438). Tom Every night, Tom goes to the movies to escape the harsh reality of his home life and his job.
