For a play written in America, Tennessee Williams" work of the Glass Menagrie was definitely considered an outrageous first for its time in American theater, which until now glorifies still the Broadway tradition that stuns audience with elaborate dance coreography and chart-busting musical scores. However, unlike Broadway, Williams" Glass Menagrie, like many of his works, stand as testaments against one of the msot exalted ideals in human cultural history, the American Dream. Through his allegorical play of the Glass Menagrie, Williams conveys the message that not everybody is a winner in the capitalist system and he shows this through characters such as Tom and Jim, one seeking adventure while the other seeks status and prestige while deluding themselves in the process, indulging in the fantasy of the American Dream consisting of great frontiers of prospects and opportunities for each and everyone willing to seek and strive. The other two central characters of the play, Amanda and Laura are also lost in self-dellusion but theirs differs in nature from that of Tom and Jim. Both the mother and daughter live in times long gone with the passing of history. Amanda revels in a mythologise southern America of chivalry and gentility while Laura retreats fully into a world where she is the ideal pre-20th Century lady who does not partake in the pressures of the real world. The only difference between the two female characters is that Amanda is a survivor who is able to cope through practical means while Laura retreats more and more into a world of her own, unable to live at all and be apart of the society at the time which is a stark, contrasting canvas to her character's existence. All these characteristics and allegorised narration are not just delivered through dialogue but also through a revolutionary technique during the time, on-stage projections and this is the key ingredient that amplifies Williams" message to the audience, truly making the play a first in American theater history.
