CONTRAST IN TENNESSEE WILLIAMS’ PLAY “GLASS MANAGERIE”

Abstract

Tennessee Williams’ play “The Glass Menagerie” has not been investigated from the perspective chosen in this article. On detailed investigating the problems, conflicts, characters of the play and the peculiarities of its staging, recommended by the author, we discovered that contrast is one of the most important literary and staging devices used in this play. Contrast is used not only to create and develop internal and external conflicts, but also to depict the characters’ traits. Juxtaposition of the characters reveals their strong and weak points.

Amanda and Laura are presented as contrasting personality types. The conflict between them is inevitable. There is also a conflict between Tom and Amanda, caused by the contrast between Tom’s plans and Amanda’s expectations, concerning Tom’s doing his duty as the head of the family. Tom’s inner conflict arouses from the contrast between his sense of duty and his desire of freedom. One of the reasons for Laura’s inferiority complex is the contrast between the way her physical defect is seen by her and by her environment.

Amanda feels strongly the contrast between her past and her present. There is a contrast between Jim, a promising young man in the past and Jim, a looser, though full of hope at the present. Still Jim is a man of action, so Laura’s inertia contrasts with his attitudes. The contrast between escapism and readiness to meet the challenge contributes much to the realization of characters’ plight. The contrast between illusion and reality is a characteristic feature of the characters’ existence.

The principles of the “plastic theatre”, created by Tennessee Williams, demand specific use of lighting. As a result light and shadow effect helps to stress the details and reveal the character’s psychological state.

Thus, contrast in the investigated play gives an impulse to the development of both inner and outer conflicts, emphasizes characters’ personal problems, deepens psychologism, makes the impression stronger.