The Glass Menagerie (Blog 1)

The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams is a non realistic play about a family whose father left them at a very early stage. Many times throughout this play, the main character Tom poses as a narrator by making small soliloquies at the beginning of scenes. Ate the beginning of Scene 6 Tom makes a small speech stating, "I knew that Jim and Laura had known each other at Soldan, and I heard Laura speak admiringly of his voice" (Williams, 1262). These small soliloquies have a major roll by informing the audience about background information and other unknown facts about the characters. This soliloquy on page 1262 happens to have importance because it tells the audience a little about Jim and how he would make a perfect gentlemen caller. Tom is able to create an image of Jim being athletic and intelligent, which is very opposite of Laura's character. Now that the reader knows that Jim and Laura have some chemistry, this is able to raise some interest in wondering if Jim will be the "one" for Laura. Along with informing the audience about Jim's relationship with Laura, Tom is also able to inform the audience of his own relationship with Jim. At the end of the soliloquy we learn that Jim and Tom are not as close of friends as Amanda thought. Both of these two pieces of background information help to set the stage for the scene of having dinner with the gentlemen caller.