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Literary Devices
Definition of Allusion
In literature, an allusion is an unexplained reference to someone or something outside of the text. Writers commonly allude to other literary works, famous individuals, historical events, or philosophical ideas... read full definition
In literature, an allusion is an unexplained reference to someone or something outside of the text. Writers commonly allude to other literary works, famous individuals... read full definition
In literature, an allusion is an unexplained reference to someone or something outside of the text. Writers commonly allude to... read full definition
Scene 3
Explanation and Analysis—The Homemaker's Companion:
To make some extra money for the family, Amanda begins conducting telephone campaigns to get subscribers “The Homemaker’s Companion” magazine. In the following passage from Scene 3, Williams utilizes imagery and a simile to draw a comparison between Amanda and the women she calls to solicit:
She conducted a vigorous campaign on the telephone, roping in subscribers to one of those magazines for matrons called The Homemaker’s Companion, the type of journal that features the serialized sublimations of ladies of letters who think in terms of delicate cuplike breasts, slim, tapering waists, rich, creamy thighs, eyes like wood smoke in autumn, fingers that soothe and caress like strains of music, bodies as powerful as Etruscan sculpture.
This list of images—delicate breasts, "tapering waists," "creamy thighs"—outlines beauty standards that women with means are encouraged to care about by publications like “The Homemaker’s Companion.” Women of wealthy families are able to think in terms of beauty and appearance rather than face the harsh material realities of poverty like Amanda and her family have to. The fact that Amanda is selling subscriptions to these magazines, essentially selling illusions, adds complexity to her character; Amanda is not only a victim of illusion but also knows precisely how to manipulate illusion for personal gain. In this case, she knows how to sell the illusion of beauty standards to other women via magazine subscriptions, and this detail contributes to the play’s investigation of illusion and reality.
This passage also alludes to the sculptures of the Etruscan people, who lived from roughly 900 BC to 27 BC in an area of Ancient Italy. Because relatively little written work has survived from the Etruscan civilization, the culture's sculptures have taken on special significance, resembling the artistry found in Ancient Greece (though Etruscan sculpture is unique in and of itself). By using a simile to compare the women Amanda solicits to Etruscan sculptures, then, Williams imbues them with a sense of worldliness and importance.
Related Themes:
Scene 5
Explanation and Analysis—Waiting for Bombardments:
At the opening of Scene 5, Tom’s narration for the audience provides relevant worldly context via allusion to well-known world events. These worldly, foreign events stand in contrast to the Paradise Dance Hall that Tom gazes upon as he narrates. This comparison between what Tom witnesses directly within his community to major world events connects to the play’s theme of illusion or escape from the “real” dangers of the world:
Adventure and change were imminent in this year. They were waiting around the corner for all these kids. Suspended in the mist over Berchtesgaden, caught in the folds of Chamberlain’s umbrella. In Spain there was Guernica! But here there was only hot swing music and liquor, dance halls, bars, and movies, and sex that hung in the gloom like a chandelier and flooded the world with brief, deceptive rainbows. . . . All the world was waiting for bombardments!
As Tom reflects on these final moments with his family, his interjections as a narrator who already knows how the depicted events will unfold add an element of dramatic irony. This irony is especially relevant as Tom references events such as Chamberlain and Hitler’s meeting at Berchtesgaden in 1938 (which led to the Munich Agreement) and “Chamberlain’s umbrella” as a symbol of the Prime Minister’s policy of appeasement. Tom also references the bombing of Guernica in 1937, the same year that the events of The Glass Menagerie take place.
Despite all the “adventure and change” in the world as it heads toward the second World War, Tom’s world remains distracted by the “deceptive rainbows” of music, liquor, and dancing in Paradise Dance Hall. This comparison between events that represent the world on the brink of war and the perhaps ignorant and indulgent pleasure of the patrons in Paradise Dance Hall hammers home the message that the Wingfields are not the only ones consumed by illusion. Here, Williams hints that illusion, memory, and “deceptive rainbows” of brief pleasure have the capacity to mask and distract from crucial world events. He criticizes those who choose to escape reality rather than face it head-on, as he paints them as easily distracted and frivolous party-goers who are unfazed by reality.
Related Themes:
Scene 6
Explanation and Analysis—Tom's Nicknames:
In order to support his family, Tom works at a warehouse. He finds the work unfulfilling, as his true passions lie in writing and reading. Jim O’Connor, who Tom eventually invites home for dinner, notices Tom’s unusual habits at work and begins addressing him by the nickname “Shakespeare,” as described in Scene 6:
He knew of my secret practice of retiring to a cabinet of the washroom to work on poems when business was slack in the warehouse. He called me Shakespeare.
Later, in Scene 7, while he is at the Wingfields’ home for dinner, Jim states that the other warehouse workers have also noticed Jim’s writing habits:
They call you Romeo and stuff like that.
These allusions to Shakespeare help characterize Tom’s personality and interests. The fact that Jim and the other warehouse workers refer to Tom with the nicknames “Shakespeare” and “Romeo” (an allusion to Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet) reveals how noticeable Tom’s interests in writing and literature are to the outside world. This information makes it easier to understand and empathize with Tom’s decision to abandon his family just like his father.
It is also important to remember that the play is a projection of Tom’s memory—he is presenting these facts to the audience. Thus, these allusions to Shakespeare, one of the most renowned writers in the world, can be understood as Tom using ethos to appeal to the audience’s respect for authority. By making a comparison of himself to Shakespeare, Tom underhandedly legitimizes his abandoning his family to pursue his literary dreams.
Related Themes:
Scene 7
Explanation and Analysis—Tom's Nicknames:
In order to support his family, Tom works at a warehouse. He finds the work unfulfilling, as his true passions lie in writing and reading. Jim O’Connor, who Tom eventually invites home for dinner, notices Tom’s unusual habits at work and begins addressing him by the nickname “Shakespeare,” as described in Scene 6:
He knew of my secret practice of retiring to a cabinet of the washroom to work on poems when business was slack in the warehouse. He called me Shakespeare.
Later, in Scene 7, while he is at the Wingfields’ home for dinner, Jim states that the other warehouse workers have also noticed Jim’s writing habits:
They call you Romeo and stuff like that.
These allusions to Shakespeare help characterize Tom’s personality and interests. The fact that Jim and the other warehouse workers refer to Tom with the nicknames “Shakespeare” and “Romeo” (an allusion to Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet) reveals how noticeable Tom’s interests in writing and literature are to the outside world. This information makes it easier to understand and empathize with Tom’s decision to abandon his family just like his father.
It is also important to remember that the play is a projection of Tom’s memory—he is presenting these facts to the audience. Thus, these allusions to Shakespeare, one of the most renowned writers in the world, can be understood as Tom using ethos to appeal to the audience’s respect for authority. By making a comparison of himself to Shakespeare, Tom underhandedly legitimizes his abandoning his family to pursue his literary dreams.
Related Themes:
