Conduct some brief research on Tennessee Williams, the author of The Glass Menagerie, and consider how the character of Tom may be influenced by Williams’ own life. Your response should be at least four sentences long.
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Tennessee Williams drew from his personal life to create the character Tom in “The Glass Menagerie.” In the beginning of the play, Tom explains that his father was a telephone man who was often away from home until he decided to abandon his family for good. Similarly, Williams’s father was an alcoholic and travelling shoe salesman who was often away from home. Williams and Tom experienced abandonment from their fathers. Another example which demonstrates that Williams’s life inspired Tom’s character is their alcohol abuse. The play hints that Tom is an alcoholic in Scene 4 when his mother Amanda makes him swear not to become a “drunkard.” Williams had a drinking problem which only worsened during the 1960s and 1970s. By analyzing the character Tom in “The Glass Menagerie,” we understand more about Tennessee Williams and his personal life.
I believe that a lot of Tom’s character was influenced by William’s own life. William had a father that spent a lot time away from as he was a traveling salesman. I believe this translates to the character Tom having a father that completely abandons his family. William’s father is also an alcoholic which is why I believe Tom’s father was also an alcoholic. Williams’s mother focused much of her attention on him just like Tom’s mother is overbearing in Tom and his sister’s life. There are many parallels between Tom’s and William’s life.
Tennessee Williams, the author of The Glass Menagerie, drew upon his own life experiences to build upon the character of Tom. This was evident in the research I conducted. To start, Williams himself had moved to St. Louis, Missouri earlier in his childhood. The character, Tom, resided in St. Louis as well. Another similarity between the two is the drinking and substance abuse. Tennessee Williams was a heavy drinker that turned to alcohol. Williams also turned to drugs which further worsened his health. The character Tom also has a drinking problem. Williams did not stop at himself. Williams used his sister as a form of inspiration for the character Laura. In The Glass Menagerie Laura is crippled from a childhood illness. Laura cannot establish contact with reality. In real life, Rose Williams, the sister of Tennessee William suffered from schizophrenia. After a failed operation to cure her, Rose was institutionalized for the remainder of her life. Drawing from personal experiences was not done only for The Glass Menagerie. Many of the characters that Williams brought to life in his other work also took inspiration from his personal life.
Much of Tom Wingfeild’s character in The Glass Menagerie was based on Tennessee Williams’ personal life. For example, Tennessee named the character after himself, Thomas. Too add on, like Williams, Tom is also miserable working at a shoe factory during his youth. Tennessee and Tom both spend most of their time writing poetry and thinking about the possibility of leaving their current lives to pursue their dreams. Even the overbearing nature of Tom’s mother Amanda was based on Williams mother. The characters of The Glass Menagerie were largely based on Tennessee Williams’ personal life and experiences.
Tennessee Williams turned to writing when his early years got tough. The character of Tom is influenced by William’s own life because Tom represents Williams in some ways. Tom was raised by his mother and had siblings, like how William did. Additionally, their relationship with their father was complicated because the father left them ever since they were little. Williams returned to St. Louis where he studied poetry and that is where the play is taken placed. Their actions are quite similar since they both developed a drinking problem.
Tennessee Williams’ real name is Thomas Lanier Williams III. Williams decided to name his character exactly this name- Tom. By conducting some research, the reader can understand how the character from the play can be influenced by the author himself. Williams’ mother was overbearing upbringing her children, just like in the play the Tom’s mother tried to control her son and set him on the right path. Williams’s mother was dealing with an unhappy marriage and tried to focus her attention on her son. And on the other hand, Williams’s father was not caring enough about his son, and his alcohol addiction and anxious behavior left much to be desired. Williams himself was in ill health compounded by years of addiction to sleeping pills and alcohol. Also, he struggled to overcome a severe mental and physical breakdown.
Many believe all writing to be autobiographical as it’s difficult to keep your personal life, thoughts, and beliefs from spilling onto the paper. This was certainly true for Tennessee Williams in writing “The Glass Menagerie.” The character Tom, especially, seems to draw many parallels with Williams. The first similarity between the two is that they share the same name. Tennessee was just a nickname that later became a pen name. Tom and Williams also shared the same profession in their younger years working in a shoe factory. Both hated the job. Finally, they both had absentee fathers that left their families shambles.
The character of Tom is influenced by Williams’ life. Williams’ given name was Thomas. Both individuals spent part of their youth in St. Louis with an unstable mother and sister, and an absent father. Williams’ father worked as a traveling salesman, and spent much time on the road. Edwina, Tennessee’s mother and Amanda both cling onto their traditional, Southern values. Cornelius struggled with alcohol abuse much like Tom’s absent father in the play. Williams’ sister, Rose, dropped out of school, similarly to Laura in the play. Tom and Tennessee both share burning passions for writing but are work long hours at the shoe factory to support their families. Both have a desire to travel as well.
There are some striking similarities between Tennessee Williams life story and The Glass Menagerie. For example, Tennessee Williams is almost the same exact person as his character Tom. Tennesse Williams was a homosexual man and there are many signs in the story that indicate Tom is homosexual. The similarities also relate to their job’s. Tennesse Williams worked at a shoe factory and he absolutely hated it and so does Tom. Tom and Tennesse both suffered from depression and guilt, due to their decision to leave their sister. The similarities don’t end there they continue on and the parallels of their family start becoming apparent.
For the play, “The Glass Menagerie”, Tennessee Williams did not skimp out on using personal details. The character Tom seems to be a direct metaphor for his own upbringing. For one, both Williams and Tom share a sister with a disability, one with a physical deformity and the other having schizophrenia. They both struggle with the decision of either being a caretaker to their sibling or pursuing their passions and leaving home. Also, both men lack a father figure, and are instead largely parented by their mothers. Finally, upon some research, it also appears that both Williams and Tom loathed tiresome factory jobs, preferring mediums such as art.
Well the most obvious similarity between the author and the main character is that they share the same name in Tom. Another straightforward connection was the fact that Tennessee Williams also happened to work at a factory. It’s clear as day to see that Williams modeled the character of Tom after himself, all but one distinct trait which deviates from William’s actual childhood. Tennessee Williams was born ill and spent the majority of his time in the house. Even when he was healthy enough to start working and go out, he rarely contemplated actually leaving. This is vastly different from the character of Tom who is eager to leave the household and mostly spends his time outside the apartment. I believe Tennessee Williams did not only model Tom after the reality of his childhood, along with his own vision of what he wanted to be but could not. The free spirit that Tom is portrayed as is one that Williams himself wished he was during his youth, and he has the opportunity to relive it through the characters in his stories.
Tennessee Williams (1911-1983) was an American writer that started gaining publicity in the mid 1900s. He worked during the depression. His childhood was bad he explains but he says that his house situation affected him in a negative and positive way. The negative being representation of what a toxic relationship is between his mother and father bickering. Also being neglected by his father because his father cared more for work rather than caring for him and spending time with him. However, the positive was the fact that the toxicity provided fuel for him to write. His mother represents amanda in The Glass Menagerie, the strong and foolish mother.
The character Tom and himself seem to share some similarities. Both of their childhoods or lives seem sustainable but surrounded by toxicity Tom being his work place and Williams his parents marriage. Also Williams worked during the depression so that translates to the way Tom lives and how hard it is during their time periods. Him and Tom also both worked in a shoe factory dealing with hard labor.
The character Tom from The Glass Menagerie seems to be portrayed similarly as Tennessee Williams. First off, Tennessee Williams is his pen name where his real name is Thomas Lanier Williams III. Williams lived his childhood where his father was not present most of the time and he had a sibling that had to deal with a disability. Both Williams and Tom were faced with taking care of their sibling and lacked the need for a father figure, mainly being cared for by their mothers. Additionally, through research, it is said that he was bored by his classes and distracted by unrequited love for a girl so the whole gentleman caller topic in the play could have been influenced by this.
There is a direct parallel between Thomas Lanier Williams and Tom Wingfield. For instance they both grew up with their father not being present in their life and their mother trying to take care of the whole family. Amanda Wingfield is based off his mother. Tennessee Williams worked in a factory who wanted to be a writer and Tom works in a warehouse and wants “adventure”. Rose was Tennessee Williams’ sister that suffered, an illness, just like Laura in the play.
Reading about Tennessee Williams young life I’ve noticed that his family is very dysfunctional, similar to the family of Tom. Unhappy marriage between the mother and father, abusive father, and just overall negativity. Similar to Tom’s struggle to kickstart his career and find a good job Williams faced the same. He would struggle for more than a decade to really establish himself as a professional writer. They both smoked, were overworked, sad, the similarities are endless and it is very clear that Tom’s character was mostly derived from Williams’ own early life.
It seems to me that Tennessee Williams was definitely thinking of himself when creating the character Tom. They both work in factories during the Great Depression. His dad was constantly away, which is perhaps why Tom’s father has left his family behind. Williams also struggled with addiction to alcohol and sleeping pills and suffered from a severe mental breakdown. This seems to parallel how Tom’s dad was an alcoholic and how he is perhaps becoming one as well, and how his mom accuses him of doing this while staying out late.
There are many parallels between the character Tom and William’s personal life. One example of this is how Williams had to struggle with being an alcoholic similar to how Tom is starting to drink and maybe starting a drinking problem himself. Another example is with location of the play as William’s lived in St. Louis when he was growing up which is the same place that Tom lives. There is also a clear similarity between the family structure of both Tom and Williams. They both have a single sister who is impaired in some way while their fathers were mostly absent from their lives. That being said, they are both creative individuals with Tom wanting to purse his dreams in a more creative field.