1. THE EXTRINSIC ELEMENT ANALYSIS
PRESENTED BY:
1
1. Putri Nurul Hidayati
2. Zuhrotun Samawiyah
Puput & I'ah. Unipdu Jombang
1/19/2014

2. This discussion is about one objective. It is to study
the reflection of William’s own life poured in the play.
The psychological approach is used in this analysis.
This drama is the reflection of playwright’s own life
It is a story of unhappy family life after being
deserted by the father and the daughter has problem
in socializing.
Puput & I'ah. Unipdu Jombang
1/19/2014
2

3. The Glass Menagerie is a four-character memory play by
Tennessee
Williams
which
premiered
in
1944
and
catapulted Williams from obscurity to fame.
Published : 1945
Playwright
: Tennessee Williams
Characters
: Amanda Wingfield, Laura Wingfield, Tom
Wingfield, and Jim
Puput & I'ah. Unipdu Jombang
O’connor.
1/19/2014
3

4. Thomas Lanier "Tennessee" Williams III (March 26, 1911 –
February 25, 1983) was an American best known playwright, author of
many stage classics. He was born of English, Welsh and Huguenot
descent, in Columbus, Mississippi, the second child of Edwina (née
Dakin) and Cornelius Coffin (C.C.) Williams.
His father, Cornelius Williams had a violent temper and was a
man prone to use his fists. He disdained his son's effeminacy and his
mother Edwina, locked in an unhappy marriage, focused her
overbearing attention almost entirely on her frail young son. Many
critics and historians note that Williams found inspiration for much of
his writing in his own dysfunctional family.
Puput & I'ah. Unipdu Jombang
1/19/2014
4

5. By the mid-1930s his father's increasing alcoholism and abusive temper (he
had part of his ear bitten off in a poker game fight) finally led Edwina to separate from
him, although they never divorced.
Throughout his life Williams remained close to his sister Rose who was
diagnosed with schizophrenia as a young woman. In 1943, as her behavior became
increasingly disturbing, she was subjected to a lobotomy, unfortunately with disastrous
results, and was subsequently institutionalized for the rest of her life. As soon as he was
financially able to, Williams had her moved to a private institution just north of New York
City where he often visited her. He gave her a percentage interest in several of his most
successful plays, the royalties from which were applied toward her care. The
devastating effects of Rose's illness may have contributed to Williams' alcoholism and
his dependence on various combinations of amphetamines and barbiturates.
On February 25, 1983, Williams was found dead in his suite at the Elysee Hotel
in New York at age of 71.
Puput & I'ah. Unipdu Jombang
1/19/2014
5

6. THE SYNOPSIS
 The action of the play centers on Tom, his mother Amanda, and his sister Laura. In 1937
they live together in a small apartment in St. Louis. Their father abandoned them years
earlier, and Tom is now the family's breadwinner. He works at the Continental Shoemakers
warehouse during the day, but he disappears nightly "to the movies." Amanda is a loving
mother, but her meddling and nagging are hard to live with for Tom, who is a grown man
and who earns the wages that support the entire family. Laura is a frightened and terribly
shy girl, with unbelievably weak nerves. She is also slightly lame in one leg, and she
seldom leaves the apartment of her own volition. She busies herself caring for her "glass
menagerie," a collection of delicate little glass animals.
Puput & I'ah. Unipdu Jombang
1/19/2014
6

7.  Amanda dreams constantly of the long-ago days when she was a young Southern belle
and the darling of her small town's social scene. She enrolled Laura in classes at
Rubicam's Business College, hoping that a career in business would make Laura selfsufficient. She discovers that Laura stopped attending class a long time ago, because the
speed tests on the typewriter terrified her. After the fiasco at Rubicam's, Amanda gives
up on a business career for Laura and puts all her hopes into finding a husband for her.
 Amanda's relationship with Tom is difficult. Tom longs to be free – like his father - to
abandon Amanda and Laura and set off into the world. He has stayed because of his
responsibility for them, but his mother's nagging and his frail sister's idiosyncrasies make
the apartment a depressing and oppressive place. Tom also hates his job. His only
escape comes from his frequent visits to the movies, but his nightly disappearances
anger and baffle Amanda. He fights with Amanda all the time, and the situation at home
grows more unbearable.
Puput & I'ah. Unipdu Jombang
1/19/2014
7

8.  Amanda, sensing that Tom wants to leave, tries to make a deal with him. If Tom and
Amanda can find a husband for Laura, a man who can take care of her, then Tom will
be free of his responsibility to them. Amanda asks Tom to bring home gentlemen
callers to meet Laura. Tom brings home Jim O'Connor, a fellow employee at the
warehouse. He is an outgoing and enthusiastic man on whom Laura had a terrible
crush in high school. Jim chats with Laura, growing increasingly flirtatious, until he
finally kisses her. Then he admits that he has a fiancé and cannot call again. For
fragile Laura, the news is devastating.
 Amanda is furious, and after Jim leaves she accuses Tom of playing a cruel joke on
them. Amanda and Tom have one final fight, and not long afterward Tom leaves for
good. In his closing monologue, he admits that he cannot escape the memory of his
sister. Though he abandoned her years ago, Laura still haunts him.
Puput & I'ah. Unipdu Jombang
1/19/2014
8

9. The characters in the play, were representative from their family. It
can bee seen that the character of Laura in the drama is his sister,
Rose who was diagnosed with schizophrenia as a young woman and
she liked collecting the glass figurines. Besides, Amanda Wingfield Laura and Tom’s mother in the play- is Williams and Rose’s Mother.
Whereas Tom is Williams himself.
Puput & I'ah. Unipdu Jombang
1/19/2014
9

10. Characters in his plays are often seen as representations of his
family members. Laura Wingfield in The Glass Menagerie was
understood to be modeled on Rose. Some biographers believed that
the character of Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire is also
based on her. Amanda Wingfield in The Glass Menagerie was
generally seen to represent Williams' mother, Edwina. Characters
such as Tom Wingfield in The Glass Menagerie and Sebastian in
Suddenly, Last Summer were understood to represent Williams
himself.
Puput & I'ah. Unipdu Jombang
1/19/2014
10

11. Puput & I'ah. Unipdu Jombang
1/19/2014
11