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The Glass Menagerie

Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams is a poignant play set in St. Louis during the late 1930s. It centres around the Wingfield family: Amanda, a faded Southern belle; Tom, her aspiring poet son; and Laura, her painfully shy daughter. The story unfolds through Tom's memories, exploring the family's struggles with reality and their individual dreams and disappointments, highlighted by Laura's collection of delicate glass animals that symbolise her fragile world.
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Format: Paperback / softback
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

You might enjoy this book if you appreciate classic American drama, rich with symbolism and emotional depth. It offers a poignant exploration of family dynamics and the struggle between reality and illusion. Set in the 1930s, it vividly portrays the pressures of societal expectations and personal aspirations, making it a compelling read for those interested in human nature and artistic expression.

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Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

This revised Student Edition includes an introduction by Daniel Ciba, which examines the play in terms of realism or experimentalism, and considers it through the lens of Queer Identity. The introduction includes discussions of recent revivals and adaptations of the play across the world.

The Glass Menagerie, Tennessee Williams' first major popular success and an autobiographical play about his mother and sister, launched the noteworthy and controversial career of this pioneering American playwright. Set in St Louis during the Depression era of the 1930s, it is a poignant drama of a family's gradual disintegration, under pressure both from outside and within.

METHUEN DRAMA STUDENT EDITIONS are expertly annotated texts of a wide range of plays from the modern and classic repertoires. In addition to the complete text of the play itself, this volume contains:

  • A chronology of the play and the playwright’s life and work
  • An introductory discussion of the social, political, cultural, and economic context in which the play was originally conceived and created
  • A succinct overview of the creation processes followed and the subsequent performance history of the piece
  • An analysis of, and commentary on, some of the major themes and specific issues addressed by the text
  • A bibliography of suggested primary and secondary materials for further study.

Series: Student Editions

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Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams is widely praised for its haunting beauty and emotional depth. Reviewers describe it as one of his most generous plays, marked by its touching and tender narrative, making it one of Williams's most poignant works.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781350108981

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 24 August 2023

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Methuen Drama

Contributors:

  • Volume editor Daniel Ciba

Audience: Tertiary education, Professional and scholarly

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 12.0mm

Width: 130.0mm

Height: 196.0mm

Weight: 120g

Pages: 136

About the Author

Tennessee Williams (Thomas Lanier Williams; 1911-83) was a US playwright, whose controversial plays dealt with themes of repressed sexuality and family conflict. Williams was the most popular playwright in America between 1945 and 1960, winning the Pulitzer Prize twice and the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award four times.

Daniel Ciba is the Director of Education for Quintessence Theatre in Philadelphia, USA.

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