Illusions and denial in "The Glass Managerie" by Tennessee Williams

As human beings we all indulge in illusions and escape mechanisms. In "The Glass Menagerie" Tennessee Williams presents us with a family that exhibits this very human tendency to escape reality and avoid unhappiness. Unfortunately in the end, we see that for the Wingfield family these survival mechanisms can be more destructive than helpful. Amanda Wingfield, the mother, lives in the popularity of her past. She is a single mother living in poverty during the …

…she turns her attention, unsuccessfully to trying to find her a husband. As a result, Laura slips farther away from reality and never becomes a whole person. Williams may be telling us that ultimately there is no escape from the life we are given. However, he definitely shows us that too much fantasy and too many escape mechanisms can cause great harm sentencing us to the very life and problems we are trying to avoid.