The Theme of Escape in The Glass Menagerie In Tennessee Williams' play, The Glass Menagerie, Amanda, Laura and Tom chose to avoid reality. Amanda continually tries to live in the past. Laura's escape from the real world is provided by her glass collection and old phonograph records. Tom hides from the real world by going to the movies and getting drunk. Each character retreats into their own separate world to escape the cruelties of life. Living in the past is Amanda's way of escaping her pitiful present reality (Knorr). He never forgets to tell Laura and Tom that he received seventeen gentlemen at Blue Mountain when he was young: "One Sunday afternoon - your mother received - seventeen! - gentlemen! Why, sometimes there weren't enough chairs to accommodate them all" (Williams 26). She talks about how they all became her admirers and even though many were successful and could have been better choices, she chose her father. It seems like she wants her children to know that she was different before her husband left her. He wants them to know it was a “catch.” The truth remains that she was financially dependent on her husband. Since her husband left her, her addiction has passed on to her son Tom. She not only transferred her dependence to her son and her hopes of receiving a gentleman to her daughter, but also her need for the past and her memories of the past. For Amanda, the past represents the carefree life she led in Blue Mountain. This greatly affects Tom and Laura. Tom despises this situation and cannot bear to stay at home. He goes to the movies and writes poetry to escape family life and his daunting job in the shoe factory. She believes that her family life and work influence her... middle of paper... don't forget her. “Ironically, even though rainbows seemed like positive signs, they all end in disappointment” (Knorr). Even though Tom tries to escape his past, it stays with him because he is the one telling the story of The Glass Menagerie. Although Amanda, Laura and Jim are not real, they are part of Tom's memory which reveals his pain and suffering with his ironic and funny tone. All the characters escape from their reality which never changes. Works Cited Williams, Tennessee. The glass menagerie. Ed. James Laughlin. New York: New Directions Publishing Corporation, 1970. King, Thomas L. “Irony and Distance in The Glass Menagerie.” In modern critical views: Tennessee Williams. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987, 85-94.Knorr. Home page. http://www.susqu.edu/ac_depts/arts_sci/english/lharris/class/WILLIAMS/psy.htm