An Analysis Of The Autobiographical Features In The Glass Menagire

Tennessee Williams is awarded four Drama Critic Circle Awards and two Pulitzer Prizes in his life.He occupies an extremely important position in the history of American literature and Williams’ works have a vital influence on the American dramatic history.He is also awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom because of his artistic value and his great contribution to the world’s drama.Tennessee Williams has been regarded as one of the most prominent dramatists in the world since the Second World War.His masterpieces are widely circulated.The Glass Menagerie is a memory play.The drama introduces the readers and audience an autobiographical story.It happened in Saint Louis of America in the 1930 s.The Williams’ family is the model of the Wingfields in many aspects.The drama won a fantastic victory on Broad Way stage in 1945 and the play received extraordinary praise.The drama is labeled as a masterpiece of modern stage.Furthermore,the play reinforces Williams’ irreplaceable position in modern American drama.The thesis consists of six parts.First,the Introduction involves the life experience of Tennessee Williams’,and it gives a brief introduction of The Glass Menagerie.And the paper reviews the research and current situation of the play both at home and abroad.The thesis intends to reinterpret this classic play from a new perspective.After enormous study and reading,the thesis will analyze the play from the perspective of autobiographical features.Chapter One introduces the theory of autobiographical works and its three features.They include but are not limited to memory,fact and fiction and subject identity.This section offers a solid foundation for the following chapters.Chapter Two is devoted to the discussion of the memory of the members in the play.The Glass Menagerie has the feature of memory.Besides,the play is superimposed a lot of memories of characters.Double memories make the play more meaningful and embody extraordinary and remarkable artistic effects.Chapter Three focuses on the fact and fiction in the play.The two families will be compared to find fact and fiction in the play to explore its deeper artistic meaning.Chapter Four explores the identity of the two main characters in the autobiographical play.In and out of the play,Tom and Williamshave great similarities from all sides.From the aspects of occupational identity and homosexual identity,it is not difficult to find that the description of Tom in the play is the true portrayal of Williams in real life.In all,the thesis employs autobiographical features to analyze memory,similarities and differences between the two families and the identities of Tom and Williams in the play.The play is not only the memory of the Williams’ family but also the memory and reflection of American society and families.