Comparing The Glass Menagerie and Death of a Salesman Essay

Both Death of a Salesman, and The Glass Menagerie have many things in common. They are both great plays, and both concern dysfunctional families. But there is a deeper similarity to these great literary works. The similarity between the parents. Due to Willy Loman and Amanda Wingfields lack of coping skills, as well as their inability to let go or accept their past, their children are ill-equipped to deal with the future. Willy and Amanda are parents who love their children very much. They cant accept the mistakes theyve made in the past. This inability to deal with the past leaves them living in it. Their children are seldom given the example of how to work for the future. Amanda and Willy dont set goals for their children,†¦show more content†¦When the boys are in they are in their 30s, Willy focuses on the past, too mentally ill to think of Happy or his feelings. Happy spends most of his life in the shadow of his brother. Nothing Happy did is ever good enough for Willy and Happy dont truly get to know each other. As shown in the text after Willys death when Happy is speaking of memories of his father. Willys desire to live in the past comes from his loathing of the way his life turned out. Willy always wanted to be special and unique, he wanted to be idolized. He wanted to be smart, great, intelligent, classy, idolized. When Willy never achieved this greatness, he longed to go back in time, so he could redo things. Of course, this is impossible. So Willy began to live in the past in his mind. Willy also tried to make Biff into everything Willy always wanted to be, yet never was. Tennessee Williams The Glass Menagerie, has the same parental problems. However, Williams novel shows a mother who has trouble leaving her past behind her, and accepting what he children are, and what they will never be. Amanda Wingfields two children, Laura and Tom have many issues, and are very complex characters. If there is a signature character type that marks Tennessee Williamss dramatic work, it is undeniably that of the faded Southern belle; Amanda is a clear representative of this type. Amanda fits into the category of a typical Williams southernShow MoreRelatedDeath Of A Salesman And The Glass Menagerie1452 Words   |  6 PagesTime and space is an intriguing concept. Arthur Millers (1949) Death of a Salesman and Tennessee Williams (1945) The Glass Menagerie both implement these concepts in different ways. Death of a Salesman is told through a man who is imagining his memories, while at the same time, living his everyday life. The Glass Menagerie similarly is being told through the narrator, Tom Wingfields memories, but not while he is living his present life. The characters in both stories similarly reminisce of theRead MoreDeath of a Salesman (Analysis and Personal Reaction)2850 Words   |  12 PagesDeath of Salesman is a a very deep play written by Arthur Miller about a salesman struggling to keep his grip on reality and his family. This play is a memory play, switching from present to past and vice versa whenever Willy, the salesman and father of the family, has a moment of insanity and returns to times gone by. Being memory, it allows for music to announce emotions and characters, and well as exaggerations and/or omissions. As Tom says in Tennessee Williams The Glass Menagerie: Being a