The Glass Menagerie, by Tennessee Williams is a short play that uses a large variety of symbolization throughout to describe the emotional, physical and social state of each of its characters. Laura is a very fragile young woman that lives in a lower class, shabby apartment with her older brother Tom, and her eccentric mother Amanda. Laura feels as though she is an outcast in contrast to the rest of the world. Among the many recurrent themes of this play the fragility is shown in a little unicorn that safely exists within a glass menagerie. There are other less prominent symbols such as the colors of a rainbow, blue roses, and the exit, and entrance to the apartment.

Laura’s glass menagerie is an important symbol. Laura does not want to be involved with the world outside this “dark, grim” apartment that she lives in with her mother, a “proud, vivacious woman, Amanda,” and her brother “Tom, an aspiring poet, and shoe warehouseman.” (ebscohost.com). She prefers the comfort of her “transparent glass animals” (478). Laura would rather spend time with her tiny glass horses and unicorn figurine, listening to her old records. She would prefer to do this all day rather than having any contact with other people.

One of the clearest symbolic uses of the glass figurines happens at a point in the story when Laura and Jim are left by themselves. Laura makes the statement “You should always take good care of your glass.” (510) Again, we see the symbolism of the glass unicorn and the fragility of Laura. Laura is very shy and innocent, very much like the glass figurines she cleans throughout the day. All though it is very fragile, much like Laura herself, the glass shines and glistens, magnifying many colors of the rainbow in the light.

The glass unicorn is obviously the most symbolic of Laura! Reading between the lines as Jim and Laura are talking, it is easy to see that the unicorn represents Laura’s unusually different, delicate, and uncomfortablenss in the normal world. Jim makes the statement. “Poor little fellow, he must feel sort of lonesome”. It is obvious that Laura has felt lonesome most of her life, and Laura replies “the unicorn sits on a shelf with some normal horses that do not have any horns, and they all seem to get along nicely together.” (p512)

During Jim and Laura’s short romantic encounter, for a moment, Laura is feeling more confidence. It’s as if she is beginning to feel a little normal like her horses. When Jim accidently knocks the glass unicorn to the floor, and breaks the horn off. “The unicorn has lost its horn. It doesn’t really matter. It may be a blessing in disguise.” Laura states, and “I will just imagine that it has had some kind of operation.” And “with the horn removed he may feel less freakish! Now he might feel more like he is one of the horses, the ones without any horns”. (p513)

For a moment Laura is happy and uplifted. She begins to smile and feel the tension of uniqueness lifting from her. Jim sees this and starts dancing around with her, and eventually kisses her. All of this gives us the slight impression that Laura may finally be escaping the illusive world in which she has lived for most of her life. Laura is for a moment, starting to feel more accepted, especially from Jim. For a moment she is feeling less conscious about her physical disabilities. She starts to open up just a little bit.