Mise_En_Scene

Through the setting, lighting and symbols used in the play The Glass Menagerie one can see that people are at times victims due to the positions in society. The setting of the production is that of a lower middle class apartment in which is symbolic of American society in St Louis. The setting of Tennessee Williams play creates an atmosphere of depression and sorrow symbolic of the depression that was at it's beginning stages at the time of the play. The setting allows the audience to imagine the hardships the family faced as a result of their poor income and their lower class position in society. The symbols that are present throughout The GLass Menagerie further allow the audience to acknowledge that people can be at some point victims due to position in society. The glass Menagerie, a menagerie being a collection of unusual animals in captivity for exhibition, in which Laura owns is symbolic of the fact that the Wingfield family is trapped, they have no where to go, no way of escaping the horrors of the poor life they live because of there position in society being of such a low status. The glass further symbolic shows how fragile and precious each character in the production and broader the society as a whole are and for the reality that each and every single person could be pushed over the edge and broken. The transition of lighting is further relevant to the comment that people are at times victims due to their position in society as it shows the characters stages of hope, sadness, happiness and dispare. The flickering candle light at the beginning of the beginning of the play shows the reader that like the American society the characters posses little or no hope due to the events happening in America at the time such as the depression and further their lower class position in society. As the play progresses the reader is able to witness a change in lighting, that of electricity which shows not only that society are at a time of growth in industry but further shows the characters are beginning to become hopeful as Tom is believed to have found his sister Laura a gentlemen caller. This excitement like the excitement of the American society as they fall into a depression quickly disappears to the lightening of the storm outside being the only source of light for the family as they find out that Jim the gentlemen caller is engaged to be married and that their suspected source of income is no longer available to support the Wingfield family.