Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one. -- Albert Einstein.
The most important theme in The Glass Menagerie is the difficulty people have in accepting and relating to reality. As a result of their inability to overcome this difficulty, the characters withdraw into a private world of illusion to find the comfort they can't find in real life.
Out of the three Wingfield family members, Laura probably is the one living furthest away from reality. There are several symbols in the play that represent that in some way. Her glass collection that she carefully takes care of, is the imaginary world she lives in to escape the real live where she doesn't finish high school, fails typing class, and doesn't have any "gentlemen callers" like her mother expects her to. Another symbol for Laura's personality is "Blue Roses", the nickname Jim gives her in high school. Blue roses are, although beautiful, not real and can't be found in nature, what refers to Laura's uniqueness......

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Title: The Glass Menagerie
Approximate Word Count: 550
Approximate Pages: 3 (250 words per double-spaced page)

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