The Glass Menagerie: Post 2

The Glass Menagerie
Tennessee Williams

This play is nonrealistic due to multiple reasons. One reason that this is nonrealistic is that the play has a narrator. In real life, narrators do not exist, so the presence of a narrator in this play contributes to its nonrealistic presentation. Another reason why the play is nonrealistic is that the narrator directly addresses the audience and states that he is a character in the play. In a realistic play, the characters do not know that they are characters. (They think they are real.) In this nonrealistic play, Tom knows that he is a character and he acknowledges the presence of the audience. In addition, Tom adds to the nonrealistic qualities  by pointing out the fiddlers in the wings. Tom often cues the music and spotlights contributing to the nonrealistic qualities of the play. Another contributing factor is the set. As seen in the stage directions Tom "deliberately lays his imaginary fork down and pushes his chair back from the table" (Williams 1237). In nonrealistic plays, props are minimal or imaginary, whereas in realistic plays, the props are real and abundant.