FREE ESSAY ON OUR TOWN BY THORTON WILDER AND THE GLASS MENAGERIE BY TENNESSEE WILLIAMS

OUR TOWN BY THORTON WILDER AND THE GLASS MENAGERIE BY TENNESSEE WILLIAMS

When I compared Our Town by Thorton Wilder and The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams I
noticed a lot of differences and very few similarities. I noticed differences in the
roles that the mothers played in each of the stories, and the impact that the father had
on the family. Another difference is the setting that each one of these stories takes
place. Our town and The Glass Menagerie have a few similarities however it is much easier
to point out the differences.
The first difference that I noticed between the two stories was the different roles that
the father played. In Our Town the fathers were the head of the family. They seemed to
take on the role of disciplinarian and provider. In The Glass Menagerie the father has
ran out on his family. Tom and Laura do not seem to have a very good remembrance of their
father, which forces Tom to take over the roll of father. Tom's mother pushes him to help
provide for Laura who is disabled. Tom does not seem to be mature enough to take on the
role of father figure, which leads him to be miserable most of the time.
There is also a difference in the settings of the two stories. The Glass Menagerie takes
place in a large city and the central setting is an apartment. In Our Town the setting is
a small town where everyone knows each other. The number of characters also differs
greatly. In Our Town there were about fifteen characters from many different families. In
The Glass Menagerie there were four characters and the story centered around one family.
The mothers in each of these stories are also very different. The mothers from Our Town
are housewives who do not work. They take an active roll in their children's lives but do
not pry into their business. In The Glass Menagerie the mother is very nosy. She is
constantly harassing Tom and causing distress within her household.
In conclusion, Our Town and The Glass Menagerie are two very different stories. The
settings in which each of these stories take place differ greatly, along with the roll
each of the parents take in each of the