Parallels between the Life of Tennessee Williams and The Glass MenagerieTennessee Williams is one of the major writers of the mid-20th century. His work includes the plays The Glass Menagerie and A Streetcar Named Desire. One of the themes of The Glass Menagerie is that hopeful aspirations are followed by inevitable disappointments. This theme is common to all of Williams' work and even his life. It is shown through the use of symbols and characters. “I have only one main theme for my work, which is the destructive impact of society on the sensitive and nonconformist individual (Williams Netscape).” The symbols help show the dreams and desires that the characters crave and also the restrictions that prevent them from achieving them. In The Glass Menagerie, the fire escape symbolizes how Amanda Wingfield brings a man into the house to save her and her daughter. For Tom, the fire escape is a means of escape from the house that traps him, a path to the outside world (Susquehanna. "New Critical"). The rainbows in The Glass Menagerie symbolize hope and are associated with hopeful situations (Susquehanna. "New Critical.) When Tom Wingfield receives a rainbow-colored scarf at the magic show, he is amazed that it has turned a bowl of goldfish into flying canaries. Just like the canaries, Tom hopes to fly away to escape his captivity (Susquehanna. "New Critical"), he remembers leaving his sister behind and prays that he can move on without she. Even though rainbows seem to be positive signs throughout the book, ultimately everyone...in the center of the card...is something they can relate to. Her honesty through her writing brings hope to people who seek it. Works Cited Haley, Darryl "Certain Moral Values: A Rhetoric of Outcasts in the Plays of Tennessee Wililiams." 1997 Susquehanna University. "New criticism." Online publication. Susquehanna University. "Biographical criticism". Online publication.< http://www.susqu.edu/ac_depts/arts_sci/english/lharris/class/williams/auto.htm >"Biography of Tennessee Williams: Playwright, Poet, and Screenwriter." American Decades CDROM 1.0. Detroit: Gale Research, 1998Weales, Geralt. "Tennessee Williams." Scribner Writer Series, Complete Edition. New York: Sons of Charles Scribner, 1997.