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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
This 9 page paper uses deconstructionist criticism to discuss Tennessee Williams’s classic play “The Glass Menagerie.” Bibliography lists 4 sources.
Page Count:
9 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_HVDeGlas.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
Glass Menagerie. Discussion Deconstruction is a term that derives largely from the work of philosopher Jacques Derrida and it is a complex and difficult process to understand. When applied to
literature, it is often thought of as a detailed examination, but its more than that; when a work is read in a deconstructive mode its not simply the task of
the critic to "decode the message" (Lye). Its also the critics task to enter into "the thoughtful play of contradiction, multiple reference, and the ceaseless questioning of conclusions and responses"
(Lye). If the play doesnt deconstruct itself, then the reader must; that is, "show the structures of thought and assumption which ground it and the exclusions which make its meaning
possible" (Lye). In addition, as noted above, considering the text itself may not be helpful in deconstructing a work of theater. Although we consider the lines important, deconstructionists argue that
language is a living thing, changing all the time, and that therefore the meaning of words will always be ambiguous in some sense. Lye suggests that real meaning lies in
action, contradiction, the responses of the characters to each other, the assumptions they make, and the silences between them. If we agree with Lye, Derrida and others, then The Glass
Menagerie is a perfect play to apply this technique to, because it is full of silences, memory, and conflicting purposes. Tennessee Williams himself gives us the starting point for analysis.
In his "Production Notes," he says "Being a memory play, The Glass Menagerie can be presented with unusual freedom of convention" (Williams 139). Considering this statement immediately begs the question:
why would he feel that memory is free of conventional staging? The answer is simple: memory is deceptive. We tend to remember only the highest or lowest points in our
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