Glass Menagerie
In the Glass Menagerie Williams makes it clear that people have within themselves the key to the prisons in which they are locked. Some of the characters in the Glass Menagerie have a way out of the situation that they are in. The Glass Menagerie is a play abounding with symbolism. Connections that exist are between the glass figurines and Lauras life, the unicorn and her self image, and the fire escape and the way Jim escapes from his problems. ... The glass figurines that reside in Lauras menagerie are symbolic of Laura herself. Laura is like a piece of her own glass collection, too exquisitely fragile to move from the shelf. She explained to Jim that, "My glass collection takes up a good deal of time. ... Laura escapes to the world of her menagerie where she is safe from the world of people. ... In the course of conversation, Laura mentions her glass collection and proceeds to show Jim, the gentleman caller, her oldest figurine.