The Glass Menagerie 1

"The scene is memory and is therefore nonrealistic. Memory takes a lot of poetic license." -pg. 1235

Before the first scene even begins, the author lets us know that this play is memory. It is all told from the perspective of Tom, and it is all from his memory. This means that much of the play is nonrealistic. What happens is not realistically what really happened, although he tries to give us the best account. Memory is nonrealistic because our memory can change certain things in order to heighten emotions or certain aspects of the past. Others ways in which the play is nonrealistic is the music, lighting, and breaking the fourth wall. The purpose of the memory play is to tug at the heart and the emotions the narrator feels. His view is what is presented to the audience.