Essay 2nd Draft TGM

Josh Comune
Ms. Guarino 
IB Lit Performance 
February 27, 2018

The Rise and Fall of Laura's Character Stemmed off the Presence of Jim O'Connor

   In the play The Glass Menagerie,  the highlighted theme of Laura's character throughout the entire play is hopelessness. Act 2 Scene 8 proves to be a changing point of this constant for Laura. However, her character's progression is solely based off of Jim O'Connors actions and lines throughout Act 2 Scene 8. Once Jim tells Laura they can never be together at the end of the scene, Laura will again find herself in the same hopeless position she has always been in. Jim proves to be the one shot for Laura to find love in her life. Jim's character is seen as a potential spouse for Laura by Tom and Amanda. From the moment Jim O'Connor enters the play, he has an effect on Laura. The literary analysis I am going to explore throughout this paper is how Laura's character progresses, and digresses throughout Act 2 Scene 8 directly stemmed of from the presence and actions of Jim O'Connor on stage.

   Act 2 Scene 8 begins completely dark with Jim and Laura facing the audience. They are both siting  on opposite sides from each other near a single candle. Laura is noticeably distant from Jim when the scene starts. When the lights come on they are dim. This is to represent the power outage that took place in a earlier scene. It is carried out into this scene because it has a symbolic message of Jim being the one bright point in Laura's life. When I begin my dialogue with Laura, she shows that she is extremely nervous talking to me in the beginning of the scene. As Jim, I present myself with a  strong voice and I have a confidence that is unmatched by Laura on stage. While talking I am constantly moving around, getting closer to Laura and making a lot of eye contact. I even brag a bit about my personal achievements. The lights focus on my stage movements. I pace back and forth from down left stage to down right stage where Laura is still sitting. When I ask Laura about her glass collection she decides to get up and lead me to view the glass collection that is situated on a table center up stage. This is when stage lights focus on the glass menagerie set. This turned out to be a nice touch especially When Laura hands me her favorite piece I hold it up to the light. "Hold him up to the light. He loves the light" Laura's line her really helps emphasizes how the unicorn is supposed to shine through the light.  Music starts to play shortly after I set the glass piece down. This is when Jim and Laura climb onto the bridge that is positioned behind the table. Bright lights focus on the bridge where we have our dance. Jim and Laura are shown as equals in the dance. This is the first time where Laura is shown to have a mutual relasdtionship with one of the play's characters. Laura and Jim go through the dance together on the same level of the bridge.  When the unicorn falls off the bridge railing to the floor, the music is cut, the lights dim and focus on center up stage where both characters now stand. The dim light stays the same all the way until the end of the scene. Dancing with Jim was the climax of Laura's character development in my interpretation of the play, and this is shown through the lighting.  

   
The relationship between Jim and Laura acts like a teeter-totter in Act 2 Scene 8. There are both high points and extreme low points throughout the scene. Laura is extremely shy once the two start to converse by the candle in the opening of the scene. This can be portrayed as a mutual part of the scene since this is how Laura character was in all previous scenes, and the teeter-totter would be in Jim's favor in reference to the height. However, we see real progression in Laura through Jim O'Connor. Laura's introverted character has a climax in character development in Act 2 Scene 8. She starts to fall in love with Jim while they dance. This is shown through our lighting and music in our scene. Laura feels comfortable with Jim at this point in the play, and doesn't care when her favorite piece of glass breaks. Jim on the other hand is concerned and feels really bad about himself. This is when the momentum of the play shifts in Laura direction and Jim becomes the less dominant character in the scene. Her responses to Jim, "Oh I don't have favorites much... much Its no tragedy. Glass break so easily. No matter how careful you are." This line shows tremendous growth in Laura not to care that her favorite piece of glass broke. The reason she doesn't care is that she is hopeful for the future her and Jim will share. Everything that Jim had previously said and did with Laura makes her feel this way. When Jim breaks the news that he has a fiancé at the end of Act 2 Scene 8, this is the death of Laura's character development. Her digression is directly stemmed off of Jim's line "You see now Laura... Well... Ive been going steady with a girl named Betty. Oh she's a nice quiet home girl like you." The remorse in Jim's voice heard on stage is noted by the audience stating in fact that all his actions leading up to this moment where really in Laura's best interest. Laura quickly reverts once she learns about Jim's love for another women. I show this by having Laura cry on stage when I am trying to explain myself. This is when Laura's position as the dominant character is killed, and Jim regains the height advantage of the teeter-totter metaphorically.  Laura's once hopeful personality has now directly reverted to how she was in the beginning of the scene- shy, and introverted.  Laura realizes that all the hope for a future relationship with Jim is crushed in this moment.  I as Jim show remorse for my actions and apologize if there was a misunderstanding, The theme of hope in this scene is then overtaken in this moment of the play.

   As Jim, I show true genuine care for Laura. By portraying Jim's language and actions throughout, I am able to create this sense of hope for Laura. My lines as Jim show a very energetic outgoing character.  I have a lot of long passages where I tend to energetically ramble on about how Laura needs to change. "For instance that clump you said was so awful in high school? You said you dreaded going up stairs?... Its hardly even noticeable A little defect is all you got. Magnified a thousand times by your imagination" (page 60 lines 8-20)  This passage shows that  Jim does care for Laura, and he really wants to help by giving advice on how she can overcome her shyness. I show this through my movements on stage. I almost pleading to Laura that she needs to see herself in good light. "You need to think of yourself as superior in someway." This line is asking for Laura to see herself with self worth. The response Laura's gives to Jim is very subtle, and not something Jim is looking for. "In what way would I think?" Her short and quiet responses tells the audience, and me as Jim that Laura is still not confident in herself. By responding with another long passage, Jim continuously rambles, "Man alive Laura. Take a look around you and tell me what you see? A world full of common people all of them born and going to die! Now tell which one of them has one tenth of your strong points!... Take me for example I have a fairly responsible job at the warehouse, and I'm taking a course in public speaking!" By inspiring Laura, by giving my own personal examples on how I overcame my inferiority complex, she starts to feel more comfortable in the presence of Jim. This is important because after she feels comfortable, I then turn the attention off myself as Jim and onto Laura, who at this point feels more inclined to share her interests with Jim. The is because of Jim's authenticity. Jim's personality starts to work its magic on Laura's character. Laura starts to open up when Jim asks about her glass collection. Laura for the first time in the entire play shows that she is capable of having deep and meaningful conversations with someone from outside the family.  "Little articles of it, mostly ornaments. Most of them are little animals made out of glass, the tiniest little animals in the world" (page. 61 lines 6-12)  Her character shows great development and starts to shun from her introverted ways for the first time in the entire play. Jim's charming personality and by showing interests in her glass collection ables Laura to change.

  The language exchanged between Laura and Jim is unique to the scene. Jim is very genuine and really shows interest and care for Laura. He asks her questions like "So what have you been doing since high school."Jim uses this strategy to ease Laura into an in depth conversation. It seems Jim has a sense of always having the right thing to say. This effects Laura to open up more throughout the scene. Jim starts to complement Laura a great deal. "Did anyone ever tell you that you were pretty? Well you are and in a different way than anyone else and all nicer because of the difference." (Page 63 Lines 12-24)  This passage opens the doors for the kiss Jim gives Laura.

   Act 2 Scene 8 is the peak for Laura's character development in The Glass Menagerie. Jim is the main reason for why Laura is able to experience things she has never done previous to this scene. "I've never danced before." By dancing  Laura is truly expanding her horizon in Jim's presence. This is where the sense of hope for Laura's character reaches the peak. This is shown through the lighting of our scene. All the events from talking about her Glass Menagerie set, dancing, breaking the glass, and the kiss are all leading up to a dramatic uncovering. After the kiss, Jim then starts to break the unsettling news to Laura that they can never be together.  Laura quickly digresses when she learns this about Jim. By giving Jim the broken glass unicorn I interpreted  it as symbolic for Laura's character. We could've of really emphasized  this on stage by having Laura estatically cry while handing Jim the broken glass unicorn. Laura would then slowly step back away from Jim back to the exact stop she sat in the beginning of the play saying and doing absolutely nothing. Then the dim lights would be killed and the scene would end completely black. This would complete the cycle of the rise and fall of her character development. All of Laura's progression was based off the actions and lines of Jim. Now that Jim has quintessentially taken all of Laura's hope away, It is now in Jim's hands for him to carry Laura's spirit in the glass unicorn. Laura knows that she will never be able to expand her horizon without Jim, therefore Act 2 Scene 8 is the ultimate climax of development in Laura's life.