The Glass Menagerie

The Glass Menagerie Summary | Scene 1 Summary

Tom appears, dressed in the uniform of the merchant marines. He introduces the play, which he describes as a memory play and therefore dimly lit, sentimental, and unrealistic. He also introduces the characters - himself, his mother Amanda, his sister Laura, and a Gentleman Caller. He explains that the Gentleman Caller is a symbol of the "long delayed but always expected something that we long for." Tom goes on to say that there is a fifth character in the play who never actually appears - his father, who disappeared when he and Laura were children but whose picture is prominently displayed.

Amanda calls Tom to sit down for dinner. He disappears but soon reappears, no longer in his merchant marine clothes, at the table with Laura and Amanda. As he eats, Amanda criticizes his table manners. Tom says he can't enjoy his meal because of her constant criticism, and gets up to have a cigarette. She tells him he smokes too much. Laura gets up to get dessert, but Amanda insists that she stay at the table and stay fresh for "gentleman callers." Laura replies that she's not expecting any callers, but Amanda says you never know. She then goes into a story that Tom and Laura both know all too well, about how one afternoon back home in the South, Amanda had seventeen unexpected gentlemen callers. As she comes back in with dessert and dishes it out, she goes into detail about those callers, talks about how she was able to make good conversation with all of them, and finishes by saying that instead of picking one of them she married Tom and Laura's father.

Amanda says she'll clean up, and tells Laura to go into the living room to practice her shorthand and keep fresh for callers. As Amanda clears the dishes, Laura says again that she's not expecting any. Amanda can't believe her ears. Laura tells Tom that Amanda's afraid she's going to become an old maid.