Generally, the title of a work of literature exposes the principal concept that the author is trying to convey. Other compositions reveal the significance of their appellation only gradually. In "The Glass Menagerie" by Tennessee Williams, the intent of the play's label is shown through the writer's use of contrast, repetition, allusion, and point of view. First, Williams illustrates the polarity between Laura's relationship with her delicate animal collection and the real world. Laura Wingfield, …showed first 75 words of 946 total…

…showed last 75 words of 946 total…heart and while Amanda tries in vain to comfort her, Tom abandons them much like his father. The lives of the Wingfields are much like that of Laura's glass menagerie. They wait in statuesque fashion for something to effect their lives and their futures. Their existence, as beautiful and yet as fragile as glass balances upon a shelf of their fantasies, a shelf so high that not even the grasp of reality can reach them.