The Glass Menagerie conforms to the expectation that Williams' plays consistently portray fragile, vulnerable and defeated characters. Such characteristics form a bond of shared experience, as those portrayed in this play struggle to cope in a world of reality that is changing beyond recognition. Their ability to deal with reality and the choices that they make in their attempts to cope highlight the extent of their vulnerability, fragility and defeat as Williams seeks to capture "…showed first 75 words of 2488 total…

…showed last 75 words of 2488 total…However, through her alignment with the glass figures of her menagerie it is Laura who appears as the most fragile, vulnerable and ultimately defeated character. Laura's defeat appears both inevitable and final as "the holy candles in the altar of Laura's face have been snuffed out"(307). BIBLIOGRAPHY Williams, Tennessee. The Glass Menagerie, in A Streetcar Named Desire and Other Plays, ed. E.Martin Browne, St. Ives, 1987. Bigsby, C W E. Modern American Drama 1945-1990, Cambridge, 1992.