Comparing and Contrasting two plays: “The Glass Menagerie” by Tennesse Williams and “A Doll’s House” by Henrik Ibsen.
Bloom, Harold. Tennessee Williams's The Glass Menagerie. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2007.
The book tries to bring out more about Tom Wingfield, the father to the narrator, who in the whole play is little talked about. Whether deliberate or not, Williams does not talk more about his dad who abandoned them. And so in order to understand more about Mr. Wingfield, this book helps. However, Bloom criticizes the writer for portraying a partial representation, then termed the relationship between Laura and Tom Wingfield as incestuous and that the play is quite erotic all through. The partial representation is the writer's freedom in expressing himself, while the claims of incest are claims not substantiated in the whole play.
Gale Research. A Study Guide for Henrik Ibsen's "A Doll's House". Detroit, 1998.
This study guide was compiled by a team of linguists from Gale Research and learning center. It provides a guide to understanding the play in a simple way that is student-friendly. It is useful and resourceful to students who seek to understand what the play is all about, as well as its relevance to the present life.
Ibsen, Henrik. A Doll's House. 1879.
The play by Ibsen, written in 1879 is a skillful work by him, which is also among the works which brought him to the limelight. Born in Norway, Isen used to write epigrams which were scornful about his countrymen, which in a way gives this play a political taste. Even though it was written a long time ago, yet the play seems like a prophetic play whose fulfillment is in the society today.
King, Bruce Alvin. A Doll's House: Notes. Longman, 1980.
This is a 64-page book containing notes by Bruce Alvin King on Ibsen’s play. It gives the summaries of each of the three acts in the play with comments for easier understanding. He also discusses the characters and the themes contained in the play with their meanings. However, he does not exhaust all the themes, and his views on the meanings of those themes quite differ from other writers who have reviewed about the play. But n general it is good for learners who need to understand how to extract themes from any play or short story and how they are applicable in real life.
Presley, Delma Eugene. The Glass Menagerie: An American Memory. California: Twayne Publishers, 1990.
In this book, Presley gives a persuasive and thorough analysis of William’s play “The Glass Menagerie”. He discusses in detail the characters in the play, how the play is structured from both the historical context and the application of it in the society today with relevant applications for today’s world. It is a good book for research for it is well detailed.
Williams, Tennesse. The Glass Menagerie. 1945.
This play by Tennesse Williams is one of his masterpiece arts in the United States of America. The motivation for this play was the sufferings he went through his childhood. With an abusive father who eventually abandoned them, life seemed unbearable for them, with every challenge in the family, from nagging and smothering mother to a cripplingly shy sister, Williams writes this play as a memory of what he went through in his life.
