Comparisons of Maggie of Everyday Use and Laura of The Glass Menagerie Essay Example

and legs, eyeing her sister with a mixture of enw and awe". For Maggie her scars old no prejudice, she Is even ashamed of them to her own sister, one she hasn't seen In quite some time.

A sister that she has known her entire life but the scars prevent her from building a bond two sisters should share. Similar to Maggie, Laura lacks the same self-confidence caused by her own physical defects. In the first scene during the play Laura's mother, Amanda, questions Laura on how many gentlemen callers will arrive to visit them after dinner. After Laura explains to her mother that no young men will be over to vlslt her, Amanda makes a comment that the entlemen's excuse must be due to some sort of flood or tornado. "It Isn't a flood, It's not a tornado, Mother. I'm Just not popular Ilke you were In Blue Mountain... Mother's afraid I'm going to be an old maid". Much Ilke Maggie, Laura allows her minor flaw to overrun her life and disallow her to bulld a relationship with others.

Laura's limp has prevented her from meeting and making any friends while she was In school also hindering her from bulldlng any kind of bond with others.Throughout both texts, each writer goes Into further details Justifying the characters Insecurltles due to their blemishes. When Maggie asks her mother for her oplnlon on how she looks In the dress she chose to wear, Mama compares Maggie's posture to a dog that ground, feet in shuffle, ever since the fire that burned the other house to the ground". Mama validates that Maggie's uncertainties about her appearance stem from the

scars she sustained from the fire. Similarly, Laura permits her disfgurement to hinder her self-esteem.After Amanda discovers that Laura is no longer attending business school due to her anxiety, Amanda reassures her that women who do not pursuit a business career usually end up with a good man.

But, Mother- I'm crippled! ". She compares a barley noticeable limp to someone who is crippled. Cripple, which is defined as someone who is unable to walk or move properly. The causes of these emotional and physical scars were from great tragedies, but the results are made out to be even greater by the characters. In "Everyday Use" Mama makes mention that Maggie was to marry an individual by the name of John Thomas, and though she is engaged to him, Maggie as well as Laura display times of discomfort when meeting new people especially from the opposite sex.

When Maggie's sister arrives to the house with her boyfriend, a brief and awkward encounter ensues when the boyfriend makes a simple attempt to shake hands with Maggie. "Maggie's hand is as limp as a fish, and probably as cold, despite the sweat, and she keeps trying to pull it back". Maggie's scar run so deep that they prevent her from simple acts as a handshake to her sister's boyfriend. Likewise to Maggie, Laura's insecurities with her handicap have also prevented her from preforming simple acts of interactions with people outside their comfort zone. When Laura and Jim were reminiscing about their times in high school, Laura confessed her desire for his signature on the program. After Jim questions Laura for not asking him then, her explanation was his friends

always surrounded him.

ou were always surrounded by your own friends so much that I never had a chance td'. Laura is so withdrawn from others that the presence of strangers can prevent her from approaching a peer and requesting a simple act such as an autograph. As such, both girls lack traits as simple as meeting new people, which are results from their low self-esteem. Maggie from "Everyday Use" and Laura from "The Glass Menagerie" come from two different upbringings but both have survived traumatic events in there lives which has resulted in similar struggles for the two of them.

Even though both of these tragedies were very traumatic and painful when they occurred, both of these young ladies have permitted the minor results of these misfortunes to play greater roles in their lives, which has prevented them from enjoying their families and surroundings. By the end of each of the stories epiphanies occur which result in favor for these two characters. We come to see the young ladies express feelings that were not exposed to during each of the stories. We see that Maggie and Laura both show signs of their strength that has been concealed because of their defects.