What does Williams say about the role of the poet in “The Glass Menagerie”?

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What does Williams say about the role of the poet in The Glass Menagerie Tennessee Williams play The Glass Menagerie is a memory play Through the character of Tom Wingfield he expresses his own ideas about the role of a poet in human life Williams shows that the poet is both a creator and a sufferer of truth Poet as a Dreamer Tom is not only a narrator but also a poet He loves imagination and art He says in Scene I m a poet with a job This line shows that he feels trapped in his dull work but still dreams of freedom The poet like Tom is sensitive and restless He searches for beauty and meaning in a cruel mechanical world Poet as a Truth-Seeker The poet s duty is to express truth through imagination Tom says I give you truth in the pleasant disguise of illusion This

means that art transforms painful reality into beauty For Williams the poet does not lie He shows emotional truth through symbols and memories The play itself is Tom s poetic vision of his past Poet as an Escapist Williams also shows that the poet often escapes from harsh reality Tom goes to the movies every night to forget his problems But escape cannot bring peace In the end he leaves home to live freely but never forgets his sister Laura His imagination becomes both his gift and his burden Poet as a Memory-Keeper The poet keeps alive the memory of lost love Tom says in Scene Blow out your candles Laura and so goodbye This shows that memory becomes his poem The poet turns sorrow into art So in The Glass Menagerie Williams shows the poet as a dreamer a truth-seeker and a memory-keeper Through Tom he proves that a poet s soul cannot escape truth or emotion

The Glass Menagerie

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What does Williams say about the role of the poet in “The Glass Menagerie”?

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Tennessee Williams

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