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' '"1y.)./'\BY TENNESSEE WILLIAMS (TENNESSEE WILLIAMSPLAYSBaby Doll '" Tiger ToilCamino RealCat on a Hot Tin RoofThe Glass MenagerieCI"Ihts for a Summer HotelDragon CaunrryThe Gloss MenagerieA Lovely Sunday for Cre.e CoeurNor AOOur NightingalesThe NOlebook of TrigorinThe Red o.il B."ery SignSmall Cndl WarningsSomelhing Cloudy. Somerhing ClearStopped Rocking and Orher St,«n PI y.A Streetcar Named DrsireS.t Bird of YouthNobody, not even the rain, has such small hands.e. e. cummingsTHE THEATRE OF TENNESSEE . 1l11AlWS. VOLUME IB""lt of IIngtl,. II 5,,.,,,,, N"tn«J o.,ir'r. TN GIaJ, MmagtritTHE THEATRE OF TENNESSEE WilliAMS, VOLUME 1ITN El'Clfll,icilitl of" Nighlinxalt,s ,,11(/ S. TN ROlt TaIlOf). Ca.i. RraJTHE THEATRE Of TENNESSEE WILLIAMS. VOLUME 1)1Ca, " a HoI Tin Roof. 0rphtJa o.".aing.S,,"""'I, Unl S".THE THEATRE OF TENNESSEE WILLIAMS. vOLUME IVS"., BirJ of Yo"lh, P"ioJ of IIJjlm.'. TN N'ghl of IN ig"'''''THE THEATRE Of IENNES-SEE WILLIAMS. VOLUME Vv.s.',TN Millt T,ainSIll/' Hm II.,. KI.gt/qm of Earth (TN s.m 0.,'''1'of MY"lt!. S .II Craf, W"rning'. TN Two·Char«1tr Pia,THE THEATRE OF TENNESSEE WILLIAMS, VOLUM VI2J Wag.", F"I/ of Coil." .fill OIM ShortPia"THE THEATRE OF TENNESSEE WILLIAMS. VOl.UME VBin 'N Ba, ofa Tole,. H."I all(/ OIM Pia],THE THEATRE Of TENNESSEE WILLIAMS, VOLUME VIIIVi."x Cam. II 1.-1, S"nday for C. CDt""' CloI"" for as". Hottl,TN Red Devil Ballery Sign27 Wagon. Full of Catron and Orh.r PlaysThe Two-Characrer PlayVieux CarreI'If POETRYAndrogyne. Moo AmourIn {he Wimer of Chies:JINTRODUCTION BY ROBERT BRAYPROSECollecled Slorie.A NEW DIRECTIONS BOOKHard Candy and Orher StoriesOne Arm and O,her Srori .The Roman Spring of M" SloneWhere I Live: Sele«ed Essays l .,.
Copyright e 1945 The Univ.ity of the South. Renewed 1973 The Univ.ity Of The Soullt.'",rnduction topyright 0 1999 by Robe" BrayAU rights reserved. EXfepr for brief pass.aw:s quoted 1n a newspaper, magazine. radio, or televisionrev,ew, no pan of chis book may be reproduced in any form or by any means electronic or m«han iul, including pho(()(:opyinS and recording. or by any informalion storage and reult"Val system,without pel'missJon in wricing from [he Publisher.CAUTION: Prokssionals and amareurs .re hereby . oed tha. The GI,." .41 8"", being fully pro ."".ed under .he copyrigh. I. of .he Unired S.ates of Amerka, ,he Bri.ish Commooweahhincluding the Dominion of Canada. and all o.her counlti. of the Copyright Union. is sub;"". toroyalry. AU rights. including professional, amateur, motion pK:tUft' rtt.:itarioo. lecruring? publicn:adinJ(, radio and television broadcastiog. and the rights of rransLuion inw fOJ'eigo languages, artstrictly reserved, Particular emphasis .5 laid on he question of readings. permission for which mUSEbe s«:ured from the ag nt IOc The Universi.y of the Sou.h. Casa",no Ramsay Ltd., National House,60-66 Wardaur S. , London W I V 3HP. England.Inquiries concernin8 [he ama[eur acting rights of The GI4JS MOIAr« shouk! be dirt't:ct'd coThe Dramatists Play S.",i«, 440 Park Avenue Sou.h, N . York, NY 10016, without whosepermission in w'l'ln8 no arnau"ur performance may be given. 1be Dramatists Play Service.Iso publishes the aCling v.nion of the play.The GI,." Mmapit is published by .ng.men.i,hThe University of the South. Sewanee, T.n.,.The GI"" M g",i, . li"t published by Random House in 194 . New Dire"ions lintpublished The GLIIS M.Ntg." in a New Classics Edition in 1949 and .New Directions Paperbook 21810 1966. reset in 1970. An introduction by Robe" 8rayw.dded[0the paper edition, published as NDP874. in 1999.Manufactured an [he UntIed 5t1un of AmericaNew Directions Book." printed on .dd-f. paper.Published ,imuhaneously in Canada by Penguin Books Canada LimitedLibrary of Congress Ca.aloging-in Puhlic. ion DataWilli.ms, Tennessee. 1911-198. The glas' menagerie I by Ten., Williams: in.roduction by Robe" Bray.p.cm.ISBN 0·8112·1404·4I, Young men-Missouri-Saint Louis--Drama.2. Pamily-MiSliOUri--Saint Louis--Drama. I. Title.PS:l 45."3MG5199998·54624812'54- 1 21CIPCONTENTSI )ni{Introduction by Robert Bray vufI\I!I(I)Cast Listing/SceneThe CharactersXVIIXVJ11Production NotesXIXThe Glass Menagerie 3The Catastrophe of Success,an essay by Tennessee Williams 99SECOND PRINTINGNew D.rec icns Books are published for James Laughlinby New Oire"ions Publishing Cmpo. ion.80 Eighth Avenue, New York. NY 10011.
S ENETHE GLASS MENAGERIEand pretty!-It's almost time for our gentlemen callers tostart arriving. [She pounces girlishly toward Ihe kitchenette],w many do you suppose we're going to entertain this after noo\.)[To;"""tMows down Ihe paper lind i#mps #1' wilh II g,olln.]one in the dining ,oom]: I don't believe we'regoing to rece any, Mother.AMANDA[,e earing, airily]: What? No one--not one?You must be jokin,[U#'II nerllo#sly e oes her lau:gh. She slips in II f#gitillemanner tMo#gh Ihe halen pOf'tieres lind d,lIWs them gent ly behind her. A shllft of 11 clear lighl is tMown on her fllCeagainst the faded tllp8swy of e c#,tllins. Fllintly the m#s;c of"The GIllis Menagerie" is he111 she contin#es, lightly:]Not one gentleman caller? It ca 't be true! There must be aflood, there must have been a torn o!LAURA: It isn't a Bood, it's not a tor do, Mother. I'm justnot popular like you were in Blue Moun . . .[Tom wiers another gf'oan. 'II glance III him with IIfaint, apologelic smile. Her lIoice clllches Ill' e:]Mother's afraid I'm goingtobe an old maid.[The scene dims o#t with the "GIlliS Menagerie\m#sic.]TWO.,u."'.",.""'."m."'.",. ",.- . ,.,-.'.,III-. "",.".". '10.'."".,.,,"""''',,·,.·.On Ihe dtwk stllge the sC'l'een is lighted with the imllge of bl#e,oses. G,ad ly u#"rs fi,g#,e becomes apparent and thesct'een goes 0#1. The ffl*sic s#bsides. 'II is seated in the delicllte wory chllir at the small cw foot table. She wears II d,ess of soft 1Iiolet mIItet'ial fOf' akimono-her hllir is tied bllck f,om her fOf'ehead with a,ibbon. She is wlllhing lind polishing her collection of glllls.Amantl. IIppears on the fi"e escllpe sleps. Atlhe so#nd of herIIscenl, La*1'11 clltches her b,elllh, tM#sts the bowl of Qt'niI menll IIWIlY, and sellls herself sli/fiy befo,e the diag,am of Ihetypew,iter keyboard 111 tho#gh it held her spellbo#nd. Some thing hili hllppened to Amanda. II is written in her fllCe 111 sheclimbs to the landing: II look thlll is grim lind hopeless andII little IIbs*1'd. She hili on one of those cheap Of' imitationlIelllety-looking cloth coats with imitation f#, collar. Her hiliis fi,lIe Of' six years old, one of those d,eadf#l cloche hills thatwere wOt'n in the lllle Twenties, and she is cl#tching lin enQt' mo#s black patent-lelllher pocketbook with nickel cllllPS lindinitials. This is her f#ll-dt'ess o#tfi,t, the one she #s ly wearsto the D.A.R. BefOf'e entering she looks tMo#gh the doOf'.She p*1'ses her lips, opens her eyes lIery wide, ,oils them #1' ward lind shllkes her head. Then she slowly lell herself in thedoOf'. Seeing her mOlher's e"Fession 'II lo#ches her lipswilh II net'1IO#S gest#,e."'."'.",.,,,,t.,.,tW« . 'lt' .,. " ' -.--.n .-.," .".lOo{ .LAURA: Hello, Mother, I was-- [She makes II net'1I0#S ges t#t'e toward the chart on the wall. Amandll luns IIgainst thesh#t doOf' and Jlares III 'II with a martped 10Qk.]AMANDA: Deception? Deception? [She slowly t'lmOlles herhat and glolles, contin g the sweet s#lJering stare. She letsthe hat and glolles fallon the {lOOf'-II bit of IIcling.]II10 -'-.
SCENE TWOTHE GLASS MENAGERIE.,,,.'''''''.\III.'''. 1IU.,,,,.14 . ''I .''m.IOII .,'.U ." .,.I1.'H' ."mll.n.".m.".m.LAURA[shakily]: How was the D.A.R. meeting?LAURA:[Amanda !lowly opens her f!Nrse and remotles a daintywhite handkerchief which she shakes 0111 delicately anddelicately tOtlches to her lips and nostrils.]Didn't you go to the D.A.R. meeting, Mother?[faintly]: Why did you do that, Mother?[Amanda repeats the same procedllre with the chartGregg Alphabet.]0/ theWhy are youAMANDA:LAURA:Why? Why? How old are you, Laura?Mother, you know my age.AMANDA: I thought that you were an adult; it seems thatI was mistaken. [She crosses slowly 10 Ihe so/a and sinks downand stares at Laura.]LAURA:Please don't stare at me, Mother.[Amanda closes her eyes and lowers her head. There is aten-second pause.]AMANDA: What are we going to do, what is going to be come of us, what is the future?[There is another pause.][Amand .lraws a long breath, takes out the handkerchiefagain, goes Ihrough Ihe dabbing process.]Mother, has--something happened?I'll be all right in a minute, I'm just bewildered- [ She heS;laJes.] -by life.AMANDA:AMANDA [faintly, almost inaudibly]: -No.-No. [Ihenmore /orcibly:] I did not have the strength-tO go to theD.A.R. In fact, I did not have the courage! I wanted to finda hole in the ground and hide myself in it forever! [Shecrosses slowly to the wall and rem01les the diagram 0/ Ihetypewriter keybOllrd. She holds it in front 0/ her for a second,staring at it sweetly and sorrow/tIllY-lhen bites her lips andtears it in two pieces.]LAURAHas something happened, Mother?LAURA:Mother, I wish that you would tell me what'shappened!AMANDA: As you know, I was supposed to be inducted intomy office at the D.A.R. this afternoon.[Screen image: A swarm of typewriters.]But I stopped off at Rubicam's Business College to speak toyour teachers about your having a cold and ask them whatprogress they thought you were making down there.LAURA:Oh.AMANDA: I went to the typing instructOr and introducedmyself as your mother. She didn't know who you were."Wingfield," she said, "We don't have any such student en rolled at the school!"I assured her she did, that you had been going to classes sinceearly in January."I wonder," she said, "If you could be talking about that ter ribly shy little girl who dropped out of school after only afew days' attendance?""No," I said, "Laura, my daughter, has been going to schoolevery day for the past six weeks!""Excuse me," she said. She took the attendance book out andthere was your name, unmistakably printed, and all the daresyou were absent until they decided that you had dropped outof school.1213.J-
SCENE TWOTHE GLASS MENAGERIE., .",,, . ,,,,.,"',,,,,,,,."',. ". 11.I still said, "No, there must have been me mistake! Theremust have been some mix-up in the records!"And she said, "No--I remember her perfectly now. Her handsshook so that she couldn't hit the right keys! The first timewe gave a speed test, she broke down completely-was sick atthe stomach and almost had to be carried into the wash room!After that morning she never showed up any more. Wephoned the house but never got any answer"-While I wasworking at Famous-Barr, I suppose, demonstrating those It was the lesser of two evils, Mother.I couldn't go back there. I-threw up-on the floor!AMANDA: From half past seven till after five every day youmean to tell me you walked around in the park, because youwanted to make me think that you were still going to Rubi cam's Business College?LAURA:Oh! I felt so weak I could barely keep on my feet! I had tosit down while they got me a glass of water! Fifty dollars'tuition, all of our plans--my hopes and ambitions for you just gone up the spout, just gone up the spout like that.AMANDA:Oh! [She releases the handle and returns to herAMANDA:seat. ]You did all this to deceive me, just for deception?[Laura looks down.] Why?Laura, where have you been going when you'vegone out pretending that you were going to business college?AMANDA:Mother, when you're disappointed, you get thatawful suffering look on your face, like the picture of Jesus'mother in the museum!LAURA:I've just been going out walking.AMANDA:That's not true.AMANDA:It is. I just went walking.LAURA:Hush!I couldn't face it.[There is a pause. A whisper of strings is hellf'a. ugend onscreen: "The Crust of Humility."]AMANDA: Walking? Walking? In winter? Deliberatelycourting pneumonia in that light coat? Where did you walkto, Laura?LAURA:Inside where?LAURA: I went in the art museum and the bird houses atthe Zoo. I visited the penguins every day! Sometimes I didwithout lunch and went to the movies. Lately I've been spend ing most of my afternoons in the Jewel Box, that big glasshouse where they raise the tropical flowers.What are you doing?LAURA:It wasn't as bad as it sounds. I went inside placesto get warmed up.[Laura drllws a long breath and gelS awkwllf'dty to herfeet. She crosses to the Victrola and winds it up.,LAURA:."."."""" .II.".'." . , .IScreen image: Winter scene in a park.][She indicates a brassiere with her hands.]LAURA:lIm.O«.lIu.n I !. ItI""Even after you'd started catching that cold?AMANDA:LAURA:n. .".' . ,,. , .,l.[hopelessly fingering the huge pocketbook]: Sowhat are we going to do the rest of our lives? Stay home andAMANDAAll sorts of places-mostly in the park.1514. .J,.,
THE GLA.SS MEN A.GERIESCENE TJlTO .,'.m." ",.,,,,,."'"".mj.''''"m III AURA: The operetta the senior class put on. He had awonderful voice and we sat across the aisle from each otherMondays, Wednesdays and Fridays in the Aud. Here he iswith the silver cup for debating! See his grin?watch the parades go by? Amuse ourselves with the glassmenagerie, darling? Eternally play those worn-out phono graph records your father left as a painful reminder of him?We won't have a business career-we've given that up be cause it gave us nervous indigestion! [She laughs wearily.]What is there left but dependency all our lives? I know SOwell what becomes of
The Glass Menagerie . The Gloss Menagerie A Lovely Sunday . for . Cre.e Coeur Nor AOOur Nightingales . The . NOlebook of Trigorin The Red o.il B."ery Sign Small Cndl Warnings . Nobody, not even the rain, has such small hands. Somelhing Cloudy. Somerhing Clear Stopped Rocking and Orher St,«n . PI y. e. e. cummings . A Streetcar Named Drsire
