‘Then You’ll Be Free to Go Wherever You Please, on Land, on Sea, Whichever Way the Wind Blows You!’: Female Oscillation Between Disability and Freedom in Tennessee Williams’ <i>The Glass Menagerie</i>

Abstract The present paper examines female vacillation between social seclusion, their longing for social inclusion, and freedom in Tennessee Williams’ “The Glass Menagerie”. A special focus will be placed on Laura Wingfield’s profile as a woman with special needs. Feminist Narratology will be employed to examine how social factors accentuate Laura’s psychological dilemma. The aim is to show that ‘disability’ is not something physical, but rather a social construct. Verbal utterances, fragmented speech, animal imagery, symbolism, and non-verbal language will be deployed to analyze the different forms of female disability. Another goal of this paper is to prove that disability has broader allegorical and cultural dimensions. The final part of the section will shed light on the way Laura goes beyond physical disability and social confinement. She proves to be a subversive woman in a patriarchal Southern American atmosphere where female freedom is an alien notion.