Vocabulary in The Glass Menagerie

Energies or life forces — the restless drives and passions that push a person to act, even when those drives pull in conflicting directions.

Holding on desperately and refusing to let go, here meaning Amanda refuses to accept that her glamorous Southern past is over.

Young men who visited a young woman at her home with the social understanding that they were potential suitors or romantic prospects, a custom of the old American South.

Long-distance telephone calls or the telephone network itself; here used figuratively to suggest the father's love of escape and far-off places rather than home.

A collection of small glass animal figurines that Laura treasures; the word originally means a collection of live animals but here refers to her delicate miniature sculptures.

Flat vinyl or shellac discs played on a mechanical turntable to produce music; an older technology for listening to recorded sound before cassettes or CDs.

The skill of writing in shorthand — a fast, coded system of notation — used by office secretaries to take dictation; Amanda enrolled Laura in a class to learn this trade.

Illegal establishments where people gathered to smoke opium, a powerful narcotic drug; Tom uses the phrase sarcastically to mock Amanda's suspicions about where he spends his evenings.

Hidden places where immoral or illegal activities — gambling, drinking, drug use — take place; used here by Tom in bitter, exaggerated mockery of his mother's accusations.

A person paid to kill someone; Tom uses this absurd claim sarcastically to ridicule Amanda's fears, not as a literal statement of fact.

A Thompson submachine gun — a rapid-fire weapon associated with 1920s–30s American gangsters; Tom mentions it as part of his sarcastic, over-the-top performance for Amanda.

Talking rapidly and foolishly without making sense; Tom hurls this as an insult at Amanda during their heated argument, meaning she talks endlessly and irrationally.

Used here as a harsh insult meaning a cruel, nagging, or spiteful woman; Tom shouts it at Amanda in the peak of their fight, not as a supernatural reference.

Walked unsteadily, swaying and nearly losing balance; here it signals that Tom has come home drunk after a night out.

A large building used to store goods; Tom works in a shoe warehouse, a dull, low-status job he finds suffocating compared to his literary ambitions.

An idiom meaning in whatever direction life or chance takes you, with complete freedom to follow any path; Amanda uses it to promise Tom future freedom once Laura is settled.

A young woman from a wealthy family who is formally introduced to society at a special event, signalling she is ready for courtship; Amanda uses the word playfully, pretending she and Laura are rehearsing social roles.

An external metal staircase or platform attached to the outside of a building for emergency exit; in the play it also serves as Tom's private stage where he steps away from the family to address the audience.

The fleet of commercial cargo and passenger ships, as distinct from the military navy; Tom dreams of joining it as a way to travel the world and escape his trapped life.

Describing cheap magazines printed on low-quality paper and filled with sensational adventure, crime, or fantasy stories; Amanda disapproves of Tom reading such lowbrow material.

A paid arrangement to receive a magazine or publication regularly; Amanda is angry that Tom secretly signed up for one under a false name.

A mythical horse with a single horn on its forehead; Laura owns a tiny glass one, and its broken horn becomes a symbol of her own sense of being different and then, briefly, ordinary.

Formally promised to marry someone; Jim's revelation that he is already engaged to Betty destroys the hope the evening had built for Laura.

A charming, well-bred young woman from the American South, admired for her beauty and social grace; Amanda clings to this identity from her youth even though her circumstances have long since changed.

The quality of being refined, well-mannered, and from a respectable social class; Amanda insists on maintaining the appearance of gentility even though the family is poor.