What amount of time is covered in the action? How much of the action is presented as a report rather than dramatized on stage? Is there a meaning behind the selection of events to be dramatized and those to be reported?
"The Glass Menagerie" is a play which is difficult to gauge time-wise. After reading the entire thing, it seemed to span a wide time period but gave no reference of time passing through its context. While it initially appeared to only span a few days, that wouldn't make sense for a few key reasons. One of these reasons is centered around the event of Tom inviting Jim over for dinner. When he finally does and informs Amanda of it, he asks her if she remembers when she told him to try and find a suitor for Laura. Because he uses the word remember, it implies that some time has passed which may have caused her to forget. If the conversation had only happened the day before, there would have been no need to ask her for her recollection. Part of this is probably due to the fact that he is telling the play from his memory. Most of the action is actually dramatized on stage in "The Glass Menagerie"; however, I think it would be really interesting to watch the play without its stage directions. Since the directions are so extensive, I almost think that an aspect of the play would be lost without them. Also, a unique characteristic of this play is how Tom serves both as the narrator and a character inside the plot. It brings an unusual aspect to the audience how he addresses them directly and then immediately jumps back into the scenes from time to time.
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