Saturday, November 12, 2011

What is the significance of Laura's glass menagerie, especially the symbolic unicorn?

Laura is like her glass animals because she is so fragile and easily broken.  There is a special affinity between Laura and the unicorn. The unicorn does not exist in the modern world, just as Laura seems unable to exist in modern society. She has a limp and feels deformed; the unicorn has only one horn, which makes him different from the rest of the animals. This symbolism is reinforced when Laura and Jim are dancing and Jim accidentally breaks the horn off the unicorn. Laura says, "Now he's just like all the other animals." She, too, seems more like any other girl now that Jim has made her feel special. Of course, the irony is Jim is engaged and, at that news, Laura gives the unicorn to Jim, indicating he is taking her normalcy with him.

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