TGM: Amanda Wingfield

Question 1

Amanda: “Sunday

Answer 1

“Sunday in Blue Mountain.”

Question 2

Amanda: The callers were “planters

Answer 2

The callers were “planters and sons of planters!”

Question 3

Amanda: “That Fitzhugh boy

Answer 3

“That Fitzhugh boy… he had the Midas touch!”

Question 4

Amanda: “That spring I had the craze

Answer 4

“That spring I had the craze for jonquils… and still I kept on bringing in more jonquils… I made the young men help me gather the jonquils… every available space was filled with jonquils… Malaria fever and jonquils and then-this-boy…”

Question 5

Judith S. Thompson: The pattern of the play

Answer 5

The pattern of the play - that constellates all of its characters - is that of “romantic expectations, momentary fulfilment, and ultimate loss.”

Question 6

Amanda: “A fire escape

Answer 6

“A fire escape landing’s a poor excuse for a porch.”

Question 7

Amanda: “Little birdlike

Answer 7

“Little birdlike women without any nest.”

Question 8

Tom: Amanda’s desire “to properly

Answer 8

Amanda’s desire “to properly feather the nest and plume the bird.”

Question 9

Sam Bluefarb: “Amanda Wingfield can never

Answer 9

“Amanda Wingfield can never quite extricate herself from the past in order to come to terms with the flow of life in the present.”

Question 10

Benjamin Nelson: “Amanda does cling frantically

Answer 10

“Amanda does cling frantically to the past, but she clings just as desperately to the present. She is attempting to hold two worlds together and realises that both are crumbling beneath her fingers.”

Question 11

Eric P. Levy: “Each character is hampered in

Answer 11

“Each character is hampered in relating to others by the need to inhabit a private world where the fundamental concern is with self-image. Some characters use others as mirrors to reflect the self-image with which they themselves wish to identify.”

Question 12

Amanda: “It’s almost time for

Answer 12

“It’s almost time for our gentleman callers to start arriving… how many do you suppose we’re going to entertain this afternoon?”

Question 13

Amanda: “Styles haven’t

Answer 13

“Styles haven’t changed so terribly much after all.”

Question 14

[She is wearing a bathrobe

[The coat is one of

Answer 14

[She is wearing a bathrobe, much too large for her slight figure, a relic of the faithless Mr Wingfield.]
[The coat is one of Amanda’s, inaccurately made-over, the sleeves too short for Laura.]

Question 15

Laura: “I’m all right

Answer 15

“I’m all right. I slipped, but I’m all right.”

Question 16

Laura: “You get that awful suffering look

Answer 16

“You get that awful suffering look on your face, like the picture of Jesus’ mother in the museum!”

Question 17

Amanda: “This is the prettiest

Answer 17

“This is the prettiest you will ever be.”

Question 18

Tom: Amanda’s aspirations “hung

Answer 18

Amanda’s aspirations “hung like a sentence passed upon the Wingfields.”

Question 19

Ralph Capasso: “Amanda’s trapping of her children

Answer 19

“Amanda’s trapping of her children is underscored by Williams’ bird imagery: Amanda attempts to adjust Tom’s position so his shoulders won’t stick out like sparrow’s wings; Tom accuses Amanda of paying ‘hawk-like attention to every bite I take.’”