"The Glass Menagerie "by Tennessee Williams, the characters' relation to the past

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…a past filled with popularity and success. Tom retreats to his poetry and movies to experience adventure he cannot find in his ordinary life. Laura finds confidence playing old records on the victrola and controlling her glass collection. All these simulated worlds that the characters retreat to, leave them unprotected from the reality of the world. Being unprepared, Amanda, Tom, and Laura are tragically lost in their own dream worlds, far away from the present.