The Glass Menagerie

2021年2月13日发(作者：抗压性)

THE GLASS MENAGERIE

?

(1945)

Tennessee Williams (1911-1988)

Tennessee Williams‘s early life was associated with the South (and so are many of his plays and stories).

He was born in Columbus, Mississippi and his family moved to St. Louis some years later. His father was a

violent, aggressive traveling salesman, his mother, the high-minded, puritanical daughter of a clergyman; his

elder

sister,

a

shy

and

hypersensitive

girl

with

mental

as

well

as

physical

problems

which

eventually

necessitated that she be institutionalized. His family thus provided him with the seeds for characters who

were to people many of his plays. He entered college during the Depression and left after a couple of years

to take up a clerical job in a shoe factory, before resuming his academic studies at Washington University, in

St. Louis, and then at the University of Iowa.

Williams was constantly striving to become a writer, turning out a steady stream of poetry, stories and

plays. He wanders about the country working at a variety of jobs in New Orleans, Mexico, Chicago, Florida,

Los Angeles. He waited table, ushered in movie theaters, and ran elevators, etc. until he reached New York,

determined to make a career of the theater.

A series of one-act plays attracted attention to Williams, and in 1940 the Theater Guild sponsored his first

professional full-length production of

Battle of Angels

in Boston. The play failed to reach New York but his

next

effort,

The

Glass

Menagerie,

after

a

long

tryout

in

Chicago,

came

to

New

York

in

1945

and

was

a

popular and critical success, which lofted him into the celebrity. Two years later he triumphed again with

A

Streetcar

Named

Desire

and

became

one

of

Amer

ica‘s

most

applauded

playwrights.

Other

plays

of

Williams‘ include

Summer and Smoke, Sweet Bird of Youth, Cat on a Hot Tin

Roof,

The Rose Tattoo

and

The Night of the Iguana.

Many of the plays have been translated for productions throughout the world, and,

with few exceptions, his works (including some of his novels) have been effectively transferred to film.

In an early short story, Tennessee Williams described a character‘s ―sense of the enormous grotesquerie

of the world,‖ a phrase which can stand as the paradigm of his own world view. Out of the compassion born

of his own painful discovery of the ultimate loneliness and isolatedness of individual human experience in

the world where he lived, Wil1iams has fashioned a theater in which images of incredible brutality collide

with those of fragile beauty. Many of his plays embody the point of view he

once announced: ―It is not the

essential dignity but the essential ambiguity of man that I think needs to be stated.‖

?

The

Glass

Menagerie

from

Tennessee

Williams: Sweet

Bird

of

Youth

/A

Streetcar

Named

Desire

/

The

Glass

Menagerie,

Penguin Books, 1987.

CHARACTERS

AMANDA WINGFIELD

[

the mother

]:

A little woman of great but confused vitality clinging frantically to

another

time

and

place.

Her

characterization

must

be

carefully

created,

not

copied

from

type.

She

is

not

paranoiac, but her life is paranoia. There is much to admire in Amanda, and as much to love and pity as

there is to laugh at. Certainly she has endurance and a kind of heroism, and though her foolishness makes

her unwittingly cruel at times, there is tenderness in her slight person.

LAURA WINGFIELD

[

her daughter

]:

Amanda, having failed to establish contact with reality, continues

to live v

itally in her illusions, but Laura‘s s

ituation is even graver. A childhood illness has 1eft her crippled,

one leg slightly shorter than the other, and held in a brace. This defect need not be more than suggested on

the stage. Stemming fro

m this, Laura‘s separation increases till she is like a

piece of her own glass collection,

too exquisitely fragile to move from the shelf.

TOM WINGFIELD

[

her son, and the narrator

of

the play

]:

A poet with a job in a

warehouse. His nature is

not remorseless, but to escape from a trap he has to act without pity.

JIM O’CONNOR

[

the gentleman caller

]:

A nice, ordinary, young man.

PRODUCTION NOTES

Being a ?memory play‘,

The Glass Menagerie

can be presented with unusual freedom from convention.

Because of its considerably delicate or tenuous material, atmospheric touches and subtleties of direction play

a particularly important part. Expressionism and all other unconventional techniques in drama have only one

valid aim, and that is a closer approach to truth. When a play employs unconventional techniques, it is not,

or certainly shouldn‘t be, trying to escape its responsibility of dealing with reality, or interpreting experience,

but is actually or should be attempting to find a closer approach, a more penetrating and vivid expression of

things as they are. The straight realistic play with its genuine frigidaire and authentic icecubes, its characters

that speak exactly as its audience speaks, corresponds to the academic landscape and has the same virtue of a

photographic likeness. Everyone should know nowadays the unimportance of the photographic in art: that

truth, life, or reality is an organic thing which the poetic imagination can represent or suggest, in essence,

only

through

transformation,

through

changing

into other

forms

than

those

which were

merely

present

in

appearance.

These remarks are not meant as a preface only to this particular play. They have to do with a conception

of a new, plastic theatre which must take the place of the exhausted theatre of realistic conventions if the

theatre is to resume vitality as a part of our culture.

THE SCREEN DEVICE

There is

only one important difference between the original and acting version of

the play

and that is the

omission in the latter of the device which I tentatively included in my

original

script. This device was the

use of a screen on which were projected magic-lantern slides bearing images or titles. I do not regret the

omission of this device from the present Broadway pro

duction. The extraordinary power of Miss Taylor‘s

performance made it suitable to have the utmost simplicity in the physical production. But 1 think it may be

interesting

to

some

readers

to

see

how

this

device

was

conceived.

So

I

am

putting

it

into

the

published

manuscript. These images and legends, projected from behind, were cast on a section of wall between the

front room and the dining-room areas, which should be indistinguishable from the rest when not in use.

The purpose of this will probably be apparent. It is to give accent to certain values in each scene. Each

scene contains a particular point (or several) which is structurally the most important. In an episodic play,

such as this, the basic structure or narrative line may be obscured from the audience; the effect may seem

fragmentary rather than architectural. This may not be the fault of the play so much as a lack of attention in

the audience. The legend or image upon the screen will strengthen the effect of what is merely illusion in the

writing and allow the primary point to be made more simply and lightly than if the entire responsibility were

on the spoken lines. Aside from this structural value, I think the screen will have a definite emotional appeal,

less definable but just as important. An imaginative producer or director may invent many other uses for this

device than those indicated in the present script. In fact the possibilities of the device seem much larger to

me than the instance of this play

can possibly utilize.

THE MUSIC

Another extra-literary accent in this play is provided by the use of music. A

single r

ecurring tune, ?The

Glass Menagerie,‘ is used to give emotional emphasis to suitable passages. This tune is like circus music,

not

when

you

are

on

the

grounds

or

in

the

immediate

vicinity

of

the

parade,

but

when

you

are

at

some

distance and very likely thinking of something else. It seems under those circumstances to continue almost

interminably

and

it

weaves

in

and

out

of

your

preoccupied

consciousness;

then

it

is

the

lightest,

most

delicate

music

in

the

world

and

perhaps

the

saddest.

It

expresses

the

surface

vivacity

of

life

with

the

underlying strain of immutable and inexpressible sorrow. When you look at a piece of delicately spun glass

you think of two things: how beautiful it is and how easily it can be broken. Both of those ideas should be

woven into the recurring tune, which dips in and out of the play as if it were carried on a wind that changes.

It serves as a thread of connexion and allusion between the narrator with his separate point in time and space

and the subject of his story. Between each episode it returns as reference to the emotion, nostalgia, which is

the fi

rst condition of the play. It is primarily LAURA‘s music and therefore comes out most clearly when

the play focuses upon her and the lovely fragility of glass which is her image.

THE LIGHTING

The

lighting

in

the

play

is

not

realistic.

In

keeping

with

the

atmosphere

of

memory,

the

stage

is

dim.

Shafts of light are focused on selected areas or actors, sometimes in contradistinction to what is the apparent

centre. For instance, in the quarrel scene between TOM and AMANDA, in which LAURA has no active part,

the clearest pool of light is on her figure. This is also true of the supper scene, when her silent figure on the

sofa should remain the visual centre. The light upon LAURA should be distinct from the others, having a

peculiar pristine clarity such as light used in early religious portraits of female saints or madonnas. A certain

correspondence

to

light

in

religious

paintings,

such

as

El

Greco‘s,

where

the

figures

are

radiant

in

atmosphere that is relatively dusky, could be effectively used throughout the play. [It will also permit a more

effective use of the screen.] A free, imaginative use of light can be of enormous value in giving a mobile,

plastic quality to plays of a more or less static nature.

T.W.

Scene

:

An alley in St Louis

PART 1:

Preparation for a Gentleman Caller (scenes 1-5)

PART 2:

The Gentleman Calls (scenes 6-7)

Time

:

Now and the Past

Scene I

The

Wingfield

apartment

is

in

the

rear

of

the

building,

one

of

those

vast

hive-like

conglomerations

of

cellular

living-units

that

flower

as

warty

growths

in

overcrowded

urban

centres

of

lower

middle-class

population

and

are

symptomatic

of

the

impulse

of

this

largest

and

fundamentally

enslaved

section

of

American society to avoid fluidity and differentiation and to exist and function as

one interfused mass of

automatism.

The

apartment

faces

an

alley

and

is

entered

by

a

fire-escape,

a

structure

whose

name

is

a

touch

of

accidental poetic truth, for all of these huge buildings are always burning with the slow and implacable fires

of human desperation. The fire-escape is included in the set

—

that is, the landing of it and steps descending

from it.

The scene is memory and is therefore non-realistic. Memory takes a lot of poetic licence. It omits some

details; others are exaggerated, according to the emotional value of the articles it touches, for memory is

seated predominantly in the heart. The interior is therefore rather dim and poetic.

[

At the rise of the curtain, the audience is faced with the dark, grim rear wall of the Wingfield tenement.

This building, which runs parallel to the footlights, is flanked on both sides by dark, narrow alleys which

run into murky canyons of tangled clothes-lines, garbage cans, and the sinister lattice-work of neighbouring

fire-escapes. It is up and down these side alleys that exterior entrances and exits are made, during the play.

At

the

end

of

TOM’s

open

ing

commentary,

the

dark

tenement

wall

slowly

reveals

(by

means

of

a

transparency) the interior of the ground floor Wingfield apartment.

Downstage is the living-room, which also serves as a sleeping-room for LAURA, the sofa unfolding to

make her bed. Upstage, centre, and divided by a wide arch or second proscenium with transparent faded

portieres (or second curtain), is the dining-room. In an old-fashioned what- not

1

in the living-room are seen

scores

of

transparent

glass

animals.

A

blown- up

photograph

of

the

father

hangs

on

the

wall

of

the

living- room, facing the audience, to the left of the archway. It is the face of a very handsome young man in a

doughboy’s

2

First World War cap. He is gallantly smiling, ineluctably smiling, as if to say ‘1 wi

ll be smiling

forever’.

The audience hears and sees the opening scene in the dining-room through both the transparent fourth

wall of the building and the transparent gauze portieres of the dining-room arch. It is during this revealing

scene that the fourth wall slowly ascends out of sight. This transparent exterior wall is not brought down

again until the very end of the play, during

TOM’s final speech.

The

narrator

is

an

undisguised

convention

of

the

play.

He

takes

whatever

licence

with

dramatic

convention is convenient to his purposes.

TOM enters dressed as a merchant sailor from alley, stage left, and strolls across the front of the stage to

the fire-escape. There he stops and lights a cigarette. He addresses the audience.

]

Tom:

Yes,

I

have

tricks

in

my

pocket,

I

have

things

up

my

sleeve.

But

I

am

the

opposite

of

a

stage

magician. He gives you illusion that has the appearance of truth. I give you truth in the pleasant disguise of

illusion.

To begin with, I turn back time. I reverse it to that quaint period, the thirties, when the huge middle class

of America was matriculating in a school for the blind. Their eyes had failed them, or they had failed their

eyes,

and

so

they

were

having

their

fingers

pressed

forcibly

down

on

the

fiery

Braille

alphabet

of

a

dissolving economy.

3

In Spain there was revolution.

4

Here there was only shouting and confusion.

In

Spain

there

was

Guernica.

5

Here

there

were

disturbances

of

labour,

sometimes

pretty

violent,

in

otherwise peaceful cities such as Chicago, Cleveland, Saint Louis. ...

This is the social background of the play.

[MUSIC]

The play is memory.

Being a memory play, it is dimly lighted, it is sentimental, it is not realistic.

In memory everything seems to happen to music. That explains the fiddle in the wings.

I am the narrator of the play, and also a character in it.

The other characters are my mother Amanda, my

sister Laura, and a gentleman caller who appears in the final scenes.

He

is

the

most

realistic

character

in

the

play,

being

an

emissary

from

a

world

of

reality

that

we

were

somehow set apart from.

But

since

I

have

a

poet‘s

weakness

for

symbols,

I

am

using

this

character

also

as

a

symbol;

he

is

the

1

2

what-not:

古董架。

doughboy:

（美国）第一次世界大战时的美国大兵。

3

…they were having

their fingers pressed forcibly down on the fiery Braille alphabet of a dissolving economy:

这句形象地

描绘了第二次世界大战前夕美国 中产阶级岌岌可危的经济地位和他们惶恐不安的心情。

Braille

指法国人

Louis

Braille(?1809-1852),

他曾为盲人创造了凸点符号文字。

4

In Spain there was revolution:

这句指

1930

< p>
年至

1939

年间的西班牙内战

(the Spanish Civil War)

。

5

Guernica:

< p>
基尼卡，西班牙北部巴斯克省著名的文化中心。

1937

< br>年西班牙内战期间，德军为了援助佛朗哥政权，对该

城进行了长达三个小时的轰炸 。著名画家毕家索曾以此为题材创作了著名巨幅油画《基尼卡》。

long-delayed

but

always

expected

something

that

we

live

for.

There

is

a

fifth

character

in

the

play

who

doesn‘t appear except in this larger

-than-life- size photograph over the mantel.

This is our father who left us a long time ago.

He

was

a

telephone

man

who

fell

in

love

with

long

distances;

he

gave

up

his

job

with

the

telephone

company and skipped the light fantastic out of town….

The

last

we

heard

of

him

was

a

picture

postcard

from

Mazatlan,

on

the

Pacific

coast

of

Mexico,

containing a message of two words

—

?Hello—

Good-

bye!‘ and no address.

I think the rest of the play will explain itself....

[AMANDA‘s

voice becomes audible through the portieres.

LEGEND ON SCREEN: ?OU SONT LES NEIGES‘

1

.

He divides the portieres and enters the upstage area.

AMANDA

and

LAURA

are seated at a drop-leaf table. Eating is indicated by gestures without food

or utensils.

AMANDA

faces the audience.

TOM

and

LAURA

are seated in profile.

The interior has lit up softly and through the scrim we see

AMANDA

and

LAURA

seated at the table

in the upstage area.

]

Amanda

[

calling

]:

Tom?

Tom:

Yes, Mother.

Amanda:

We can‘t say grace

2

until you come to the table!

Tom:

Coming, Mother. [

He

bows

slightly and withdraws, reappearing a few moments later in his place

at the table.

]

Amanda

[

to her son

]:

Honey, don‘t

push

with your

fingers.

If you have to push with something, the thing

to push with is a crust of bread. And chew

—

chew! Animals have sections in their stomachs which enable

them

to

digest

food

without

mastication,

but

human

beings

are

supposed

to

chew

their

food

before

they

swallow

it

down.

Eat

food

leisurely,

son,

and

really

enjoy

it.

A

well-cooked

meal

has

lots

of

delicate

flavours that have to be held in the mouth for appreciation. So chew your food and give your salivary glands

a chance to function!

[TOM

deliberately lays his imaginary fork down and pushes his chair back from the table.

]

Tom:

I haven‘t enjoyed one bite of this dinner because of your constant directions on how to eat it. It‘s

you that makes me rush through meals with your hawk-like attention to every bite I take. Sickening

—

spoils

my appetite

—

all this discussion of

—animals‘ secretion —

salivary glands

—

mastication!

Amanda

[

lightly

]: Temperament like a Metropolitan star!

3

[

He rises and crosses downstage.

] You‘re not

excused from the table.

4

1

Où

sont les Neiges: (

法

) Where are the snows (of yesterday)?

这是法国中世纪抒情诗人佛兰索瓦·

维龙

（

Fran?

ois Villon,

1431-?1463

）的一首诗中的反复句 。这首诗是西方文学中的名著，表达人们对昔日大好时光一去不复返的悲哀和忧郁

之情。

2

say grace:

指饭前祈祷。

3

like a Metropolitan star:

象个大都会歌剧院的明星。

4

You‘re not excused f

rom the table:

你离开饭 桌前可没有打招呼。西方礼节要求人们离开饭桌前与主儿或女主人打招

呼。

Tom:

I‘

m getting

a cigarette.

Amanda:

You smoke too much.

[LAURA

rises.

]

Laura:

I

‘ll bring in the blanc mange.

[

He remains standing with his cigarette by the portieres during the following.

]

Amanda

[

rising

]:

No, sister, no, sister

—

you be the lady this time and I‘ll be the darkey.

Laura:

I

‘m already up.

Amanda:

Resume

your

seat,

little

sister

—

I

want

you

to

stay

fresh

and

pretty

—

for

gentle

men

callers!

Laura:

I

‘m not expecting any gentlemen

callers.

Amanda

[

crossing out to kitchenette. Airily

]:

Sometimes they come when they are least expected! Why, I

remember one Sunday afternoon in Blue Mountain

—

[

Enters kitchenette.

]

Tom:

I know what‘s coming!

Laura:

Y

es. But let her tell it.

Tom:

Again?

Laura:

S

he loves to tell it.

[AMANDA

returns with bowl of dessert.

]

Amanda:

One Sunday afternoon in Blue Mountain

—

your mother received

—

seventeen!

—

gentlemen

callers! Why, sometimes there weren‘t chairs enough to accommodate them all. We had to send the

nigger

over to bring in folding chairs from the parish house.

Tom

[

remaining at portieres

]:

How did you entertain those gentlemen callers?

Amanda:

I understood the art of conversation!

Tom:

I bet you could talk.

Amanda:

Girls in those days

knew

how to talk. I can tell you.

Tom:

Yes?

[IMAGE: AMANDA AS A GIRL ON A PORCH, GREETING CALLERS.]

Amanda:

They knew how to entertain their gentlemen callers. It wasn‘t enough for a girl to be possessed

of a pretty face and a graceful figure

—

although I wasn‘t slight

ed in either respect. She also needed to have

a nimble wit and a tongue to meet all occasions.

Tom:

What did you talk about?

Amanda:

Things of importance going on in the world! Never anything coarse or common or vulgar. [

She

addresses

TOM

as though he were seated in the vacant chair at the table though he remains by portieres.

He plays this scene as though he held the book.

]

My callers were gentlemen

—

all! Among my callers were

some of the most prominent young planters of the Mississippi Delta

—

planters and sons of planters!

[TOM

motions

for

music

and

a

spot

of

light

on

AMANDA.

Her

eyes

lift,

her

face

glows,

her

voice

becomes rich and elegiac.

SCREEN LEGEND:

?OU SONT LES NEIGES‘

.]

There was young Champ Laughlin who later became vice- president of the Delta P1anters Bank.

Hadley Stevenson who was drowned in Moon Lake and left his widow one hundred and fifty thousand in

Government bonds.

There were the Cutrere brothers, Wesley and Bates. Bates was one of my bright particular beaux! He got

in a quarrel with that wild Wainwright boy. They shot it out on the floor of Moon Lake Casino. Bates was

shot through the stomach. Died in the ambulance on his way to Memphis. His widow was also well provided

for

, came into eight or ten thousand acres, that‘s all. She mar

ried him on the rebound

1

—

never loved her

—

carried my picture on him the night he died!

And there was that boy that every girl in the Delta had set her cap for

2

! That beautiful, brilliant young

Fitzhugh boy from Greene County!

Tom:

What did he leave his widow?

Amanda:

He never married! Gracious, you talk as though all of my old admirers had turned up their toes

to the daisies!

Tom:

Isn

‘t this the first you‘ve mentioned that still survives?

Amanda:

That Fitzhugh boy went North and made a fortune

—

came to be known as the Wolf of Wall

Street!

3

He had the Midas touch,

4

whatever he touched turned to gold!

And I could have been Mrs Duncan J. Fitzhugh, mind you! But

—

I picked your

father!

Laura

[

risin

g]:

Mother, let m

e

clear the table.

Amanda:

No, dear, you go in front and study your typewriter chart. Or practise your shorthand a little.

Stay fresh and pretty!

—

It‘s almost time for our gentlemen callers to start arri

ving. [

She flounces girlishly

toward the kitchenette.

]

How many do you suppose we‘re going to en

tertain this afternoon?

[TOM

throws down the paper and jumps up with a groan.

]

Laura

[

alone in the dining- room

]:

I don‘t believe we‘re going to receive any, Mother.

Amanda

[

reappearing,

airily

]:

What?

No

one

—

not

one?

You

must

be

joking!

[LAURA

nervously

echoes her laugh. She slips in a fugitive manner through the half- open portieres and draws them in gently

behind her. A shaft of very clear light is thrown on her face against the faded tapestry of the curtains.

]

[MUSIC ?THE GLASS MENAGERIE‘ UNDER FA

INTLY.

Lightly.

]

1

She married him on the rebound:

她瞅准空子跟他结了婚。

A manda

暗示那男子因遭她拒绝而草率跟另一女子结婚。

on

the rebound: (as in love) immediately after and while reaching strongly to a rejection,

指恋爱中遭到拒绝后采取的激烈往往

又是轻率的行动。

2

3

set one‘s cap

for:

（女人）追求男子。

the Wolf of Wall Street:

金融界（并吞他人）的巨头。

Wall Street:

华尔街，位于纽约市曼哈顿区，美国主要交易所的

the Midas touch:

迈达斯点金术。据希腊神 话，迈达斯是弗利治亚

(Phrygia)

的国王。他祈求神赐 予他（并终究得到了）

所在地。现常用来指美国金融界。

4

一种能力——凡他手碰过的东西都变成金子。

Not one gentleman caller? It can‘t be true! There must be a fl

ood, there must have been a tornado!

Laura:

It isn‘t a flood, it‘s not a tornado, Mother. I‘m just not popular like you were in Blue Mountain....

[TOM

utters another groan.

LAURA

glances at him with a faint, apologetic smile. Her

voice

catching a

little.

]

Mother‘s afraid I‘m going to be an old maid.

THE SCENE DIMS OUT WITH ?GLASS MENAGERIE‘ MUSIC

Scene II

‘Laura

,

Haven’t you

E

ver Liked Some Boy?’

On the dark stage the screen is lighted with the image of blue roses.

[

Gradually

LAURA‘s

figure becomes apparent and the screen goes out.

The music subsides.

LAURA

is seated in the delicate ivory chair at the small claw-foot table.

She wears a dress of soft violet material for a kimono

—

her hair tied back from her forehead with a

ribbon.

She is washing and polishing her collection of glass.

AMANDA

appears on the fire- escape steps. At the sound of her ascent,

LAURA

catches her breath,

thrusts

the

bowl

of

ornaments

away

and

seats

herself

stiffly

before

the

diagram

of

the

typewriter

keyboard as though it held her spellbound.

Something has happened to

AMANDA.

It is written in her face as she climbs to the landing: a look

that is grim and hopeless and a little absurd.

She has on one of those cheap or imitation velvety-looking cloth coats with imitation fur collar. Her

hat is five or six years old, one of those dreadful cloche hats that were worn in the late twenties and she

is

clasping

an

enormous

black

patent-leather

pocketbook

with

nickel

clasps

and

initials.

This

is

her

full-dress outfit, the one she usually wears to the D.A.R.

1

Be fore entering she looks through the door.

She purses her lips, opens her eyes very wide, rolls them upward, and shakes her head.

Then she slowly lets hersel

f in the door. Seeing her mother’s expression

LAURA

touches her lips with

a nervous gesture

.]

Laura:

Hello, Mother, I was

—

[

She makes a nervous gesture toward the chart on the wall.

AMANDA

leans against the shut door and stares at

LAURA

with a martyred look.

]

Amanda:

Deception? Deception? [

She slowly removes her hat and gloves, continuing the sweet suffering

stare. She lets the hat and gloves fall on the floor

—

a bit of acting.

]

Laura

[

shakily

]:

How was the D.A.R. meeting? [AMANDA

slowly opens her purse and removes a dainty

white handkerchief which she shakes out delicately and delicately touches to her lips and nostrils.

]

Didn‘t

you go to the D.A.R. meeting, Mother?

1

D.A.R.:

是

Daughters of the American Revolution

的缩写。

D.A.R. 1890

年成立于华盛顿市。成员大多为在美国 独立战

争中做出贡献人的后代。现有成员约

209,000

人。该组织为保护历史遗迹做了大量的工作。

Amanda

[

faintly, almost inaudibly

]:

—

No.

—

No. [

Then more forcibly.

]

I did not have the strength

—

to

go to the D.A.R. In fact, I did not have the courage! I wanted to find a hole in the ground and hide myself in

it for ever! [

She crosses slowly to the wall and removes the diagram of the typewriter keyboard. She holds it

in front of her for a second, staring at it sweetly and sorrowfully

—

then bites her lips and tears it into two

pieces.

]

Laura

[

faintly

]:

Why did you do that, Mother? [AMANDA

repeats the same procedure with the chart of

the Gregg alphabet.

]

Why are you

—

?

Amanda:

Why? Why? How old are you, Laura?

Laura:

M

other, you know my age.

Amanda:

I thought that you were an adult; it seems that I was mistaken. [

She crosses slowly to the sofa

and sinks down and stares at

LAURA.]

Laura:

P

lease don‘t stare at me, Mother.

[AMANDA

closes her eyes and lowers her head. Count ten.

]

Amanda:

What are we going to do, what is going to become of us, what is the future?

[

Count ten.

]

Laura:

H

as

something

happened,

Mother?

[AMANDA

draws

a

long

breath

and

takes

out

the

handkerchief again. Dabbing process.

]

Mother, has

—

something happened?

Amanda:

I

‘

ll be all right in a minute, I

‘

m just bewildered

—

[

Count five.

]

—

by life…

.

Laura:

M

other, I wish that you would tell me w

hat‘s happened!

Amanda:

As

you

know,

I

was

supposed

to

be

inducted

into

my

office

at

the

D.A.R.

this

afternoon.

[IMAGE: A SWARM OF TYPEWRITERS.] But I stopped off at Rubicam‘s bu

siness college to speak to

your teachers about your having a cold and ask them what progress they thought you were making down

there.

Laura:

O

h....

Amanda:

I went to the typing instructor and intro

duced myself as your mother. She didn‘t know who you

were. Wingfield, she said. We don‘t have any such student enrolled at the school!

I assured her she did, that you had been going to classes since early in January.

?I wonder,‘ she said, ?if you could be talking about that terribly shy little girl who dropped out of school

after only a few days‘ attendance?‘

?No,‘ I said, ?Laura, my daughter, has been going to school every day for the past six weeks!‘

?Excuse me,‘ she sai

d. She took the attendance book out and there was your name, unmistakably printed,

and all the dates you were absent until they decided that you had dropped out of school.

I still said, ?No, there must have been some mistake! There must have been some mix

-

up in the records!‘

And she said, ?No

—

I remember her perfectly now. Her hands shook so that she couldn‘t hit the right keys!

The first time we gave a speed-test, she broke down completely

—

was sick at the stomach and almost had

to be carried into the wash-room! After that morning she never showed up any more. We phoned the house

but never got any answe

r‘

—

while I was working at Famous and Barr, I suppose, demonstrating those

—

Oh!

I felt so weak I could barely keep on my feet!

I had to sit down while they got me a glass of water!

Fifty dollars‘ tuition, all of our plans

—

my hopes and ambition for you

—

just gone up the spout

1

, just

gone up the spout like that. [LAURA

draws a long breath and gets awkwardly to her feet. She crosses to the

victrola and winds it up

]

What are you doing?

Laura:

O

h! [

She releases the handle and returns to her seat.

]

Amanda:

Laura, where have you been going when you‘ve gone out pretending that you were going to

business college?

Laura:

I

‘ve just been going out walking.

Amanda:

Th

at‘s not true.

Laura:

I

t is. I just went walking.

Amanda:

Walking? Walking? In winter? Deliberately courting pneumonia in that light coat? Where did

you walk to, Laura?

Laura:

A

ll sorts of places

—

mostly in the park.

Amanda:

Even after you‘d started catch

ing that cold?

Laura:

I

t was the lesser of two evils, Mother. [IMAGE: WINTER SCENE IN PARK.]

I couldn‘t go back

up. I

—

threw up

—

on the floor!

Amanda:

From half past seven till after five every day you mean to tell me you walked around in the

park, because you wanted to make me think that you were still going to Rubicam's Business College?

Laura:

I

t wasn‘t as bad as it sounds. I went inside places to get warmed up.

Amanda:

Inside where?

Laura:

I

went

in

the

art

museum

and

the

bird-houses

at

the

zoo.

I

visited

the

penguins

every

day!

Sometimes I did without lunch and went to the movies. Lately I‘ve been spending most of my afternoons in

the Jewel-box, that big glass-house where they raise the tropical flowers.

Amanda:

You did all this to deceive me, just for deception? [LAURA

looks down.

]

Why?

Laura:

M

other, when you‘re disappointed, you get that awful suffering look on your face, like the picture

of Jesus‘ mother in the museum!

Amanda:

Hush!

Laura:

I

couldn‘t face it.

[

Pause. A whisper of strings.

LEGEND:

?THE CRUST OF HUMILITY‘.]

Amanda

[

hopelessly fingering the huge pocketbook

]:

So what are we going to do the rest of our lives?

Stay home and watch the parades go by? Amuse ourselves with the glass menagerie, darling? Eternally play

those worn-out phonograph records your father left as a painfu

1 reminder of him? We won‘t have a business

career

—

we‘ve given that up because it gave us nervous indigestion! [

Laughs wearily.

]

What is there left

but dependency all our lives? I know so well what becomes of unmar

ried women who aren‘t prepared to

occupy

a

position.

I‘ve

seen

such

pitiful

cases

in

the

South

—

barely

tolerated

spinsters

living

upon

the

grudging patronage of sister‘s husband or brothe

r

‘s wife!

—

stuck away in some little mousetrap of a room

—

encouraged by one in-law to visit another

—

little birdlike women without any nest

—

eating the crust

of

humility

all

their

life!

Is

that

the

future

that

we‘ve

mapped

out

for

ourselves?

I

swear

it‘s

the

only

1

gone up the spout:

（俚语）付之东流了。

alternative

I

can

think

of!

It

isn‘t

very

pleasant

altern

ative,

is

it?

Of

course

—

some

girls

do

marry.

[LAURA

twists her hands nervously.

]

Haven‘t you ever liked some boy?

Laura:

Y

es. I liked one once. [

Rises.

]

I came across his picture a while ago.

Amanda

[

with some interest

]: He gave you his picture?

Laura:

N

o

, it‘s in the year

-book.

Amanda

[

disappointed

]:

Oh

—

a high-school boy.

[SCREEN IMAGE: JIM AS HIGH-SCHOOL HERO BEARING A SILVER CUP.]

Laura:

Y

es. His name was Jim. [LAURA

lifts the heavy annual from the claw-foot table.

]

Here he is in

The Pirates of Penzance.

Amanda

[

absently

]:

The what?

Laura:

T

he operetta the senior class put on. He had a wonderful voice and we sat across the aisle from

each other Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays in the Aud. Here he is with the silver cup for debating! See

his grin?

Amanda

[

absently

]:

He must have had a jolly disposition.

Laura:

H

e used to call me

—

Blue Roses.

[IMAGE: BLUE ROSES.]

Amanda:

Why did he call you such a name as that?

Laura:

W

hen I had that attack of pleurosis

—

he asked me what was the matter when I came back. I said

pleurosis

—

he thought that I said B

lue Roses! So that‘s what he always called me after that. Whenever he

saw m

e, he‘d holler, ?

H

ello, Blue Roses!‘ I didn‘t care for the girl that he went out with. Emily Meisenbach.

Emily

was

the

bestdressed

girl

at

Soldan.

She never

struck

me,

though,

as

being

sincere....

It

says

in

the

Personal Section

1

—

they‘re enga

ged. That's

—

six years ago! They must be married by now.

Amanda:

Girls that aren‘t cut out for business careers usually wind up mar

ried to some nice man. [

Gets

up with a spark of revival.

]

Sister, that‘s what you‘ll do!

[LAURA

utters a startled, doubtful laugh. She reaches quickly for a piece of glass.

]

Laura:

B

ut, Mother

—

Amanda:

Yes? [

Crossing to photograph.

]

Laura

[

in a tone of frightened apology

]:

I‘m

—

crippled!

[IMAGE: SCREEN.]

Amanda:

Nonsense! Laura, I‘ve told you never, never to use that word. Why, you‘re not crippled, you

just have a little defect

—

hardly noticeable, even! When people have some slight disadvantage like that,

they cultivate other things to make up for it

—

develop charm

—

and vivacity

—

and

—

charm!

That‘s

all you have to do! [

She turns again to the photograph.

]

One thing your father had

plenty of

—

was

charm!

1

The Personal Section:

报纸上的个人私事栏。

[TOM

motions to the fiddle in the wings.

]

THE SCENE FADES OUT WITH MUSIC

Scene III

LEGEND ON SCREEN: ?AFTER THE FIASCO

—

‘

[TOM

speaks from the fire-escape landing.

]

Tom:

After the fiasco at Rubicam‘

s Business College, the idea of getting a gentleman caller for Laura

began to play a more and more importan

t part in Mother‘s calculations

. It became an obsession. Like some

archetype of the universal unconscious, the image of the gentleman caller haunted our small apartment....

[IMAGE: YOUNG MAN AT DOOR WITH FLOWERS.]

An evening at home rarely passed without some allusion to this image, this spectre, this hope....

Even

when

he

wasn‘t

mentioned,

his

presence

hung

in

Mother‘s

preoccupied

look

and

in

my

sister‘s

frightened, apologetic manner

—

hung like a sentence passed upon the Wingfields.

Mother was a woman of action as well as words.

She began to take logical steps in the planned direction.

Late that winter and in the early spring

—

realizing that extra money would be needed to properly feather

the nest and plume the bird

—

she conducted a vigorous campaign on the telephone, roping in subscribers to

one of those magazines for matrons called

The Home-

maker’s Companion,

the type of journal that features

the serialized sublimations of ladies of letters who think in terms of delicate cup-like breasts, slim, tapering

waists, rich, creamy thighs, eyes like wood-moke in autumn, fingers that soothe and caress like strains of

music, bodies as powerful as Etruscan sculpture.

1

[SCREEN IMAGE: GLAMOUR MAGAZINE COVER.]

[AMANDA

enters with phone on long extension cord. She is spotted in the dim stage.

]

AMANDA: Ida Scott? This is Amanda Wingfield!

We

missed

you at the D. A. R. last Monday!

I said to myself: She‘s probably suffering with that sinus condition! How

is that sinus condition?

Horrors! Heaven have mercy!

—

You‘re a Chri

stian martyr,

2

yes, that‘s w

hat you are, a Christian martyr!

Well, I just have happened to notice that your subscription to the < /p>

Companion

’

s

about to expire! Yes, it

expires with the next issue, honey!

—

just when that wonderful new serial by Bessie Mae Hopper is getting

1

as Etruscan sculpture:

象伊特拉斯坎分风格的雕塑。

Estr usiq

是意大利北部古罗马帝国之前，以高度文明著称的国家。

在伊特拉斯坎艺术中，以青铜塑和泥塑最为杰出。它继承古希腊的优秀艺术传统，对后来的古罗马艺术影响极大 。

2

a Christian martyr:

为基督教信仰要忍受痛苦。

martyr:

（因疾病）长期受苦的人前冠以

Christian,

意为此人虽受疾病

折磨，但不轻生，而坚信这是上帝为拯救他（她）的 灵魂而作的安排。

off to such an exciting start. Oh, honey, it‘s something that

you can‘t miss! You remember how

Gone With

the Wind

1

took everybody by storm? You simply couldn‘t go

o

ut if you hadn‘t read it. All everybody

talked

was Scarlet O‘

Hara. Well, this is a book that critics already compare to

Gone With the Wind.

It‘s the

Gone

With the Wind

of the post- World War generation!

—

What?

—

Burning!

—

O

n, honey, don‘t let them burn,

go take a look in the oven and I‘ll hold the wire! Heavens

—

I think she‘s hung up

!

[DIM OUT]

[LEGEND ON SCREEN: ?YOU THINK I‘M IN LOVE WITH CONTINENTA

L SHOEM

AKERS?‘]

[

Before the stage is lighted, the violent voices of

TOM

and

AMANDA

are heard.

They are quarrelling behind the portieres. In front of them stands

LAURA

with clenched hands and

panicky expression.

A clear pool of light on her figure throughout this scene.

]

Tom:

What in Chri

st‘s name am I

—

Amanda

[

shrilly

]: D

on‘t you use that

—

Tom:

Supposed to do!

Amanda:

Expression! Not in my

—

Tom:

Ohhh!

Amanda:

Presence! Have you gone out of your senses?

Tom:

I have, that‘s true,

driven

out!

Amanda:

What is the matter with you, you

—

big

—

big IDIOT!

Tom:

Look!

—

I‘ve got

no thing,

no single thing

—

Amanda:

Lower your voice!

Tom:

In my life here that I can call my OWN! Everything is

—

Amanda:

Stop that shouting!

Tom:

Yesterday you confiscated my books! You had the nerve to

—

Amanda:

I

took

that

horrible

novel

back

to

the

library

—

yes!

That

hideous

book

by

that

insane

Mr

Lawrence

2

. [Tom

laughs wildly.

]

I cannot control the output of diseased minds or people who cater to them

—

[TOM

laughs still more wildly.

]

BUT I WON‘T ALLOW S

UCH FILTH BROUGHT INTO MY HOUSE!

No, no, no, no, no!

Tom:

House, house!

Who pays rent on it, who makes a slave of himself to

—

Amanda

[

fairly screeching

]:

Don‘t you DARE to

—

Tom:

no, no, I

mustn‘t say things!

I

‘ve got to just

—

Amanda:

Let me te1l you

—

Tom:

I don‘t want to hear any more

!

[

He tears the portieres open. The upstage area is lit with a turgid

smoky red glow.

]

1

Gone with the Wind

:

美国女作家

Margaret Mitchell (1900

—

1949)

发表于

< br>1936

年的长篇小说。同年该作品获普利策奖。

小说以 美国南北战争和战后的重建为背景描写了乔治亚地区人民的生活。下句中

Scarlet O

‘

Hara

是小说的女主人公。

2

Mr Lawrence:

指英国作家

D. H. Lawrence (1885

—

1935),

著有小说《儿子和情人》、《虹》、《恰特莱夫人的情人》

等。

[AMANDA‘s

hair is in metal curlers and she wears a very old bathrobe much too large for her slight

figure, a relic of the faithless Mr. Wingfield. An upright typewriter and a wild disarray of manuscripts

are

on

the

drop-leaf

table.

The

quarrel

was

probably

precipitated

by

AMAND

A‘s

interruption

of

his

creative labour. A chair lying overthrown on the floor.

Their gesticulating shadows are cast on the ceiling by the fiery glow.

]

Amanda:

You

will

hear more, you

—

Tom:

No, I won‘t hear more, I‘m going out!

Amanda:

You come right back in

—

Tom:

Out, out, out! Becaus

e I‘m

—

Amanda:

Come

back here, Tom Wingfield! I‘m not through

talking to you!

Tom:

Oh, go

—

Laura

[

desperately

]:

—

Tom!

Amanda:

You‘re going to listen, and no more insolence from you! I‘m at the end o

f my patience!

[

He comes back toward her.

]

Tom:

What do

you think I‘m at? Aren‘t I supposed to have any patience to reach the end of, Mother? I

know, I know. It seems unimportant to you, what I‘m

doing

—

what I

want

to do

—

having a little

difference

between them! You don‘t think that

—

Amanda:

I think you‘ve been doing things that you‘re ashamed of. That‘s why yo

u

act like this. I don‘t

believe that you go every night to the movies. Nobody goes to the movies night after night. Nobody in their

right mind goes to the movies as often as you preten

d to. People don‘t go

to the movies at nearly midnight,

and movies don‘t let out at two a.m. Come in stumbling. Muttering to yourself like a maniac! You get three

hours‘

sleep

and

then

go

to

work.

Oh,

I

can

picture

the

way

you‘re

doing

d

own

there.

Moping,

doping,

because yo

u‘r

e in no condition.

Tom

[

wildly

]:

No, I‘m in no condition!

Amanda:

What right have you got to jeopardize your job? Jeopardize the security of us all? How do you

think we‘d manage if you were

—

Tom:

Listen!

You

think

I‘m

crazy

about

the

warehouse?

[

He

bends

fiercely

toward

her

slight

figure.

]

You think I‘m in love with the C

ontinental Shoemakers? You think I want to spend fifty-five years down

there in that

—

celotex interior!

< p>
With

—

fluorescent

—

tubes!

Look:

I‘d rather somebody picked up a crowbar

and battered out my brains

—

than go back mornings I

go

! Every time you come in yelling that God damn

?

Rise and Shine!’ ‘Rise an

d

Shine!’

I say to myself, ?How

lucky dead

people are!‘ But I get up. I

go

! For

sixty-five dollars a month I give up all that I dream of doing and being

ever!

And you say self

—

self’s

all I

ever think of. Why, listen, if self is what

I

thought of, Mother, I‘d be where he is

—

GONE! [

Pointing to

father’s pict

ure.

]

As far as

the system of transportation reaches!

[He

starts past her. She grabs his arm.

]

D

on‘t grab at me, Mother!

Amanda:

Where are you going?

Tom:

I‘m going to the

movies!

Amanda:

I don‘t believe that lie!

Tom

[

crouching toward her, overtowering her tiny figure. She backs away, gasping

]:

I‘m

going to opium

dens! Yes, opium dens, dens of vice

and criminals‘ hang

-

outs, Mother. I‘ve

joined the Hogan gang, I‘m a

hired assassin, I carry a tommy- gun in a violin case! I run a string of cat- houses

1

in the Vally! They call me

Killer, Killer Wing

field, I‘m l

eading a double life, a simple, honest warehouse worker by day, by night a

dynamic

tsar

of

the

underworld,

Mother.

I

go

to

gambling

casinos,

I

spin

away

fortunes

on

the

roulette

table!

2

I wear a patch over one eye and a false moustache, sometimes

I put on green whiskers. On those

occasions they call me

—

El

Diablo!

Oh, I could tell you things to make you sleepless! My enemies plan to

dynamite this place. They‘re going to blow us all sky

-

high some night! I‘ll be glad, very happy, and so will

you! You‘ll go up, up on a broomstick, over Blue Mountain with s

eventeen callers! You ugly

—

babbling old

—

witch....

[

He goes through a series of violent, clumsy movements, seizing his overcoat, lunging to the door,

pulling

it

fiercely

open.

The

women

watch

him

aghast.

His

arm

catches

in

the

sleeve

of

the

coat

as

he

struggles to pull it on. For a moment he is pinioned by the bulky garment. With an outraged groan he tears

the coat off again, splitting the shoulder of it, and hurls it across the room. It strikes against the shelf of

LAURA‘s

glass collection, there is a tinkle of shattering glass.

LAURA

cries out as if wounded.

]

[MUSIC.

LEGEND: ?THE GLASS MENAGERIE‘.]

Laura

[

shrilly

]:

My glass!

—

menagerie.... [

She covers her face and turns away.

]

[

But

AMANDA

is

still

stunned

and

stupefied

by

the

‘ugly

witch’

so

that

she

bar

ely

notices

this

occurrence. Now she recovers her speech.

]

Amanda

[

in an awful voice

] I won‘t speak to you

—

until you apologize! [

She crosses through portieres

and draws them together behind her.

TOM

is left with

LAURA. LAURA

clings weakly to the mantel with

her face averted.

TOM

stares at her stupidly for a moment. Then he crosses to shelf. Drops awkwardly on

his knees to collect the fallen glass, glancing at

LAURA

as if he would speak but couldn’t.

]

‘The Glass Menagerie’ steals in as

THE SCENE DIMS OUT

Scene IV

[

The interior is dark. Faint light in the alley.

A deep-voiced bell in a church is tolling the hour of five as the scene commences.

TOM

appears at the top of the alley. After each solemn boom of the bell in the tower, he shakes a little

noise-maker

or

rattle

as

if

to

express

the

tiny

spasm

of

man

in

contrast

to

the

sustained

power

and

dignity

of

the

Almighty.

This

and

the

unsteadiness

of

his

advance

make

it

evident

that

he

has

been

drinking.

As

he

climbs

the

few

steps

to

the

fire-escape

landing

light

steals

up

inside.

LAURA

appears

in

night- dress, observing

TOM‘s

empty bed in the front room.

TOM

fishes

in

his

pockets

for

door- key,

removing

a

motley

assortment

of

articles

in

the

search,

including a perfect shower of movie- ticket stubs and an empty bottle. At last he finds the key, but just as

1

2

cat-house: (

俚语

)brothel,

妓院。

the roulette table:

带转盘的赌桌。

he is about to insert it, it slips from his fingers. He strikes a match and crouches below the door.

]

Tom

[

b itterly

]:

One crack

—

and it falls through!

[LAURA

opens the door.

]

Laura:

T

om! Tom, what are you doing?

Tom:

Looking for a door-key.

Laura:

Where have you been all this time?

Tom:

I have been to the movies.

Laura:

All this time at the movies?

Tom:

There

was

a

very

long

programme.

There

was

a

Garbo

1

picture

and

a

Mickey

Mouse

2

and

a

travelogue and a newsreel and a preview of coming attractions. And there was an organ solo and a collection

for the milk-fund

—

simultaneously

—

w hich ended up in a terrible fight between a fat lady and an usher!

Laura

[

innocently

]:

Did you have to stay through everything?

Tom:

Of course! And, oh, I forgot! There was a big stage show! The headliner on this stage show was

Malvolio the Magician. He performed wonderful tricks, many of them, such as pouring water back and forth

between pitchers. First it turned to wine and then it turned to beer and then it turned to whisky. I knew it was

whisky it finally turned into because he needed somebody to come up out of the audience to help him, and I

came up

—

both shows! It was Kentucky Straight Bourbon. A very generous fellow, he gave souvenirs. [

He

pulls from his back pocket a shimmering rainbow-coloured scarf

.] He gave me this. This is his magic scarf.

You can have it, Laura. You wave it over a canary cage and you get a bowl of gold-fish. You wave it over

the gold-fish bowl and they fly away canaries.... But the wonderfullest trick of all was the coffin trick. We

nailed him into a coffin and he got out of the coffin without removing one nail. [

He has come inside.

]

There

is a trick that would come in handy for me

—

get me out of this 2 by 4 situation! [

Flops on to a bed and starts

removing shoes.

]

Laura:

T

om

—

Shhh!

Tom:

What‘re you shushing me for?

Laura:

You‘ll wake up mother.

Tom:

Goody

3

, goody! Pay‘er back for all those ?Rise an‘ Shines‘. [

Lies down, groaning.

] You know it

don‘t take muc

h intelligence to get yourself into a nailed-up coffin, Laura. But who in hell ever got himself

out of one without removing one nail?

[

As if

in answer, the father’s grinning photograph lights up.

]

SCENE DIMS OUT

[

Immediately following: The church bell is heard striking six. At the sixth stroke the alarm clock goes off

in

AMANDA‘s

room, and after a few moments we hear her calling ‘Rise and Shine! Rise and Shine!

Laura, go tell your brother to rise and shine!

’

]

1

2

3

Garbo:

嘉宝

Greta Garbo, (1905

—

1990),

美国三十年代红极一时的女电影演员。

Mickey Mouse:

米老 鼠。美国卡通片的最早制作者瓦尔特·迪斯尼的作品《米老鼠与唐老鸭》中的角色。

Goody: (

儿语

)

太好啦。

Tom

[

sitting up slowly

]:

I‘ll rise

—

but I won‘t

shine.

[

The light increases.

]

Amanda:

Laura, tell your brother his coffee is ready.

[LAURA

slips into front room.

]

Laura:

Tom

! It‘s nearly seven. Don‘t make mother nervous.

[

He stares at her stupidly. Beseechingly.

]

Tom, speak to mother this morning. Make up with her, apologize, speak to her!

Tom:

She won‘t to me. It‘s her that started not speaking.

Laura:

If you just say you‘re sorry she‘ll start speaking.

Tom:

Her not speaking

—

is that such a tragedy?

Laura:

Please

—

please!

Amanda

[

calling from kitchenette

]:

Laura, are you going to do what I asked you to do, or do I have to get

dressed and go out myself?

Laura

Going, going

—

soon as I get on my coat! [

She pulls on a shapeless felt hat

with nervous, jerky

movement,

pleadingly

glancing

at

TOM.

Rushes

awkwardly

for

coat.

The

coat

is

one

of

AMANDA‘s,

inaccurately made-over, the sleeves too short for

LAURA.] Butter and what else?

Amanda

[

entering upstage

]:

Just butter. Tell them to charge it

.

Laura:

Mother, they make such faces when I do that.

Amanda:

Sticks and stones can

break our bones, but the expression on Mr Garfinkel‘s face won‘t harm

us! Tell your brother his coffee is getting cold.

Laura

[

at door

]:

Do what I asked you, will you, will you, Tom?

[

He looks sullenly away.

]

Amanda:

Laura, go now or just do

n‘t go at all!

Laura

[

rushing out

]:

Going

—

going! [

A second later she cries out.

TOM

springs up and crosses to door.

AMANDA

rushes anxiously in.

TOM

opens the door.

]

Tom:

Laura?

Laura:

I‘m all right. I slipped, but I‘m all right.

Amanda

[

peering

anxiously

after

her

]:

If

anyone

breaks

a

leg

on

those

fire-escape

steps,

the

landlord

ought to be sued for every cent he possesses! [

She shuts door. Remembers she i

sn’t speaking and returns to

other room.

]

[

As

TOM

enters listlessly for his coffee, she turns her back to him and stands rigidly facing the window

on the gloomy grey vault of the areaway. Its light on her face with its aged but childish features is cruelly

sharp, satirical as a Daumier

1

print.

MUSIC UNDER: ?A

V

E MARIE‘.

TOM

glances

sheepishly

but

sullenly

at

her

averted

figure

and

slumps

at

the

table.

The

coffee

is

1

Daumier:

法国著名讽刺画家，石版画家，全名

Honore Daumier (1808

—

1879).

scalding

hot;

he

sips

it

and

gasps

and

spits

it

back

in

the

cup.

At

his

gasp,

AMANDA

catches

her

breath and half turns. Then catches herself and turns back to window.

TOM

blows on his coffee, glancing sidewise at his mother. She clears her throat.

TOM

clears his. He

starts to rise. Sinks back down again, scratches his head, clears his throat again.

AMANDA

coughs.

TOM

raises his cup in both hands to blow on it, his eyes staring over the rim of it at his mother for

several moments. Then he slowly sets the cup down and awkwardly and hesitantly rises from the chair.

]

Tom

[

h oarsely

]:

Mother. I

—

I apologize, Mother. [AMANDA

draws a quick, shuddering breath. Her face

works grotesquely. She breaks into childlike tears.

]

I‘m sorry for what I said, for everything that I said; I

didn‘t mean it.

Amanda

[

sobbingly

]:

My devotion has made me a witch and so I make myself hateful to my children!

Tom:

No,

you

don’t.

Amanda:

I worry so much, don‘t sleep, it makes

me nervous!

Tom

[

gently

]:

I understand that.

Amanda:

I‘ve had to put up a solitary battle all these years. But you‘re my

right-hand

bower! Don‘t fall

down, don‘t fa

ll!

Tom

< /p>

[

gently

]:

I try, Mother.

Amanda

[

with great enthusiasm

]:

Try and you will SUCCEED! [

The notion makes her breathless.

]

Why,

you

—

you‘re just

full

of natural endowments! Both of my children

—

they‘re

unusual

children! Don‘t you

think I know it? I‘m so

—

proud!

Happy and

—

feel I‘ve

—

so much to be thankful for but

—

Promise me

one thing. Son!

Tom:

What, Mother?

Amanda:

Promise, Son, you‘ll

—

never be a drunkard!

Tom

[

turns to her grinning

]:

I will never be a drunkard, Mother.

Amanda:

That‘s what frightened me so, that you‘d be drinking! Eat a bowl of Purina!

1

Tom:

Just coffee, Mother.

Amanda:

Shredded wheat biscuit?

Tom:

No. No, Mother, just coffee.

Amanda:

You can‘t put in a day‘s work on an empty stomach. You‘ve got ten minutes

—

don‘t gulp!

Drinking too-hot liquids makes cancer of the stomach.... Put cream in.

Tom:

No, thank you.

Amanda:

To cool it.

Tom:

No! No, thank you, I want it black.

Amanda:

I know, but it‘s not good for you. We have to do all that we can to build our

selves up. In these

trying times we live in, all that we have to cling to is

—

each othe

r.... That‘s why it‘s so important to

—

Tom, I

—

I sent out your sister so I could discuss something with you. If

you hadn‘t spoken I would have spoken to

you. [

Sits down.

]

Tom

[

g ently

]:

What is it, Mother, that you want to discuss?

Amanda:

Laura!

[TOM

puts his cup down slowly.

LEGEND ON SCREEN: ?LAURA‘.

1

Purina:

一种玉米片的牌子。

MUSIC: ?THE GLASS MENAGERIE‘.]

Tom:

—

Oh.

—

Laura...

Amanda

[

touching his sleeve

]:

You know how Laura is. So quiet but

—

still water runs deep! She notices

things and I think she

—

broods about them. [TOM

looks up.

] A few days ago I came in and she was crying.

Tom:

What about?

Amanda:

You.

Tom:

Me?

Amanda:

She has an idea that you‘re not happy here.

Tom:

What gave her that idea?

Amanda:

What

gives

her

any

idea? However,

you

do

act

strangely.

I

—

I‘m

not

criticizing,

understand

that!

I

know

your

ambitions

do

not

lie

in

the

warehouse,

that

like

everybody

in

the

whole

wide

world

—

you‘ve

had

to

—

make

sacrifices,

but

—< /p>

Tom

—

Tom

—

life

‘s

not

easy,

it

calls

for

—

Spartan

endurance

1

!

There‘s so many things in

my heart

that

I cannot describe to

you!

I‘ve never told

you but

I

—

loved

your

father....

Tom

[

g ently

]:

I know that, Mother.

Amanda:

And you

—

when I see you taking after his ways! Staying out late

—

and

—

well , you had been

drinking the night you were in that

—

terrifying condition! Laura says that you hate the apartment and that

you go out nights to get away from it! Is that true, Tom?

Tom:

No. You say there‘s so much in your heart that you can‘t describe to me. That‘s true of me, too.

There‘s so much in my heart that I can‘t describe to

you

! So let‘s respect each other‘s

—

Amanda:

But, why

—

why,

Tom

—

are you always so

restless?

Where do you go to, nights?

Tom:

I

—

go to the movies.

Amanda:

Why do you go to the movies so much, Tom?

Tom:

I go to the movies because

—

I like adventure. Adventure is something I don‘t have much of at work,

so I go to the movies.

Amanda:

But, Tom, you go to the movies

entirely

too

much!

Tom:

I like a lot of adventure.

[AMANDA

looks baffled, then hurt. As the familiar inquisition resumes he becomes hard and impatient

again.

AMANDA

slips back into her querulous attitude towards him.

IMAGE ON SCREEN: SAILING VESSEL WITH JOLLY ROGER.

2

]

Amanda:

Most young men find adventure in their careers.

Tom:

Then most young men are not employed in a warehouse.

Amanda:

The world is full of young men employed in warehouses and offices and factories.

Tom:

Do all of them find adventure in their careers?

Amanda:

They do or they do without it! Not everybody has a craze for adventure.

Tom:

Man is by instinct a lover, a hunter, a fighter, and none of those instincts are given much play at the

warehouse!

1

Spartan endurance:

斯巴达人的忍耐精神。

Sparta,

公元前六世纪古希腊的一个较为强盛的城邦。

斯巴达人以刚强善 战

著称。

2

Jolly Roger:

海盗船的旗帜，黑底，饰以白色骷髅。

Amanda:

Man is by instinct! Don‘t quote instinct to me! Instinct is somethin

g that people have got away

from! It belongs to animals! Christian adults don‘t want it!

Tom:

What do Christian adults want, then, Mother?

Amanda:

Superior

things!

Things

of

the

mind

and

the

spirit!

Only

animals

have

to

satisfy

instincts!

Surely your aims are somewhat higher than theirs! Than monkeys

—

pi gs

—

Tom:

I reckon they‘re not.

Amanda:

You‘re joking. However, that isn‘t what I wanted to discuss.

Tom

[

rising

]:

I

haven‘t much time.

Amanda

[

pushing his shoulders

]:

Sit down.

Tom:

You want me to punch in red

1

at the warehouse, Mother?

Amanda:

You have five minutes. I want to talk about Laura.

[LEGEND: ?PLANS AND PROVISIONS‘.]

Tom:

All right! What about Laura?

Amanda:

We have to be making some plans and provisi

ons for her. She‘s older than you

, two years, and

nothing has happened. She just drifts along doing nothing. It frightens me terribly how she just drifts along.

Tom:

I guess she‘s the type that people call home

girls.

Amanda:

There‘s no such type, and if there is, it‘s a pity! That is unless the home is

hers, with a husband!

Tom:

What?

Amanda:

Oh, I can see the handwriting on the wall as plain as I see the nose in front of my face! It‘s

terrifying! More and more you remind me of your father! He was out all hours without explanation! Then

left! Good- bye!

And me with the bag to hold. I saw that letter you got from the Merchant Marine.

2

I know

what you‘re dreaming of. I‘m not standing here blindfolded.

Very well, then. Then

do

it! But not till there‘s somebody to take your place.

Tom:

What do you mean?

Amanda:

I mean that as soon as Laura has got somebody to take care of her, married, a home of her own,

independent

—

why, then you‘ll be free to go wherever you pleas

e, on land, on sea, whichever way the wind

blows you!

But until that time you‘ve got to look out for your sister. I don‘t say me because I‘m old and don‘t matter!

I say for your sister because she‘s young and dependent.

I put her in business college

—

a dismal failure! Frightened her so it made her sick at the stomach.

I

took

her

over

to

the

Young

People‘s

League

3

at

the

church.

Another

fiasco.

She

spoke

to

nobody,

nobody spoke to her. Now all she does is fool with those pieces of glass and play those worn-out records.

What kind of a life is that for a girl to lead?

Tom:

What can I do about it?

Amanda:

Overcome selfishness!

Self, self, self is all that you ever think of!

1

2

punch in red:

迟到。

punch in/out:

（公司中用专门机器）对职员作上（下）班登记。用红色符号表示迟到（早退）。

the Merchant Marine:

指美国商船公司。

3

Young

People‘s

League:

类

似

于

Young

Man

‘

s

Christian

Association

(YMCA)

与

Young

Woman‘s

Christian

Association(YWCA)

的组织。

[TOM

springs up and crosses to get his coat. It is ugly and bulky. He pulls on a cap with earmuffs.

]

Where is your muffler? Put your wool muffler on! [

He snatches it angrily from the closet and tosses it

around his neck and pulls both ends tight.

]

Tom! I haven‘t said what I had in mind to ask you.

Tom:

I‘m too late to

—

Amanda

[

catching his arm

—

very importunately. Then shyly

]:

Down at the warehouse,

aren‘t there some

—

nice young men?

Tom:

No!

Amanda:

There

must

be

—

some…

Tom:

Mother

—

[

Gesture.

]

Amanda:

Find out one that‘s clean

-living

—

doesn‘t drink and

—

ask him out for sister!

Tom:

What?

Amanda:

For

sister!

To

meet!

Get

acquainted!

Tom

[

stamping to door

]: Oh, my

go

—

osh!

Amanda:

Will you? [

He opens door. Imploringly.

]

Will you? [

He starts down.

] Will you? Will you, dear?

Tom

[

calling back

]:YES!

[AMANDA

closes the door hesitantly and with a troubled but faintly hopeful expression.

SCREEN IMAGE: GLAMOUR MAGAZINE COVER.

Spot

AMANDA

at phone.

]

Amanda:

Ella

Cartwright?

This

is

Amanda

Winglield!

How

are

you,

honey?

How

is

that

kidney

condition? [

Count five.

]

Horrors!

[C

ount five.

] You‘re a

Christian

martyr, yes, honey, that‘s what you are, a

Christian

martyr!

Well,

I

just

now

happened

to

notice

in

my

little

red

book

that

your

subscription

to

the

Companion

has just run out! I knew that you wouldn‘t want to miss out on the wonderful serial sta

rting in

this issue. It‘s by Bessie Mae Hopper, the first thing she‘s written since

Honeymoon for three.

Wasn‘t that a

strange

and

interesting

story?

Well,

this

one

is

even

lovelier,

I

believe.

It

has

a

sophisticated,

society

background. It‘s all about the

horsey set on Long Island!

FADE OUT

Scene V

LEGEND ON SCREEN: ?ANNUNCIATION‘

1

.

Fade with music.

[

It is early dusk on a spring evening. Supper has just been finished in the Wingfield apartment.

AMANDA

and

LAURA

in light-coloured dresses are removing dishes from the table, in the upstage

area, which is shadowy, their movements formalized almost as a dance or ritual, their moving forms as

1

Annunciation:

即

announciation.

A nnunciation

一般用来指天使告知圣母玛丽亚怀了耶稣基督。作者用这个典故 来暗示

Tom

告诉母亲

Laura

将有一个“求婚者”。

pale and silent as moths.

TOM,

in white shirt and trousers, rises from the table and crosses toward the fire-escape.

]

Amanda

[

as he passes her

]:

Son, will you do me a favour?

Tom:

What?

Amanda:

Comb your hair! You look so pretty when your hair is combed! [TOM

slouches on sofa with

evening paper. Enormous caption ‘Franco Triumphs’

]

There is only one respect in which I

would like you

to emulate your father.

Tom:

What respect is that?

Amanda:

The

care

he

always

took

of

his

appearance.

He

never

allowed

himself

to

look

untidy.

[

He

throws down the paper and crosses to fire-escape.

]

Where are you going?

Tom:

I‘m going out to sm

oke.

Amanda:

You smoke too much. A pack a day at fifteen cents a pack. How much would that amount to in

a month? Thirty times fifteen is how much, Tom? Figure it out and you will be astounded at what you could

save.

Enough

to

give

you

a

night-school

course

in

accounting

at

Washington

U

1

!

Just

think

what

a

wonderful thing that would be for you, Son!

[TOM

is unmoved by the thought.

]

Tom:

I‘d rather smoke. [

He steps out on the landing, letting the screen door slam.

]

Amanda

[

sharply

]:

I know! That‘s the trag

edy of it.... [

Alone, she turns to look at her husband’s picture.

]

[DANCE MUSIC: ?ALL THE WORLD IS WAITING FOR THE SUNRISE!‘]

Tom

[

to

the audience

]:

Across the alley from us was the Paradise Dance Hall. On evenings in spring the

windows and doors were open and the music came outdoors. Sometimes the lights were turned out except

for large glass sphere that hung from the ceiling. It would turn slowly about and filter the dusk with delicate

rainbow

colours.

Then

the

orchestra

played

a

waltz

or

a

tango,

something

that

had

a

slow

and

sensuous

rhythm. Couples would come outside, to the relative privacy of the alley. You could see them kissing behind

ash-pits and telegraph poles.

This was the compensation for lives that passed like mine, without any change or adventure.

Adventure and change were imminent in this year. They were waiting around the corner for all these kids.

Suspended in the mist over Berchtesgaden, caught in the folds of Chamberlain‘s umbrella

2

—

In Spain there was Guernica!

But here there was only hot swing music and liquor, dance halls, and movies, and sex that hung in the

gloom like a chandelier and flooded the world with brief, deceptive rainbows....

All the world was waiting for bombardments!

[AMANDA

turns from the picture and comes outside.

]

1

2

Washington U:

指位于

St. Louis

市的

Washington University.

Berchtesgaden:

德国西南部一个风景秀丽的小镇，曾为希特勒别墅的所在地。

C hamberlain

（

Arthur Neville

Chamberlain 1869

－

1980

）：张伯伦于

1937

年任英 国首相，

1940

年辞职。他在第二次世界大战中推行绥靖政策 ，于

1938

年与德国签定《慕尼黑条约》。

< br>Tom

说此句话时可能在《慕尼黑条约》签定之前，故有

in the mist over Berchtesgaden, in

the fo

lds of Chamberlain‘s umbrella

之说。

umbrella:

是英国绅士常带在身边的物品。

Amanda

[

sighing

]:

A fire-

escape landing‘s a poor excuse for a porch. [

She spreads a news paper on a

step and sits down gracefully and demurely as if she were settling into a swing on a Mississippi veranda.

]

What are you looking at?

Tom:

The moon.

Amanda:

Is there a moon this evening?

Tom:

It‘s rising over Garfinkel‘s Delicatessen

1

.

Amanda:

So it is! A little silver slipper of a moon. Have you made a wish on it yet?

Tom:

Um-hum.

Amanda:

What did you wish for?

Tom:

That‘s secret.

Amanda:

A secret, huh? Well

, I won‘t tell mine either. I will be just as mysterious as you.

Tom:

I bet I can guess what yours is.

Amanda:

Is my head so transparent?

Tom:

You‘re not a sphinx.

Amanda:

No, I don‘t have secrets.

I

‘

ll tell you what I wished for on the moon. Success and happiness for

my precious children! I wish for that whenever there‘s a moon, and when there isn‘t a moon, I wish for it,

too.

Tom:

I thought perhaps you wished for a gentleman caller.

Amanda:

Why do you say that?

Tom:

Don‘t you remember asking me to fetch o

ne?

Amanda:

I

remember

suggesting

that

it

would

be

nice

for

your

sister

if

you

brought

home

some

nice

young man from the warehouse. I think that I‘ve made that suggestion more than once.

Tom:

Yes, you have made it repeatedly.

Amanda:

Well?

Tom:

We are going to have one.

Amanda:

What?

Tom:

A gentleman caller!

[THE ANNUNCIATION IS CELEBRATED WITH MUSIC. AMANDA

rises

.

IMAGE ON SCREEN: CALLER WITH BOUQUET.]

Amanda:

You mean you have asked some nice young man to come over?

Tom:

Yep. I‘ve asked him to dinner.

Amanda:

You really did?

Tom:

I did!

Amanda:

You did, and did he

—

accept?

Tom:

He did!

Amanda:

Well, well

—

well, well! That‘s

—

lovely!

Tom:

I thought that you would be pleased.

Amanda:

It‘s definite, then?

Tom:

Very definite.

1

Garfinkel

‘s Delicatessen

:

加芬凯尔熟食店。

Amanda:

Soon?

Tom:

Very soon.

Amanda:

For heaven‘s sake, stop putting on and tell me some things, will you?

Tom:

What things do you want me to tell you?

Amanda:

Naturally

I would like to know when he‘s

coming!

Tom:

He‘s coming tomorrow.

Amanda:

Tomorrow?

Tom:

Yep. Tomorrow.

Amanda:

But, Tom!

Tom:

Yes, Mother?

Amanda:

Tomorrow gives me no time!

Tom:

Time for what?

Amanda:

Preparations! Why didn‘t you phone me at once, as soon as you asked him, the

minute that he

accepted? Then, don‘t you see, 1 could have been getting ready

!

Tom:

You do

n‘t have to make any fuss.

Amanda:

Oh,

Tom,

Tom,

Tom,

of

course

I

have

to

make

a

fuss!

I

want

things

nice,

not

sloppy!

Not

thrown together. I‘ll certainly have to do some fast

t

hinking, won‘t I?

Tom:

I don‘t see why you have to think at all.

Amanda:

You j

ust don‘t know. We can‘t have a gentleman caller

in a pigsty! All my wedding silver has

to be polished, the monogrammed table linen ought to be laundered! The windows have to be washed and

fresh curtains put up. And how about clothes? We have to

wear

some

thing, don‘t we?

Tom:

Mother, this boy is no one to make a fuss over!

Amanda:

Do you realize he‘s the first young man we‘ve introduced to your sister?

It‘s terrible, dreadful, disgraceful that poor little sister has never received a single gent

leman caller! Tom,

come inside! [

She opens the screen door.

]

Tom:

What for?

Amanda:

I want to ask you some things.

Tom:

If you‘re going to make such a fuss, I‘ll call it off, I‘ll tell him not to come!

Amanda:

You

certainly

won‘t

do

anything

of

the

kind.

Nothing

off

ends

people

worse

than

broken

engagements.

It

simply

means

I‘ll

have

to

work

like

a

Turk

1

!

We

won‘t

be

brilliant,

but

we

will

pass

inspection. Come on inside. [TOM

follows, groaning.

]

Sit down.

Tom:

Any particular place you would like me to sit?

Amanda:

Th

ank heavens I‘ve got that new sofa! I‘m also making payments on a fl

o

or lamp I‘ll have sent

out!

And

put

the

chintz

covers

on,

they‘ll

brighten

things

up!

Of

course

I‘d

hoped

to

have

these

walls

re-p

apered.... What is the young man‘s name?

Tom:

His name is

O‘Connor.

Amanda:

That, of course, means fish

—

tomorrow is Friday! I‘ll have that salmon loaf —with Durkee‘s

dressing

2

! What does he do? He works at the warehouse?

Tom:

Of course! How else would I

—

Amanda:

Tom, he

—

doesn‘t drink?

Tom:

Why do you ask me that?

1

2

I‘ll have to work like a Turk:

我可得好好地干一干了（指整理房间）。

Turk:

土耳其人以强悍能干著称。

Durkee‘s D

ressing:

一种调料名称。

Amanda:

Your father

did!

Tom:

Don‘t get started on that!

Amanda:

He

does

drink, then?

Tom:

Not that I know of!

Amanda:

Make sure, be certain! The last thing I want fo

r my daughter‘s a boy who drinks!

Tom:

Aren‘t you being a little bit premature? Mr

O‘Connor has not yet appeared on the scene!

Amanda:

But will tomorrow. To meet your sister, and what do I know about his character? Nothing! Old

maids are better off than wives of drunkards!

Tom:

Oh, my God!

Amanda:

Be still!

Tom

[

leaning forward to whisper

]:

Lots of fellows meet girls whom they don‘t marry!

Amanda:

Oh, talk sensibly, Tom

—

and don‘t be sarcastic!

[

She has gotten a hairbrush.

]

Tom:

What are you doing?

Amanda:

I‘m brushing that cow

-lick

1

down!

What is this young man‘s position at the wareh

ouse?

Tom

[

submitting

grimly

to

the

brush

and

the

interrogation

]:

This

young

man

‘s

position

is

that

of

a

shipping clerk, Mother.

Amanda:

Sounds to me like a fairly responsible job, the sort of a job you would be in if you just had

more

get-up.

What is his salary? Have you any idea?

Tom:

I would judge it to be approximately eighty-five dollars a month.

Amanda:

Well

—

not princely, but

—

Tom:

Twenty more than I make.

Amanda:

Yes, how well I know! But for a family man, eighty-five dollars a month is not much more than

you

can just get by on…

.

Tom:

Yes, but Mr O

‘Connor is not a family man.

Amanda:

He might be, mightn‘t he? Some time in the future?

Tom:

I see. Plans and provisions.

Amanda:

You are the only young man that I know of who ignores the fact that the future becomes the

present, the present the past, and the past turns into everlasting regret if you don‘t plan for it!

Tom:

I will think that over and see what I can make of it.

Amanda:

Don‘t be supercilious with your mother! Tell me some more about this

—

what do you call him?

Tom:

James D. O‘Connor. The D. is for Delaney.

Amanda:

Irish on

both

sides!

Gracious!

And doesn‘t drink?

Tom:

Shall I call him up and ask him right this minute?

Amanda:

The only way to find out about those things is to make discreet inquiries at the proper moment.

When I was a girl in Blue Mountain and it was suspected that a young man drank, the girl whose attentions

he had been receiving, if any girl

was,

would sometimes speak to the minister of his church, or rather her

father would if her father was living, and sort of feel him out on

the young man‘s character. That is the way

1

cow-lick:

（美俚）一绺梳不平的乱发。