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The Glass Menagerie Family Quotes

How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Scene.Line). Every time a character talks counts as one line, even if what they say turns into a big long monologue.

Quote #16

[hoarsely]: "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."

[sobbingly]: "My devotion has made me a witch and so I make myself hateful to my children!" (4.32, Tom, Scene Four stage directions, 4.33, Amanda).

Amanda struggles with doing what she believes is best for her children.

Quote #17

[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…" (4.39, Amanda).

Amanda has a mother’s unconditional love for her children, so much so that she is unable to see anything wrong with her children.

Quote #18

"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." (4.47, Amanda).

Amanda, in her mothering, treats Tom as though he were a child.