Ironically, in their final dialogue, Amanda accuses
Tom,
"You
don't know things anywhere! You live in a dream; you manufacture
illusions!"
This accusation
of Amanda is ironic because in her franctic preparations for the "gentleman caller's"
arrival, Amanda herself creates great illusions as she redecorates the tenement with a
new floor lamp that has a rose-silk shade that casts a romantic light upon the
apartment. Likewise a colored paper lantern conceals the broken light fixture in the
ceiling, and new gossamer white curtains billow gracefully at the window, suggesting a
much better view that what lies behind them. New chintz covers are on chairs and sofa,
upon which new pillows "make their initial appearance." But,
Amanda's greatest illusion is in her dressing of Laura, who is at her most beautiful
this night. Amanda tells her daughter to regard herself in the mirror: "This is the
prettiest you will ever be!"
Furthering the illusion--above
all her own illusion--Amanda resurrects the dress that she wore when she "led the
cotillion" in her youth, a "girlish frock of yellow voile with a blue silk sash." With
this frock, Amanda is dressed as though "the legend of her youth is nearly
revived." And, in the voice of days gone by, Amanda enters with
"Southern vivacity," chattering with charm and laughing
coquettishly. With her hair even in girlish ringlets, Amanda smiles "coyly, shaking her
curls." It is almost as though Amanda believes the "gentleman caller" has come for
her.
Finally, when Laura becomes ill from nervousness,
Amanda tries to mitigate the seriousness of Laura's condition and deceive Jim by
declaring,
"Standing over the hot stove made her ill!--I
told her that it was just too warm this evening,
but--"
Clearly, it is Amanda
who creates an illusionary settting for the gentleman caller in the hopes of deceiving
him enough that he will enjoy himself and like Laura enough to return. Amanda is not at
all honest; she recreates reality for Jim as well as for herself. It is Amanda more
than any of the other characters, who "manufactures illusions."
No comments:
Post a Comment