The Glass Menagerie: Scenes 3–4

by Tennessee Williams
Amanda Wingfield clings to her memories of her youth while living with her two children, Laura and Tom. When Tom brings a friend home for dinner, the family's precarious balance is disrupted.

Here are links to our lists for the play: Scenes 1–2, Scenes 3–4, Scenes 5–6, Scene 7
15 words 1376 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. archetype
    something that serves as a model
    Like some archetype of the universal unconscious, the image of the gentleman caller haunted our small apartment.
  2. specter
    a mental representation of some haunting experience
    An evening at home rarely passed without some allusion to this image, this specter, this hope.
  3. preoccupied
    having excessive or compulsive concern with something
    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!
  4. confiscate
    take temporary possession of a security by legal authority
    TOM: Yesterday you confiscated my books!
  5. turgid
    ostentatiously lofty in style
    The dining-room area is lit with a turgid smoky red glow.
  6. disarray
    untidiness, especially of clothing and appearance
    The upright typewriter now stands on the drop-leaf table, along with a wild disarray of manuscripts.
  7. precipitate
    bring about abruptly
    The quarrel was probably precipitated by Amanda’s interruption of Tom’s creative labor.
  8. insolence
    the trait of being rude and impertinent
    AMANDA: You’re going to listen, and no more insolence from you!
  9. jeopardize
    put at risk
    AMANDA: What right have you got to jeopardize your job?
  10. avert
    turn away or aside
    Laura clings weakly to the mantel with her face averted.
  11. spasm
    a painful and involuntary muscular contraction
    After each solemn boom of the bell in the tower, he shakes a little noisemaker or rattle as if to express the tiny spasm of man in contrast to the sustained power and dignity of the Almighty.
  12. motley
    consisting of a haphazard assortment of different kinds
    Tom fishes in his pockets for his door key, removing a motley assortment of articles in the search, including a shower of movie ticket stubs and an empty bottle.
  13. satirical
    exposing human folly to ridicule
    Its light on her face with its aged but childish features is cruelly sharp, satirical as a Daumier print.
  14. endowment
    natural abilities or qualities
    Why, you—you’re just full of natural endowments!
  15. querulous
    habitually complaining
    Amanda slips back into her querulous attitude toward him.
Created on Wed May 15 19:58:22 EDT 2013 (updated Fri Aug 01 15:12:35 EDT 2025)

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