Waylaid on the Road to Riches

A Gentleman Caller

Brownie points to all you Tennessee Williams fans if you caught this reference. The "gentleman caller" is a central figure in Williams' The Glass Menagerie. In this 'memory play,' the main character, Tom, recalls his pathetic family life with his mother and sister before he broke loose and ran away to join the Navy. Everything is very gauzy, hazy and remembered in half-light. Oh, and blown glass animals figure prominently. As well as crushed girlhood dreams and flower-like innocence. All that good stuff.

Anyway, Tom's mother clings to her memories of her distant youth as the belle o' the ball, who hosted a steady stream of 'gentleman callers' into her parlor. Unfortunately for her, she married one of those callers, who later deserts her and their two children. Charming.

Throughout the play, she tries to encourage her painfully shy daughter to put herself forward more aggressively by promising her own steady stream of 'gentleman callers.' I guess it's sad that her 'gentleman caller' ends up to be not much of one, but I rather think she's better off without him.