In The Glass Menagerie, none of the characters are capable of living in the present. All of the characters retreat into their separate worlds to escape the brutalities of life. Laura, Amanda, Tom and Jim use various escape mechanisms to avoid reality. Laura retreats into a world of glass animals and old phonograph records. Even when it appears that Laura is finally overcoming her shyness and hypersensitivity with Jim, she instantly reverts back to playing the Victrola once he tells her he's engaged. She is unable to cope with the truth so she goes back to her fantasy world of records and glass figurines. Laura can only live a brief mome