NARRATOR AND POINT OF VIEWThe Glass Menagerie is a play with two distinct levels of action.
The style of the inner play concerning the family tensions between Amanda, Laura and Tom is domestic realism. But Williams filters this inner core of action through the memory of Tom who addresses the audience directly at the beginning and end, thus "framing" the play. Narrators -- actors who interpret the action --- may seem strange to modern audiences, but this device was commonplace in classical Greek theater. Greek playwrights employed a CHORUS -- actors who would not take part in the action but who stood on the edges of the acting space and addressed the audience directly between scenes. This device survives in contemporary church services. A CHOIR is a Chorus because what is sung is a comment on the religious service for that particular day. Many scholars believe that the theater of ancient Greece derived from religious ceremonies where gropups of individuals along with a priest performed an "action" vital to the spiritual life of the community, exactly what a present day religious service is all about.
A CHORUS provides another point of view on the action. The audience usually sees the action through the hero's point of view. Willie Loman and Hamlet shape their stories for us. But if playwrights want to insure that one particular interpretation is at least given a fair hearing, they can provide a Chorus or a narrator.
How different Hamlet would be with a narrator! In Menagerie consider the effect that Tom as narrator has on the action. In what ways does he influence what we think and feel about his family? How would the play be different without his point of view -- if the play were presented straightfowardly as in Raisin or Master Harold?