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Glass Unicorn
Jim calls Laura “Blue Roses,” a mispronunciation of “pleurosis,” a disease that caused Laura to miss some school during high school. The name “Blue Roses” turns Laura’s defect into an asset: her unusual, otherworldly qualities are seen as special rather than debilitating. Laura is closely based on Tennessee Williams’s sister, Rose, who underwent a lobotomy while Williams was writing the play, and the nickname is also likely in tribute to her.
Blue Roses Quotes in The Glass Menagerie
The The Glass Menagerie quotes below all refer to the symbol of Blue Roses. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Scene 7 Quotes
They’re common as—weeds, but—you—well, you’re—Blue Roses!
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After he dances with Laura and breaks the unicorn, Jim suddenly takes much closer notice of Laura. He has been kind to her throughout the scene, but now, he sees her as not only a sweet but lonely woman, but as a pretty ingénue, someone who could possibly be the object of his affections. “Blue Roses,” once a lighthearted childhood nickname, is now presented to Laura as though it were a rare bouquet. Jim moves from polite interaction to what appears to be genuinely emotional courting.The stage direction notes that the music changes as soon as Jim calls Laura “Blue Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. U
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Blue Roses Symbol Timeline in The Glass Menagerie
The timeline below shows where the symbol Blue Roses appears in The Glass Menagerie. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Scene 2
An image of blue roses appears on the screen. Laura sits in the apartment, polishing her menagerie of glass figures....
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...of school for a while because she had pleurosis, but he misheard the word as “Blue Roses,” which became his nickname for her. Amanda declares that Laura will marry some nice man....
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Scene 7
...knew each other in high school. At first, Jim doesn’t remember, but when Laura mentions “Blue Roses,” he springs up with a vivid flash of recollection. They recall their chorus class together....
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Jim tells Laura that she is as uncommon as blue roses and says that someone ought to kiss her. He turns her toward him and kisses...
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