SOURCE: Greiff, Louis K. “Fathers, Daughters, and Spiritual Sisters: Marsha Norman's 'night, Mother and Tennessee Williams's The Glass Menagerie.” Text and Performance Quarterly 9, no. 3 (July 1989): 224-28.

In the following essay, Greiff compares Jessie Cates in 'night, Mother with Laura Wingfield in Tennessee Williams's Glass Menagerie, noting the effect of mother-daughter relationships on both characters.

As dramatic characters, Marsha Norman's Jessie Cates and Tennessee Williams's Laura Wingfield might seem unconnected, or even incompatible, yet they are sisters in disguise. A clue to the relationship presents itself in the similar circumstances of their lives. Both women are grown daughters who have returned to their mothers' homes, or who have never left, because of a significant physical handicap. Both have mothers, in Thelma Cates and Amanda Wingfield, all too alike in their capacity for manipulative love, compassionate dishonesty, and a stroke of matchmaking when all else fails. Despite the matchmaking, both...