Laura is mortified by Amanda's attempt to make her seem sexual and attractive because she is so shy. She had a crush on Jim when she was in high school but is convinced that no man can love her because of her physical disability. Laura, unlike Amanda, is not focused on the future and what she will do to make a living. When Jim tells her that he is engaged to be married, Laura's brief hopes for love and normalcy are shattered and she seems to withdraw from the world. Amanda is also shocked, but the event enables her to see Laura clearly -- after Jim leaves Amanda says that Laura is crippled for the first time in the play. But she is unable to understand her own role in Laura's tragedy and instead blames Tom for the evening and the fact that he did not know that Jim was...
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