The play is introduced to the audience by Tom, the narrator and protagonist, it is a memory play based on his recollection of his mother Amanda and his sister Laura. The play is set in the 1940s in St Louis, USA. Amanda, the mother, is a faded southern belle of middle age and shares the apartment with her son and daughter. Amanda yearns for the comforts and admiration she remembers from her days as a feted debutante. She worries about the future if her daughter, with a limp caused by Polio. She teases Tom to find a suitable suitor for his sister Laura.