Hot Tin Roof

“There ain’t nothing more powerful than the odour of Mendacity”(Williams, 77) Mendacity is used effectively throughout the play Cat On A Hot Tin Roof. We witness how it tortures most of the characters in the play and its negative effect overall on the Pollitt family who as we can see suffers from the lack of association with each other. Mendacity acts as a vital part of every character’s life, it is also the turning point of the whole play which ends up causing disaster and for some happiness.

Dysfunction and volatility is common amongst families. These families dislike their kin and often resent them. In the play, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, by Tennessee Williams, the Politt family does not function as a normal family. Brick, Maggie, and Big Daddy are three members of the family that have the most problems that affect the whole family.

In the play, A Streetcar Named Desire, by Tennessee Williams, the representation of male and female characters are based on gender stereotypes, which represent a patriarchal society. The way in which Tennessee Williams portrays the main characters: Blanche, Stanley and Stella, by using gender stereotypes demonstrates the patriarchal society`s value, norms and beliefs of the 1940s.

The characters of A Streetcar Named Desire and The Glass Menagerie are bound to their own hold on illusions as a means of coping. In A Streetcar Named Desire, the character of Blanche exemplifies the hold of illusion when she says, “I don 't want realism. I want magic!” Blanche exemplifies the idea of delusion as a means of coping. In The Glass Menagerie, the character Tom Wingfield sets the tone of the play with his opening monologue in which he says, “I give you truth in the

Established as one of the most prolific playwrights of the 20th century, Tennessee Williams used his writing as a form of therapy. The author came from a troubled background consisting of alcoholism, mental breakdowns, and general unhappiness; Williams exploited these unfortunate events and allowed them to motivate his literature. In A Streetcar Named Desire, Blanche DuBois’ struggles represent the reality of people’s lives, “an enduring concern of [Williams’] throughout his writing career (Henthorne 1). Blanche captures our focus with her seemingly sincere and fragile nature, but it is later revealed that this is just an illusion within her own mind. She resides in a world of fantasy to shield herself against the harsh threats of reality and her own fears. Blanche’s main objective in the play is to keep herself from falling apart in a world of cruelty through alcoholism and illusion. Through the characterization of Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire, Tennessee Williams depicts the coping mechanism of fantasy and its detrimental repercussions by exploring the specific experiences that eventually impede her happiness.

In his plays, A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams uses different ways to show in the play of social realism. It show each of individual character and focusing on how particular way of viewpoint contrast with men, and the perspective of looking at women. The play explores struggle of two character Stanley and Blanche, between appearances and reality which made the play’s plot more affected reality. Throughout this play, it show the symbolize of the gender roles and the power of men over women in the 1940’s in New Orleans.

The 1920s was the beginning of a decade of change in the American arts. Jazz, along with such inventions as the phonograph, radio and sound movies, transformed the music industry. By the end of the decade, 40% of all Americans had radios in their homes. Not surprisingly, 58% of households in New York City owned a radio. New York became the center of the music world, and at the center of New York was a small area called Tin Pan Alley. Radios initially provided the young century's second uppercut to the music publishing business of Tin Pan Alley. Burton Lane was part of a well-known Cape Town-based duo, who delivered a powerful, emotive and distinctive blend of acoustic rock stated, "Tin Pan Alley was a real alley on East

If there is any signature kind of character that marks Tennessee Williams’s plays, it is without a doubt the faded Southern belle. The Glass Menagerie’s Amanda Wingfield, the mother of Laura and Tom, is a perfect representative of this type, not unlike Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire, also by Williams. A proud and effervescent woman, Amanda passionately holds on to memories of a happier time, of days long gone by. Generally, a faded belle in a Tennessee Williams play is from a wealthy Southern family, raised by parents with traditional beliefs, and has suffered an economic or social, or both, downturn of fortune at some point in her life. Like Amanda, these women all have difficulty accepting a status in society different than what they are used to, as

Williams’s play is a tragedy, and one of quietude. He once expressed that “Glass Menagerie is my first quiet play, and perhaps my last.” It is a play of profound sadness, and through relationships between characters, portrays the “cries of the heart.” There is no cry more powerful that the cry and inner desperation of the heart. Williams’s has very little social context, but rather focuses on the conflicts within a domestic family. Such a focus is powerful, and the playwright expresses this power and importance implicitly through the estranged relationship between Amanda and Tom Wingfield.

In Tennessee Williams’ play A Streetcar Named Desire, Blanche DuBois is thrust into a series of unfortunate events and undergoes drastic changes in an effort to come to terms with her completely changed life. Through these events, Blanche happens to be the only remaining individual left to take care of the once valuable and prestigious family belongings, and her psychological mind spirals out of control in her attempts to restore the family’s honor. In addition to experiencing loneliness and feeling isolation from humans, Blanche faced many new challenges in stressful situations, which contributed to her poor decision making skills and inevitable negative outcomes in most of those situations. Through the characterization of Blanche DuBois, Williams’ intends to display the power of significant experiences in one’s life, which serves as a warning of how the effects of significant experiences on individuals should not be underestimated. Unfortunately, in Blanche’s case, abandonment by her sister was the perfect example of an individual underestimating the result of their actions, as this action was the initiation point of the events that would eventually lead to her unfortunate fate. Specifically, Williams’ focuses on portraying the disastrous effects of human isolation, which is often the result of an individual’s mindless actions. Human isolation plays an important role in the outcome of the play, as Blanche is known to have been abandoned at a young age, and her

“A Streetcar Named Desire” is not only considered to be the best play written by Tennessee Williams but is also arguably one the greatest plays ever written. The play has a very Shakespearean sensibility with a southern twist while also having an original complexity woven throughout the entire body that became unique as William’s signature artistry. The most important attributes of the play is the construction and motivation of the characters, the juxtaposition of illusion and reality, as well as the relationship between the dialogue and stage directions. The play’s characters are ultimately defined and driven by their gender identity and sexuality, hence the title “A Streetcar Named Desire”. This is evident in the number of

"A Streetcar Named Desire" is one of the most renowned 20th century American plays and films. The playwright is Tennessee Williams, a respected author whose works artistic and structural merit warrants their study into the 21st century. There are numerous aspects and points Williams makes with his works, including "A Streetcar Named Desire." Out of the richness this text offers, this paper will focus upon issues of mental illness and abuse in the play. No doubt an aspect that makes Williams' characters so vivid are their flaws, weaknesses, and desires. Where a person's character lacks weakness and what a person desires reveal a great deal about that person and provide insight into the choices they make. The paper will discuss aspects of abuse and mental instability in the characters and plot of "A Streetcar Named Desire," and will reference the play directly to underscore any points.

Throughout Tennessee Williams’s play, “A Streetcar Named Desire” one can learn a large portion about his personal life. In the play the character, Blanche has a mental illness the same as his sister Rose had in her lifetime. Blanche’s ex-husband was also homosexual and he made the point to say that he left her for a man and Williams himself was also a homosexual. Tennessee chose for the story to be based in New Orleans, which was a crumbling town at the time and Williams was living a crumbling life, due to he was battling depression. In his plays a reader can see that he has different views than most men of his time, he developed many of these views due to his travels throughout his life. ““Streetcar” tackled themes of desperation, sexual

The idea was that a woman would disregard her own desire and go to college to get a degree, or get married .There was pressure placed on women to devote their lives in doing this. Maggie, one of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof’s most interesting characters, uses her amusing personality in the story to cover up the true struggle she was facing in relation to maintaining this expectation. Referring to herself as the cat, Maggie is barely upholding her marriage to Brick, and her main goal is to preserve the relationship. Although Maggie tries to keep the marriage alive, whenever she declares her love for Brick, Brick responds by saying, “Wouldn’t it be funny if that were true”. Divorce rates were rising in the 1950s as the successful America economy. Women felt that they were able to get good jobs. Therefore, it was less of a big deal to them to leave their husbands because they would be able to support themselves. However, divorce was still heavily looked down upon, especially amongst the upper class. Maggie does not want her marriage to come to this point, but Brick refuses to show any emotion or compassion towards Maggie. Additionally, Maggie needs to hold onto Brick because he has rescued her from a poor life. However, Maggie knows that if she leaves him, she will not

When analyzing The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams and A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, common ground can be established between both works. This is because The Glass Menagerie and A Raisin in the Sun are two plays that highlight the significance of gender roles. They specifically make a point of the ways in which gender roles impacted individuals during the 1930s and 1950s. Society established gender roles to create a set of norms everyone should follow. These norms determine one’s behavior based on his or her true sex or the sex he or she associates with. However, issues arise when people feel pressured and forced to live up to society's expectations. In The Glass Menagerie and A Raisin in the Sun, the concept of gender roles ignites feeling of oppression and inferiority in not only women, but also men.