Hot Tin Roof Relationships

In Tennessee Williams’ plays Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and A Streetcar Named Desire, several characters suffer by lying and by being unaware of reality. Both plays demonstrate and signify the themes of illusion vs. reality and mendacity through past trauma, alcohol abuse, and through strained family and marital relationships. In Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Brick is an example to all of these factors through his past with his friend skipper, his abuse of alcohol, and the lack of love he shows for his wife, while in A Streetcar Named Desire, Blanche encounters similar problems as Brick with her past trauma and her alcohol problem. The two plays share many similarities

Maggie feels terribly unloved in her marriage with Brick. Because of her unfulfilling marriage with Brick, she seeks affection and attention with someone close to Brick. In addition, when Mae interrupts Maggie and Brick from conversing by talking about her own children and how adorable they are, Maggie says, “why did y’give dawgs names to all your kiddies... sounds like four dogs and a parrot”(29). Maggie has a grudge Mae because she has many children with Gooper. Maggie feels insecure about having children, so she mocks Mae and her offspring to reassure herself and make her self feel better. Margaret has a dreadful relationship with Brick and also with Mae and her kids.

Throughout my critique for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof I will mention the many different elements that make up the play. Williams’ message about deceitfulness and family issues are portrayed through the characters, themes, and setting. Those are all factors in getting Tennessee Williams’ message across to the audience.

The striving for being rich and have a wealthy life has always been present in the American society. Often living in a capitalistic society leads people to become greedy, and as a result many become too materialistic. This may happen because of the challenge to pursue the American dream where most of Americans are trying to fulfill it. Unfortunately, for most of people it is very difficult to acquire this high status and to secure a spot in the upper-class society. Arthur Miller's, Death of a Salesman, and Lorraine Hansberry's, A Raisin the Sun, are two plays that reveal two main characters: Willy Loman and Walter Lee Young, characters that reflect typical features of the people who struggles to achieve the American Dream. Although they may have common characteristics and share similarities, they also have numerous issues and are very different, setting them apart from other families and even each other. Therefore, the main focus of this paper will be to compare and put in contrast these two great characters.

In the play, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Tennessee Williams mentions explores realism on a new dimension. He mentions controversial themes such as suicide, sex, marital issues, alcoholism, and greed. Although Williams experienced his fair share of drama in his lifetime, he is able to bring together many of the issues that many Americans were experiencing in their own homes. A critic once said, “His plays deal with a serious them- a them as in self-pity, the persistence of memory that holds people in its grip, and will not let them get on with their lives”. In this play, he specifically relates this self-pity and haunting memories to one of

Detroit Theatre Collective will mount a production of a classic play that examines corporate oppression, family dysfunction and the fading mirage of the American dream.  We will unearth the timely (and timeless) content of this work, such as economic 'folklore' of the lower classes and the lies that we tell ourselves in order to survive.

Terence Christian dela Paz Mrs. Bettendorf IB English – Period 1 14 October 2014 Cat on a Hot Tin Roof ICE Revision Conflict reveals people’s genuine thoughts and feelings. Whether they are good and reveal how valiant and tenacious one can be to fight for what he or she believes is right, or bad and revealing how evil inner demons can be. In Tennessee Williams’ play, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, conflict displays similar aspects. Lies and deceit run amok in the play, and conflict is the only antiseptic to its mendacity.

Tennessee Williams is one of the most influential dramatist and playwright in the history of American theatre and literature. From his works like A Streetcar Named Desire, to the works like Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Williams exemplified his own artistic and distinct style that still stands as the forefront of the classic American Theatre (Bloom, 2000). Born and raised in the South, the plays of Williams used the quirks and characters of the region. His plays portrayed his gift of beautiful language, and his boldness to explore the untapped themes such as sexuality, madness and addiction (Heintzelman & Smith Howard, 2005). The issues and themes that have been projected in his work are also the ones which he faced in his real life (Heintzelman & Smith Howard, 2005). The archetypes of Williams’s plays – emotionally absent fathers, domineering southern matriarchs, and child look women engulfed with madness, are themes which are taken from the life of his own family members (Heintzelman & Smith Howard, 2005). He was open about the fact that he was gay, and about his substance abuse

     Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams is a play about the experiences in society. Among these experiences is death, communication, and honesty amongst men. Big Daddy has everything he needs. Brick got everything he wanted as a child. Yet Big Daddy learns later from Brick that there wasn’t one worldly possession that could satisfy Brick’s yearning for love from his father. Brick understands that the world is so focused on money and physical possessions that he isolates himself from this world. He wanted one thing from the world and his father, love. That is why he doesn’t want the money, land, and blue chip stocks. He just wanted Big Daddy to love him.

In his works Glass Menagerie and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Tennessee Williams shows a depiction of art in real life and the element of suffering. He proposes very debatable issues like alcoholism, suicide, equality, and homosexuality. Williams uses his experiences in his life and many of the issues that many Americans faced to advocate awareness. In the play Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Williams uses narcissistic to describe the relationship between Brick and his father. Talking to his father, after the man finds out about him being an alcoholic and then homosexuality, he states, “You told me!

Opportunity and inequality have been portrayed in America since It’s existence. In this great American play written by Lorraine Hansberry, A Raisin in the Sun, Opportunity for the Younger family is being told without the death of a relative or family member, money will always be a complication when reaching for higher possibilities. As, said in the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” But if all men are created equal, why is it that inequality between blacks and whites is still such a big problem when the younger family are given the opportunity to move into a predominantly white neighborhood? In this play, the set is took place in Chicago’s Southside, throughout World War II. Our main characters include: Ruth (the wife), Walter Lee (the husband), Travis (the son), Beneatha (the sister in law), and Lena (the head of the household). Each of the character’s personality show great difference between each other. In this small household, a family of five strives for reaching greater opportunities, human rights, and equal freedom.

In the play Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Tennessee Williams explores the depth of human feeling and the melancholy and drama of a family that has to live a life as the world dictates it. He explores the mendacity and deception in human behavior and questions institutions that are taken for granted, especially the institution of marriage and family. Through different character types, a drunkard, a greedy lawyer, hypocritical reverend, woman that serve always in the interest of their own family, emphasizing their domestic roles, he depicts situations from everyday life. In one of his interviews he clearly defined his purpose of writing this play by saying: “I’m trying to catch the true quality of experience in a group of people, that cloudy, flickering,

In the play, A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, money plays an essential role in character development. The play is set in the South Side of Chicago in the late 1950s. Raisin follows the lives of a poor, urban, African-American family, the Youngers, during this period of heightened racial tension in the United States. The story begins after the death of the patriarch of the family, Mr. Younger. With his death comes a $10,000 check representing the proceeds of his life insurance policy. Since the remaining Younger family members hold differing views about the role of money, their household is nearly torn apart from conflict over what to do with the $10,000 windfall. Specifically, Mama, her adult son Walter, and her 20-year-old daughter Beneatha, have singular agendas about how best to spend that check. Each of these characters initially allows that money to psychologically entrap them, with ruinous potential consequences. Ultimately, it is only by removing money’s power to control them, that these family members are liberated from detrimental mindsets and able to constructively transform themselves.

In Arthur Miller’s play Death of a Salesman, many parallels are observed between events that took place in Miller’s life and the Lowman family. Arthur Miller is from Brooklyn, and grew up during a time where there was still an abundance of nature in the city. In the play, Willy Lowman reminisces on these days, wishing the city did not grow so large, since he misses the trees and the ability to have a garden. Miller was also raised in a happy, well-to-do family. When he was young, they had more than enough money to get by and did not have to worry about money. This is the opposite of the Lowman’s. Willy barely made a salary throughout his life as a salesman, and the family barely had enough money to pay bills. Unfortunately, the Lowman’s were not a happy, loving family either. Willy never respected his wife Linda, as he often

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof directed by Richard Brooks tells the story of a southern family during the Jim Crow era. The family is in a crisis when news hit that Big Daddy, the leader of the family, is dying of cancer. The story takes place in a luxurious plantation home. Multiple technical elements make this play’s environment come to life. The plot within the home takes place over an evening where the lighting of the piece dictates the time of day. Additionally, music is underscored in key moments to emphasize the dialogue between the characters. The costumes that the characters wear indicates who the character is and how the character behaves. Furthermore, the acting of the piece show that characters thoughts and mood.