...Ryan Dorsey Modern American Drama 11/5/15 At a basic level, Tennessee William’s Cat on a Hot Tin Roof confronts the issue that runs through all great American drama, from Eugene O'Neill onwards: the conflict between truth and illusion. Set on a rich Mississippi plantation, Williams's play shows the conflict from many angles. Brick, an alcoholic ex-athlete, refuses to sleep with his wife, Maggie, supposedly out of guilt over the suicide of his old friend, Skipper. The problem Brick is unable to confront is his own, and Skipper's, latent homosexuality. On the other hand, there is Brick's father, a towering patriarch known as Big Daddy over whose inheritance the family fights over. In the same way Brick is unable to face realities about himself,...
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...Lies and Mendacity run rampant in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. They help keep the play going and keep it interesting. The play shows us the lies that people tell themselves and other instead of the truth that is hard to accept but must be said. The entire family is involved with lies to Big Daddy and Big Momma, as are the doctors. They tell them that Big Daddy does not have cancer, but only a spastic colon. Brick lies to himself about his feelings for Skipper until Big Daddy forces him to face it. He then understands that he is upset about the way his clean friendship has been misinterpreted. Gooper and Mae pretend to be loving and doting children, when in fact all they want is money and land. Big Mama lies to herself, think all the cruel things Big Daddy says are just jokes. She also lies to herself by thinking that a child from Maggie and Brick would turn Brick into a non-drinking, family man qualified to take over the family place. Big Daddy is even wrapped up in the mendacity. He admits to Brick that he is tired of letting all the lies. He has lied for years about his feelings for his wife, his son Gooper and his daughter-in-law Mae, he says he loves them, when in fact he can't stand any of them. Maggie, who seems to tell close to the truth the entire play, breaks down and lies about her pregnancy. Sometimes the lies are not even lies; they are just seen to be that. Big Daddy thinks that Big Momma is scheming to take over the place, when in fact she really does love him...
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...In the 1950s, many books were written that conveyed ideas controversial to popular belief. However, of the all the books written, two books stood out more than any others. Catcher in the Rye and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof were read more among anyone ranging from teenager to senior. Even though both began arguments, these two both books were mostly popular because of their rebellious influence. Over time, they have shaped and formed today’s society. From the 1950s to the 2010s, Catcher in the Rye and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof have spurred both controversial and rebellious altercations. Published by J.D. Salinger on July 16th, 1951, the Catcher in the Rye has been popular among people of all ages and races. Meant to be a controversial novel originally...
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...The Broadway Version Significance:- When Tennessee Williams made the decision to take Big Daddy, the pivotal personality of Cat On a Hot Tin Roof, off stage for the entire final act of the play, it was a bold choice, so bold a choice, in fact, that the original Broadway director, Kazan, forced Williams to rewrite the last act to fix it. | | | | | | | | | After their long association Williams greatly respected Kazan, and trusted his instincts. Williams writes in the explanatory note of the published edition of the play that a playwright can hand a director an absolute final play without allowing him access to drafts, or he can find a director who will cave to the writer's every request – and neither is desirable. In Kazan, Williams said, he had found a director he could trust to give perceptive and meaningful notes early on in the process. And Kazan had major reservations about the first completed draft of the play, the one that is still printed in published editions. As summed up by Williams in his explanatory note, these reservations were: 1) Big Daddy was too vivid and important a character to disappear from the play 2) The character of Brick should under go some apparent mutation as a result of the virtual vivisection that he undergoes in his interview with his father in Act Two. 3) The character of Margaret should be, if possible, more clearly sympathetic to the audience. Williams did not agree with these edits – especially the second...
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...Brick Pollitt is described by Williams as very charming and the embodiment of masculinity. However, as the play progresses the subject of the type of relationship he had with his now deceased close friend Skipper is being brought up by members of the family constantly. Brick states that it was the only true and good thing in his life. The fact that he describes their apparent platonic relationship as 'true' may point to the fact that Brick was in fact homosexual despite his constant denial and that their relationship meant so much more than people realised. After Skipper’s death Brick became a heavy drinker, throughout the play Brick is often described as having an alcoholic drink or empty glass. Brick uses alcohol as a measure to withdraw from the world, as many people do and try to suppress his grief and forget about his intimate relationship and love for Skipper. Brick’s heavy consumption of alcohol clearly has an effect as several times throughout the play Brick is seen as emotionless and seems like he’s never fully present except in a few scenes. It is interesting to note that the word gay or homosexual is never used in the play. Only the word ‘queer’ is used. Brick constantly denies having a homosexual with Skipper. This can be seen when Brick goes on a rant; “You think so, too?You think so, too? You think me an’ Skipper did, did, did! -somody!ʼ-together?” The fact that Brick gets so uptight when the subject is brought up and that he even stutters shows that it’s a...
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...Change in dealing with discrimination regarding homosexuality: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof & All Mothers are Working Mothers Homosexuality refers to sexual attraction that one possesses for the person of his/her same sex. It is a tabooed term in most of the society and is often dealt behind the closed door. The reasons due to which homosexuality is considered a taboo vary from society to society. Sometimes it is the culture of a certain society that discourages homosexuality and sometimes it is the religion that forbids people from adopting same sex relationships. Either ways, this attitude of the society towards the homosexuals forces many people to suppress their homosexual identity and lead an unwanted life. Yet there are few people who rise above this suppression and become successful in observing their lives according to their freewill. A better picture of this situation can be drawn from the comparison of societies’ attitude towards the homosexuality and the counter response of protagonists regarding it in Tennessee Willaiams’ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955) and Sangita Rayamajhi’s All Mothers are Working Mothers (2005). This paper thus aims to compare the societies’ responses towards the homosexual lifestyle of Brick and Shiela and show that although the settings of these two plays are different, the societies in which these plays are set displayed similar discriminative approach towards the protagonists’ homosexual identities. However, due to the increasing acceptability of...
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...Peter Tim Soriano Mr. Chalmers ENG 4U 16 December 2013 Illusion and Mendacity 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 in terms of themes but at the same time also share significant difference. In the play Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Brick is troubled with his past memories that he tries to keep a secret. He mourns the death of his best friend Skipper and the death pushes Brick into a world of imagination and mendacity. He avoids talking about Skipper and when his wife Margaret who is been trying to fix her relationship with Brick brings up the memory of his friend Skipper. Brick gets upset and says, “One man has one great good true thing in his life. One great good thing which is true! – I had a friendship with Skipper. – You are naming it dirty!” (Williams 44) Brick is furious with Margaret as he threatens her with physical abuse before he mentions the one greatest...
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...Play of Choice I chose to read The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams as my play of choice. I wanted to read another play by Williams because I was really impressed with Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. As in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, this story centers on a rather dysfunctional family, the Winfield’s. Amanda Wingfield is a single mother to her two children Tom and Laura. That concept is rather ahead of its time, as the play takes place in 1937. Tom is the narrator of the play which is referred to as a “memory” play, as it comes from his memory and perspective. I liked the fact that the play had a narrator. It gave more depth to his character and I feel that any time something is narrated you receive more information. It is also much easier to read a play that is narrated because less is left to your imagination. Our textbook had very good information on set design for this play. It included pictures from an actual production and also gave an artists’ rendering of the Broadway set design. The entire play is set in the tenement apartment of the Wingfields’ which was nice. Because the entire play was set there, it gave me plenty of time to imagine the details of the set. I began to form pictures in my mind of the apartment and the fire escape. I will call Laura Wingfield the main character of the play. It is her that the story seems to revolve around. The character of Laura is one that I believe any audience can have empathy for. She is a “cripple”, a term that her mother despises...
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...Mendacity is the trend to lie. In the case of A Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams, the Pollitt family is living in deception. Living in mendacity can cause competition in between family. The Pollitt are an un-united family. They don’t have communication, the family lacks honesty. Mendacity plays a big role in Brick’s life; on the play he blames falsehood for the cause of him becoming an alcoholic and marrying Maggie under certain circumstances. Big Daddy the wealthiest man in town needs to play the good man, lying that he stills loves Big Mama. There’s no communication neither love in their marriage. “That’s right, a ball a ball! Hell! I slept with Big Mama till, let’s see, five years ago, till I was sixty and she was fifty eight, and never even liked her” (Williams 70). In a trip with Big Mama to Europe where wanted to buy everything, made him feel uncomfortable about her behavior. As well in that trip he encountered a five years old girl, who went to zip his pants for money and which made him feel disgusted. Big Daddy knowing he is sick, he plays around making everybody thinks he is fine. “Who said I was leaving this place to Gooper or anybody? This is my sixty-fifth birthday! I got fifteen years or twenty years left in me! Ill out live you! I’ll bury you an’ have to pay for your coffin” (Williams 94). Big Daddy prefers Brick instead of his other son Gooper. Even though, Big Daddy and his son have no communication. He tries to have a conversation with Brick the day...
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...Fiction Vs. Reality: Tennessee Williams’s Influences “There is a fine line between a fictionalized autobiography or memoir and autobiographical fiction. In both cases, the author uses tidbits about his or her life. The difference is to what extent” (Houston par. 1).Tennessee Williams was a man who had many stories to share of his experiences and all of the different influences he has had throughout his life. In both Tennessee Williams’s Streetcar Named Desire and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, he bases his characters off of his own mother, sister, and homosexuality. Tennessee Williams grew up with his mother and grandparents being his biggest influences of people to look toward because his father was a traveling businessman and not around much. His...
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...Student Name: Lecturer’s Name: Date: Southern Contemporary Fiction and the Issue of Race Thesis: Southern contemporary fiction contained a lot of truths about the race relations between Black and White Americans in the twentieth century. Introduction Since the beginning of the twentieth century, there has been a significant shift in the focus of southern literature, both fiction and nonfiction. In the nineteenth century, most Southern fiction works were mainly on the Civil War and the Reconstruction. However, as that generation died away, the new crop of authors who had never experienced the civil war or the Reconstruction became more objective in their writings about the South. Contemporary Southern writers such as Harper Lee, Tennessee Williams and William Faulkner wrote fiction, but the stories written had a lot of truth about the way communities in the American South lived like in the twentieth century. As a result, one cannot fail but notice that there is one recurring issue in almost every novel in contemporary Southern fiction; the issue of race. (Sundquist 1994) Authors usually write stories which are a reflection of the attitudes and the norms of their time and contemporary Southern fiction reflects this. The southern part of the United States has always had a large percentage of people of African descent living there. At the beginning of the twentieth century, two states actually had an African-American majority; South Carolina and Mississippi...
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...Both “The Importance of Being Earnest” and “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” have characters within them that struggle with the idea of self-identity, however in very different ways. Maggie, an extremely proactive protagonist is a “cat”, catty, sly and has been an outsider for most of her life, both due to the fact that she grew up extremely poor and that within the family she doesn't know who she is or where she fits in. As Maggie is not a “ monster of fertility” (5) like Mae or has materialist qualities like the rest of the Pollitts (aside from Brick). She has nothing to show for within her relationship with Brick (example being kids), and that communicates the idea that in order to find acceptance within the family, must acquire some kind of physical...
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... 8. There are eight windows in the house. 9. There are three trees near the house. Exercise 2 Put in there is or there are. ________ _________ an elephant in the zoo. ________ _________ a tiger in the zoo. ________ _________ five monkeys in the zoo. ________ _________ zebras in the zoo. ________ _________ a giraffe in the zoo. ________ _________ pretty birds in the zoo. ________ _________ a peacock in the zoo. ________ _________ pink flamingoes in the zoo. Exercise 3 Put the food in the suitable basket. |Some bread, two eggs, three mushrooms, a bottle of lemonade, some cheese, five apples, an orange, four cucumbers, two tomatoes, a watermelon, a | |tin of tuna, a packet of biscuits, six sandwiches, two hamburgers, a piece of cake, some peaches | |[pic] |[pic] | |There is _______________in the basket. |There are _____________in the basket. | |There is _______________in the basket. |There are _____________in the basket. | |There is _______________in the basket. |There are...
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...Many plays and books have been adapted into a movie. A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams, is one of the plays who have been made into a movie. It takes place in the 1940s in New Orleans. The main character in the movie is Blanche DuBois, a women with a questionable behavior. In A streetcar Named Desire, Blanche DuBois is described in detail through symbolism by drunkenness, light, and music. Drunkenness is one of the most obvious symbolisms in the movie. It represents escape for Blanche when things go wrong or she feels uncomfortable. When she firsts arrives to New Orleans, she finds herself at a bowling alley, and orders drinks so she can explain where she believes she has been. The same thing occurred when Mitch confronts Blanche...
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...Book Report: The Glass Menagerie The Glass Menagerie is a play written in 1945 by Tennessee Williams. Tennessee Williams was a major American playwright and one of the greatest playwriters in the twentieth century. Tennessee Williams was born in Columbus, Mississippi, on March 26, 1911. The name "Tennessee" was a name given to him by college friends because of his southern accent and his father's background in Tennessee. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for A Streetcar Named Desire in 1948 and for Cat On a Hot Tin Roof in 1955. In addition to those two plays, he also won award for The Glass Menagerie in 1945. The Glass Menagerie is a touching play about the dreams of a southern family and their struggle to escape reality. The play is set in an apartment in St. Louis in 1937. Tom Wingfield serves as the narrator as well as a character in the play. Tom is determined and hard working man who works in the Continental Shoemaker’s factory. Tom lives with his Southern mother, Amanda, who is proud and confident woman and his shy and crippled sister, Laura. Another character is Jim O’Conner who is a friend of tom from the factory who tom invites to dinner and Laura’s first gentleman caller. The main action of the play is about Amanda's search to find Laura a gentleman caller. The Glass Menagerie's plot is parallel to the actual events in the author's life. The central theme of the play is escape from reality and many symbols in the story support this theme. Tennessee Williams...
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