1. By Pulitzer Prize winning playwright, Tennessee Williams.
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
By Pulitzer Prize winning playwright, Tennessee Williams.

2. “What is the victory of a cat on a hot tin roof. —I wish I knew
“What is the victory of a cat on a hot tin roof?—I wish I knew... Just staying on it, I guess, as long as she can...”

3. Tennessee Williams Born March 1911, Mississippi
Died February 1983, New York City, choked to death on a bottle cap.
Difficult life, family, social relationships
Mental health struggles, depression
Sister’s Mental health
Williams’ sexual identity: Homosexuality during 1900s, partner Frank Merlo past away in 1961 of lung cancer, precipitating William’s decade long depression.
Suffered Addictions - Alcohol & Drug use

4. “I've got the guts to die. What I want to know is, have you got the guts to live?” ― Tennessee Williams, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

5. Tennessee Williams
Playwright, poet, fiction writer, Tennessee Williams left a powerful mark on American theatre.
25 full length plays known for their intensity, haunting loneliness, and hypnotic violence.
His father was a shoe salesman & emotionally absent parent
His mother was the daughter of a Southern Episcopal minister, a loving yet smothering woman.
His sister Rose suffered greatly (severe mental illness)
William’s father was an unreliable figure in his family.
Extremes of parenting: unreliable, flighty, father, smothering mother.

6. Successful American Writer
Williams graduated from school and moved to New Orleans and changed his name to Tennessee.
He struggled with his sexual identity all his life and now entered a full life as openly gay.
The 1940s brought success to Williams as he wrote The Glass Menagerie, and A Streetcar Named Desire. He won a Pulitzer Prize in 1947 for this masterpiece. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof was written in 1955 and won him his 2nd Pulitzer Prize.

7. Brick, Maggie, Big Daddy

8. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof - Introduction
This is the Pulitzer Prize winning drama that tells the tale of the troubles that beset a wealthy Southern family and how their lives are stripped of pretence in a shattering moment of revelation (cover, Penguin edition).
Summary: When Brick’s best friend Skipper dies, Brick is racked with guilt, a torture that only drinking can numb. Brick’s wife, Maggie (Margaret / ‘Maggie the cat’) craves her husband’s attention as much as she despises his alcoholism.
Brick is disinterested in Maggie and life beyond the bottle (alcoholism and guilt torture him).
Brick’s father, Big Daddy, lives every day as though it were his last – not realizing that his days are truly numbered and his doctors and family have been lying to him.

9. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
It is only when the family gathers for the celebration of Big Daddy’s 65th Birthday, that the simmering conflicts come to a head in a series of explosive climaxes—each of which force them to face the half lies (mendacity) that until now have shielded them from reality.
Praise for the play:
“Mr. William’s finest drama. It faces and speaks the truth.” ~The New York Times
“Stunning…Williams’ most memorable.” ~Time
“As emotionally naked and relentlessly visceral a play as our theater has seen.” ~The Saturday Review

10. Pre-Reading Questions to Consider…
In small groups, discuss the following questions:
1. Is telling a lie ever justified? If you answer yes, try to describe a situation that would illustrate why you feel as you do. If your answer is no, try to explain your reasons.
2. Do you think that there are varying degrees of lies and liars? Explain your answer and give an example if possible.
3. Take it a little further – explain which you would consider a greater insult: to be called a coward, or to be called a liar?
Is it more cowardly to lie than face the truth and go on living?
Is it better or worse to live a lie and lie to others?

11. The Pollitt Household Big Daddy Big Mama Gooper Brick Polly Sonny
Family Tree:
Big Daddy
Big Mama
Mae
(Sister Woman)
Gooper
Brick
+ Reverend Baugh
+ Reverend Tooker
Polly
Sonny
Trixie
Dixie

12. Key Act One Notes CHARACTER Brick Alcoholic, injured (broken ankle)
CHARACTER
Brick
Alcoholic, injured (broken ankle)
Indifferent, “zoned out,” distant, even hostile – especially towards Maggie
Stuck in his past – jumping hurdles in the middle of the night to relive his youth.
Tries to escape his past via alcohol; jumps over hurdles but fails.
Maggie
Desperate, nervous, talks and talks and talks . . .
“Catty,” sarcastic, “bitchy” – over all, very feisty
Poor background; money-focused, aware of and sensitive to class
Seems to love Brick; wants to have children, but is childless
Communication is attempted, but not successful
tries to help Brick face the lies he is telling himself about Skipper
Mae
Proud of her ability to have children, a “monster of fertility” according to Maggie.
Limited ideas of acceptable gender roles
Big Daddy
Dying of cancer; hasn’t made a will (not present, but talked about)
Is not aware of his own illness as the family is lying to him
Death/illness
Big Mamma
Nosy, impatient busybody
Assumes Brick’s drinking problem and Maggie’s childlessness is all Maggie’s fault
Importance of sexuality as root of sexual problem
Skipper (and his relationship with Brick) is shaping/commanding Brick’s actions and reactions.

13. Key Notes IMAGERY Animal Imagery Maggie as a cat on a hot tin roof
Big Mamma described as bulldog
Mae and Gooper’s kids given dog names (e.g. Buster, Trixie)
Family relationships
Consider! Cats vs. Dogs and the strained relationship between Maggie and Big Mamma; Maggie and the “no-neck monsters.”
Burning Imagery
“Men’s eyes burn holes in my clothes” (Maggie) – describes the way men look at Maggie and the intensity of their desire for her (Is this positive, or negative?)
Silence is like “shutting a door and locking it on a house on fire in hope of forgetting that the house is burning” (32) – keeping secrets consumes you inside and out.
Communication – Skipper and Brick
Consider! With what else is burning, fire, flames, etc. often associated with?
Hunting Imagery
Developed through Maggie’s bow – her “Diana Trophy” (36) and her references to hunting on (37).
Consider! What does this suggest to us about her character?
Imagery of Imprisonment
When Brick loses his composure (32), Maggie asks, “A crack in the wall?” – suggests Brick has walled himself in, locked himself up within himself.
Maggie says to Brick: “I’m not living with you. We occupy the same cage” (35).
Desire for escape (from?)

14. Key Notes Dirty/Clean Imagery
Skipper and Brick’s relationship as dirty vs. clean
Light/Dark Imagery
Keep your eyes peeled for this; it often relates to the theme of truth (light) vs. lying (dark)
E.g. when Brick smashed the “gemlike lamp” (60) on the table, he is trying to shatter/hide the truth Maggie is telling him about Skipper – he would rather “stay in the dark” than confront the truth
Mendacity (honesty vs. dishonesty to self, others, etc.) and appearance vs. reality
SYMBOLISM
Diana Trophy
Diana, a.k.a. Artemis, was the goddess of hunting and unmarried (virginal) women
Symbolizes Maggie’s love of hunting – her relentless pursuit of what she wants – AND her currently non-sexual (virginal) relationship with Brick.
Sexuality
Marital relationships
“Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”
Symbolizes Maggie’s precarious position in her marriage to Brick
Reveal’s Maggie’s character/attitude
Survival
Class
Communication/Relationships

15. Key Notes Brick’s Crutch and Cast
Indicates physical and psychological disability?
Crutch: symbolizes his dependence, particularly on alcohol, to get by
Connects to his physical injury and may represent the emotional/psychological injuries he has sustained through life as well
Cast: heavy; symbolizes that Maggie, life, and memories weigh him down?
Communication/Relationships
Brick’s Alcoholism
Symbolizes his desire to escape reality and to, quite literally, drown his sorrows.
Escape
Sexuality
Appearance vs. Reality
Brick’s and Skipper’s Name
Brick: Symbolic of his personality, how he interacts with others – he’s pretty much “immovable”
Symbolic of his gender role – “tough” and “manly,” e.g. “He’s a real brick!”
Skipper: denotation = person in command of a boat;

16. Dramatic Method Dramatic Method
Focus on rich narrative elements – conflict, character is primarily developed through dialogue, and there is little “action” in the traditional sense of the term.
Begins in the middle of things (in Medias Res)
Past revealed in parcels; we get the full history at the end. This helps create the narrative drive as the audience wants to know what has happened, as well as what will happen.
Climax happens in 2nd act; 3rd act is dénouement.
Uses stage directions and dialogue to develop theme and character
Pay close attention to imagery and description provided by Williams in the introduction and in on-going stage directions.
Many long speeches give insight into relationships

17. Themes in the play Themes Communication (and its failure)
Family relationships
Mendacity/lying
Appearance vs. Reality
Truth
Power (who has it, who doesn’t, how does one get it?)
Dehumanization
Hypocrisy
Sex / Sexuality / Identity
Class
Survival/Escape

18. Imagery & Symbolism in the Play
Imagery – Williams uses a variety of imagery (through description, metaphors, similes, etc.) to help develop theme and character.
animal
burning
hunting
imprisonment
dirty vs. clean
light vs. dark
disease
Symbolism
Found in names
Title of book
Objects associated with character
Keep your eyes peeled!