One night in Mississippi... (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof - Tennessee Williams)

Member Name: Lidders

Product:	Cat on a Hot Tin Roof - Tennessee Williams
Date:	29/06/01 (363 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: has a pace to it

Disadvantages: no change of scene

I chose to read this play after studying '...Streetcar...' for my English A-level, and thoroughly enjoying it. Both that and 'Cat On A Hot Tin Roof' are very much character plays, whereby each character is explored through their interactions with one another.

'Cat On A Hot Tin Roof' is about a South American family who are facing a crisis. Big Daddy the 'head' of the home is dying from cancer. Two of the characters are brothers and they live at home with their parents as well as with their wives and kids. The whole play takes place in the middle of the night when tensions are high.

The scene is set in a grand plantation home in the Mississippi Delta. The outside appearance conveys a civilised and cultured world. It is an oppressively hot night which is stifling, not unlike the atmosphere in the house. As the tension builds between the characters, thunder starts to break out.

Greed and envy appear to be the driving force behind most of the relationships within the family. Big Daddy and Big Mama are surrounded by money and spending comes across as the main interest they share. Gooper (one of the sons) and Mae (his wife) make it clear that they think they should be the ones to inherit Big Daddy's property. Gooper is anxious that it will all go to Brick and Maggie as Brick is very obviously the favoured son. Both Gooper and Mae point out all of Brick and Margaret's 'weaknesses'in their marriage; that he is an alcoholic and she can't produce children. This is them trying to earn their way into Big Daddy's pocket.

The relationship between Big Daddy and Brick is a major focus in the play. Big Daddy intiates a 'chat' with his son and attempts to draw Brick into 'heart to heart' but neither men are able to communicate their real feelings to each other. As Brick says:

'But this talk is like all the others we've ever had together in our li
ves! It's nowhere, nowhere! - it's - it's painful...'

Big Daddy finds it embarassing to display affection towards his son:

'...pressing his head quickly, shyly against his son's head and then, coughing with embarrassment, goes uncertainly back to the table...'

Both men feel lonely and isolated but it is too late for them to break the mould of the past. Brick reveals that it is his disgust with the world that has turned him towards drinking. Brick remains in a sort of controlled calm most of the way through their conversation until his father mentions his relationship with his recently deceased friend. Here it is intimated that Brick had homosexual relations with this man. Big Daddy doesn't approve and constantly comments on Brick's wife's figure, pointing out to him how lovely WOMEN are and what he 'should' be focusing on. Brick denies the relationship - probably because Big Daddy has treated the prospect of it as something shameful, and so he continues to drink.

I like the way Williams set up a situation with relationships that seem plausible to an audience. He has shown how people of this nature respond to a crisis and how tensions become greater - almost to bursting point. Also he doesn't attempt to resolve the situation, but has left it with an ending which could go on to take any direction. I think this makes the situation more believable.

Summary: