Tennessee Williams and 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof'

Cat on a hot tin roof

Describes extreme nervous worry or anxiety.

Tennessee Williams

Famous playwright known for impactful dramas.

The Glass Menagerie

Williams's first play, debuted in 1945.

Pulitzer Prize

Award won for A Streetcar Named Desire.

Marlon Brando

Famous actor featured in Williams's plays.

Thomas Lanier Williams

Original name of playwright Tennessee Williams.

Columbus, Mississippi

Birthplace of Tennessee Williams in 1911.

St. Louis, Missouri

City where Williams's childhood memories influenced writing.

University of Missouri

Initial university where Williams studied journalism.

Audrey Wood

Agent who helped Williams gain recognition.

Battle of Angels

Williams's first play, poorly received initially.

Orpheus Descending

Reworked version of Battle of Angels, better received.

Broadway

Theater district where Williams achieved commercial success.

Camino Real

Williams's play that flopped despite previous successes.

Elia Kazan

Director who advised Williams on character changes.

Brick

Character in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

Maggie

Brick's girlfriend in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

Lavender Scare

Anti-homosexual purge during the Cold War.

Big Daddy

Character representing societal pressures in the play.

Greed and deceit

Major themes in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

Antebellum South

Period before the Civil War, marked by slavery.

Economic growth

Southern economy relied on slave labor for prosperity.

Plantation system

Agricultural model using concentrated slave labor.

Ulrich Bonnell Phillips

Historian who studied slavery's economic impact.

Time on the Cross

Book arguing slavery was profitable under certain conditions.

Class divisions

Sharp social stratifications existed in the South.

Urbanization

South remained predominantly rural with few cities.

Slave ownership

Concentrated among wealthier plantation owners by Civil War.

Economic exploitation

Slave labor maintained social hierarchy in the South.

Challenges to slavery

Debate over slavery's profitability and efficiency evolved.