Cat on a Hot Tin Roof:

Context:

Tennessee Williams wrote Cat in 1955 and shortly after (in the same year) Elias Kazan directed the broadway production. The performance gained a 1955 Pulitzer prize for drama.

Much of the themes of the drama mirror that of what happened in Williams’ life:

• Mississippi, in the deep south, is where he grew up

• His father struggled with an alcohol addiction which is presented through Brick’s character

• His Mother suffered from an unhappy marriage not dissimilar from that experienced by Big Daddy and Big Mama

• Williams’ also initially struggled with his homosexuality (in his early years) and this is a battle we can infer Brick is going through

Elias Kazan’s production: Kazan decided to make a few changes which included: gaining more sympathy for Margaret to an audience. In Williams note of explanation he says that, whilst Kazan understood that Williams sympathised with Maggie he believed it should be more clearly sympathetic to an audience, as well as believing that Big Daddy is too vivid of a character to disappear from the play after the second act, and lastly that Brick should undergo apparent mutation as a result of his conversation with his Father in act two. The only suggestion Williams warmed to was the suggestion about the sympathy for Maggie, as he felt the moral paralysis of Brick was root thing in his tragedy and he didn’t want Big Daddy to reappear.

Structure: The play unveils across an afternoon and into the evening, with each act being consecutive to the other therefore the plays structure adds a fast pace sense of continually rising tension.

Tragedy: Aristotle described tragedy as having the unity of time (same day), action (one main plot) which could be contested with cat, and place (same setting). It is also outlined to engage the audience by arousing pity and fear. Susan Abotson’s depiction of the play is not dissimilar from this, “Williams’ tragic protagonists all must live under the constant threat of displacement and/or destruction.”

Cultural and historical context:

Southern belle: a romanticised antebellum (postwar) old south myth. Outlining a daughter of a wealthy plantation owner whose primary goal is to marry a Southern gentleman. The girl is thought to be elegant, charming, flirtatious yet pure and virginal, as well as being domestic and maternal.

patriarchy: The names of the characters comically identify themselves in their positions: Bg Daddy, Big Mama, Brother man, Sister woman, and little Brother. Furthermore, Michael Bibler highlights, the title indicates Maggie as the ‘cat’ on the ‘hot tin roof’ of patriarchy moving and dancing in order to acquire wealth and comfort through the only means available to her: marriage.

Masculinity: The conventional role for Men was to be the head of the household and the main breadwinner. Heterosexuality was the norm.

WWII and Gender roles: Due to male labour being extremely limited during the war, Women were recruited into the labour force and many acquired jobs. This then resulted in a cultural change in social relationship where the stereotypical role of women being domestic and maternal was challenged. Therefore these forceful, independent Women were then focalised in theatre. Some crtics suggested that Maggie experiences conflict with social expectations whereas Big Mama and Mae conform to these. Whilst other critics suggest that all three Women are arguably the more powerful characters.

The American Dream: the myth of America as being the land of opportunity where anyone can achieve and become anything. Both Maggie and Big Daddy display rags to riches stories.