Hot Tin Roof

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The play takes place on one of the biggest cotton plantation in the Mississippi Delta in the 1950s. It is a hot summer evening. The story takes place in a bedroom in the large Victorian house and the setting doesn’t change. The setting that Tennessee Williams chose is important because during the 1950s, Jim Crow laws were still around which claimed ‘separate but equal’ for African Americans. This meant that African Americans were discriminated against, especially in the south. In a way, the house also acts as the source of Margret and Brick’s problems; because everyone is living so close together in the busy house, Brick and Margaret are given no privacy to solve their problems and are stressed about everyone knowing.
After his best friend dies, Brick starts drinking and Maggie, who hates the drinking, wants his attention and to try for a …show more content…
He doesn’t want to face the guilt and sadness revolving around his best friend’s death. Likewise, he doesn't want to admit to himself that he’s gay. In a way, alcoholism becomes a second crutch for Brick because he relies on it to help him deal with the pain of Skipper's death and avoid his problems.
The title, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, represents people stuck in bad situations. For example, both Brick and Maggie and Big Daddy and Big Mama are in a strained relationship where there appears to be little love and affection. The roof kind of represents that they are trapped and the tin represents the flimsy and unstable nature of their relationships. The cat might represent the person. Several times in the play, Maggie refers to herself as a cat, meaning that she feels trapped in a bad situation or marriage and is struggling to find a solution. recurring motifs
“Wouldn’t it be funny if that was true”-a recurring phrase said by both Brick and Big Daddy after Maggie and Big Mama claim their love. Both men are uncertain if they trust how their wives believe they
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