CHARACTERS
Who is Big Daddy's favorite son?
Brick
Where does this play take place? Give details.
It takes place in a PLANTATION in Missouri.
What is the central theme of "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof"?
a) The power of family
b) The search for truth and identity
c) The destructive nature of greed
d) The pursuit of the American Dream
b) The search for truth and identity
What term does Big Daddy repeatedly use to describe the characters' lies and deceptions?
a) Mendacity
b) Avarice
c) Iniquity
d) Deceit
a) Mendacity
Why does Mae think less of Maggie?
Because Maggie does not have children.
When does this play take place?
It takes place in 1960's.
What theme is explored through Brick's struggle with alcoholism and his strained relationship with his wife?
a) Mendacity
b) Sexual desire
c) Death and decay
d) Masculinity
d) Masculinity
How does Tennessee Williams use metaphors and symbolism in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" to represent the characters' desires and struggles?
a) Through references to animals
b) Through the use of color imagery
c) Through the use of musical motifs
d) All of the above
d) All of the above
How does Big Daddy assert his position as head of the family?
Big Daddy shouts when he speaks and rambles on,
he commands,
repeats that everything belongs to him.
Mention 3 key objects present in the room.
There is a queen size bed.
a liquor cabinet
2 huge windows
a sofa and a chair
a fan and a chandellier on the roof
an adjoining bathroom.
How is the theme Dysfunctional Family Dynamics reliazed in the play? Provide 2 clear examples.
Big Daddy and Brick tense relation.
Brick and Maggie's loveless marriage.
Grooper's jelousy of Brick as the favorite son.
Big Mamma strong oponions regarding Maggie's married life.
What is the context in which Maggie uses the metaphor cat on a hot tin roof, and what does she mean by it?
Maggie had just made fun of Mae's children's names, Brick ask why she is so catty, accusses her of spoiling his liquor and of sounding loud and shrill all the time. She is fed up of being mistreated and "punished."
What she means by feeling like a cat on a hot tin roof is that she is trapped, either way - staying or jumping - she loses. She feels like jumping off because she can't take "the heat" - being mistreated and rejected by her husband and his family - anymore.
How does Maggie refer to Mae and Grooper's kids?
Where does the main action of hte play takes place?
In Brick and Maggie's bedroom.
How does the setting - the bedroom - evoke the theme of Manliness and Homosexuality?
POSSIBLE ANSWERS:
The main setting is Maggie and Brick's bedroom. There is a big licour cabinet to which Brick goes to refill his drink in order to stay drunk, that's how he can cope with his reality.
The bed in untouched, as pointed out by Big Mamma, which implies that this marriage is not "working properly."
All the conversations regarding the topic of Brick's affair takes place within the bedroom, as if "in the closet."
Brick does not want to come out of the room, despite the fact that it's his father's birthday and dinner is served downstairs.
What examples of southern accent are presented in the script?
- Why d'ya call...?
- Y'know
- Well, Mae an' Gooper were side by side at the table, direckly across from Big Daddy, watchin' his face like hawks while they jawed an' jabbered about the cuteness an' brilliance of th' no-neck monsters!
- Even Big Mama, bless her ole sweet soul, she isn't th' quickest an' brightest thing in the world, she finally noticed, at last, an' said to Gooper, 'Gooper, what are you an' Mae makin' all these signs at each other about?'--I swear t' goodness, I nearly choked on my chicken!
What's Brick's alleged lover's name?
Skipper.
How does the author use references to the weather to mirror characters's mood and enhance plotline?
Exmple 1:
A puff and crackle and the night sky blooms with an eerie greenish glow. Children shriek on the gallery
Exmple 2:
[He stands in the gallery doorway as the night sky turns pink and green and gold with successive flashes of light.]
What theme is evoked in this quote?
"Give me credit for just that, will you please?--Born poor, raised poor, expect to die poor unless I manage to get us something out of what Big Daddy leaves when he dies of cancer! But Brick?!--Skipper is dead! I'm alive! Maggie the cat is--"
The search for truth and identity - as a woman in a patriarchal family, as a lower class person trying to climb up the social ladder - the promise of the Am. Dream.
What do you think this simile is making reference to?
Susie didn't think so. Had hysterics. Screamed like a banshee. They had to stop th' parade an' remove her from her throne an' go on with--
1) (in Irish legend) an animal spirit that screams for freedom.
2) (in Irish legend) a female spirit whose wailing warns of a death in a house.
3) (in Irish legend) a spirit that foreshadows tragedy.
2) (in Irish legend) a female spirit whose wailing warns of a death in a house