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Cat On A Hot Tin Roof Comparison

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Tennessee Williams critically acclaimed play Cat On a Hot Tin Roof explores the mendacity that arises from the wealth and greed of the Pollitt family in the 1950s as well as the damage it causes to the relationship between husband and wife and father and son. The damaged relationships and mendacity by wealth are reflected throughout the adaptations of the play, particularly in the film directed by Richard Brooks. In exploring how the meaning of a texts changes when the form of a text changes, it is worth mentioning how Cat On a Hot Tin Roof meaning is altered by Richard Brooks adaption. The meaning of Brook’s adaption intended to enable a critique of wealth and it’s inability to replace love and happiness as well as it’s inability to hide …show more content…

Brooks ensures that the film is focused centrally on the conflicted interests of the relationship between Brick and Maggie as a couple in the 1950s, rather than a complex critique of the damage that the social pressures cause individuals] Brook’s adaptation of the text opening scene is with Brick on the athletics track and this puts emphasis on Brick and his desire to fulfil his expected athleticism which is juxtaposed with the alcohol he is drinking, symbolic of his failed career. Brick fulfilled the idea of a 1950’s successful man as he had a strong career as a legendary player for the Dixie Stars, therefore being able to provide for his wife. In Williams play, however, the opening scene is centered around Maggie and Brick’s wilting relationship. Through Williams stage directions, Maggie is shown to be feminine as she has ‘little wordless singing’ [PAGE] and also to be headstrong and opinionated through her characterisation of everyone. Maggie is the central figure in the first Act as she continuously maunders about the other character and Brick merely replies with ‘feigned interest, masking indifference’. This illustrates the distance between the married

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Luz Rodriguez “It is estimated that over 40% of us will feel the aching pangs of loneliness sometime in our life”. This is stated in an article from Physocologytoday.com. The alienation that many people feel are not always physical, but also emotional and mental.

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Paul Dooley and Winnie Holzman’s Post-its (Notes on a Marriage) is an accurate representation of how fast life actually goes by once one becomes an adult. The play begins with two maturing adults, Actor and Actress, in the beginning stages of a dating relationship, and they quickly develop into a dysfunctional family of three. The scenes then progress to a renewed relationship between Actor and Actress, and as time goes on, one proceeds to witness Actor, Actress, and Eugenia grow and mature. While one reads the play, one sees that Actor and Actress’s relationship takes time and communication for them to grow together.

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Maggie on the other hand, is characterized by her unattractiveness and timidity. Her skin is scarred from the fire that had happened ten or twelve years ago. Those scars she has on her body in the same way have scarred her soul leaving her ashamed. She “stumbles” in her reading, but Mrs. Johnson loves her saying she is sweet and is the daughter she can sing songs at church with, but more so that Maggie is like an image of her. She honors her family’s heritage and culture, by learning how to quilt and do things in the household, like her mother views their heritage.

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1. Mr. Burns presents a unique take on the field of acting. During the first act, there was a closed off and often quiet tone to the play. The characters are all spaced out and separated even as their common conversation is being given. The only time they come closer together figuratively and literally is when they’re feeling threatened.

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Shelia's sympathy and compassion and Mr Birling's lack thereof show how the characters differ as the play goes on. Shelia becomes more caring and Mr Birling refuses to move both in his ignorance and after the truth has been revealed to him by the

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496 Words | 2 Pages

Act II of the play "Our Town" by Thornton Wilder contrasts two perspectives on marriage. Wilder highlights diverse viewpoints on marriage, ranging from traditional and practical to idealistic and passionate, through the use of several people and their interactions. Emily Webb, George Gibbs, and their parents, Mr. and Mrs. Webb and Mr. and Mrs. Gibbs, serve as the main characters in Wilder's portrayal of the complexities and subtleties of marriage in a small town. The Webbs exhibit a more conventional and realistic perspective on marriage.

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In Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Williams presents Brick as another tragic figure who is profoundly damaged because he is living a lie. Like April, he finds himself unable to conform to the role society hands him out here because of his repressed homosexuality at a time when America did not tolerate relationships outside the heterosexual norm. The dramatic form is able to visually convey key messages in a way that novels cannot and Williams symbolises the root of Brick’s isolation through the marital bed and through Brick’s crutch. All of the scenes take place in Maggie and Brick’s bedroom, a constant reminder of what society expects of them.

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954 Words | 4 Pages

The Reality of Male Entitlement In the play “Streetcar Named Desire” written by the award winning playwright Tennessee Williams highlights the uncontrollable reality of male entitlement; and the harsh tragedies that may unfold when one's entitlement is threatened. “That’s how I’ll clear the table! [ He seizes her arm] Don’t ever talk that way to me! ‘ pig-polack-disgusting-vulgar-greasy!”- them kind of words have been on your tongue and your sisters too much around here!

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Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Critique Prep Tennessee Williams, formally known as Thomas Williams II, was born in Columbus, Mississippi in 1911. He revealed that his parents’ marriage was complicated, which would eventually encourage him to write. Some characters in his plays represented his mother and father. Amanda Wingfield in The Glass Menagerie represented his mother and Big Daddy in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof represented his father. Williams decided to become a playwright after seeing a production of Ibsen’s Ghost in college.

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It is evident through the dialogue between Brick and Big Daddy in Act Two that Big Daddy is a miserable, aggressive man who has distanced himself from his family as much as possible over the last forty years. Big Daddy’s actions and repulsion toward his family is a mirror image of how Williams perceived his own father’s actions and feelings toward their family. During his scene in Act Two with Brick, Big Daddy confesses that he hates his wife, his children, his grandchildren, his church, and his whole life, “Having for instance to act like I care for Big Mama!—I haven't been able to stand the sight, sound, or smell of that woman for forty years now!—even when I laid her!” (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof 110).

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and Mrs. Birling are shown as foolish and filthy old members of society while Eric and Sheila are displayed as the change in the upcoming generation and are considered as the change the world required according to Priestley. Priestley is trying to show us the difference between the mindset of the younger generation and the older one. In the play, Eric and Sheila are presented as the younger generation while Mr. and Mrs. Birling are portraying the older generation. The younger generation in the play is shown to be capable of change and express sympathy for the strikers and Eva Smith in general, in act one. In the play, Sheila says “between us we drove that girl to commit suicide” Sheila knows that their whole family is responsible for the suicide of Eva Smith but the other family members don’t agree with her.

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Betty and Bill are at odds about their individualism from the play's outset. Ives illustrates how individualism may occasionally be harmful to the development of a healthy relationship as their disagreement unfolds. In fact, the play shows how being unique may make it difficult to be compatible with a partner. Ives illustrates this point by ringing a bell each time Bill or Betty says anything

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In all movie adaptations, there must be some change to make it function like a movie. This is evident when discussing the play, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and its 1958 counterpart of the same name. Both are similar in terms of plot, characters, and setting. Despite this, some key plot points were changed when the movie was made that differ from the play. These points change the storyline dramatically.

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847 Words | 4 Pages

“A Streetcar Named Desire” is a very elegant film in which the Southern gothic culture is demonstrated profoundly. Tennessee Williams uses the characters in the play to bring about a sense of how corrupt society truly was in the 1940’s in the South. The 1940’s was marked by an immense amount of violence, alcoholism, and poverty. Women at the time were treated as objects rather than people. Throughout the play Tennessee Williams relates the aspects of Southern society to the characters in the play.

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In a play, sound is used to help illustrate its emotional content as a result of a play being limited in its point of views. Therefore, sound in a Streetcar Named Desire is significant in its dramatic effect in reinforcing the protagonist, Blanche’s, inner conflict to the audience. By garnering this significance of sound, its effect is additionally contributed to the theme of the play due to it highlighting details of the play's scenes for the audience to ultimately recognize specifics that, in succession, applies to the construction of the theme. Therefore, Tennessee Williams emphasizes through the employment of sound, the deterioration of the protagonist, Blanche, through featuring diegetic and non-diegetic sound that illustrate Blanche's

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