Hot Tin Roof Synopsis

The Play Cat on a Hot Tin Roof written by Tennessee Williams is set in Mississippi around circa 1960’s. There is one main protagonist named Brick and one main heroine named Margaret. Brick and Margaret live with Brick’s family, Big Daddy and Big Mama. Big Daddy is the sole breadwinner in the family due to him owning various businesses, one of which is a large cotton plantation. As the story progresses, the family which includes Big Mama, Brick, his spouse and Bricks brother’s family gather all together to celebrate Big Daddy’s birthday. Big Daddy and Big Mama are excited by all the festivities; however he is being kept in the dark by his whole family about his health. Brick’s family and Brick’s brother, Gooper and his family know the true state
This event is the start of the time crunch for Margaret because she wants to ensure that she and Brick gets a share of Big Daddy’s inheritance. Margaret had thought of a solution to help secure the fortune. She publicly announces that she is pregnant with Brick and hopes to convince Big Daddy about giving Brick the principle ownership of the inheritance. Gooper and his wife know that Margaret’s announcement is a lie; however Big Daddy and Big Mama seem to believe it. In the end of the play Margaret leaves the living room and proclaims to “make the lie true”. She locks up the whiskey cabinet and the play ends. When she says that she is going to make the lie true, it is inferred that she and Brick are going to somehow conceive a baby quick enough to prove to the parents that she wasn’t bluffing. I think this is actually a good thing because if they had a baby it would rekindle Margaret and Brick’s collapsing relationship with each
It’s somewhat of a biography of Williams but he used fictional characters. He talks about his mother, his sister and himself. The main characters are Tom, his mother Amanda and his sister Laura. Laura has a lot of insecurities in her life which causes her to be unstable in the play. The mother is known to be more logical and pragmatic. Tom, the main character works in a shoe factory and is the main breadwinner. He questions his life and wonders if this is his extent of his purpose in life. He often goes out at night to see films to get inspirations. Later on in the play he becomes the matchmaker for Laura however it fails and it is assumed that Tom has left home. This is similar to Cat on a Hot Tin Roof because of the dark elements used. For example Tom introduced Laura to someone for a potential marriage partner but it is soon discovered that the suitor is already married. Laura finds out that Tom already knew and she becomes mad at Tom. Also one common motif they have is that one character is trying to find true happiness. For example Margaret is trying to rekindle her and Brick’s relationship and Laura is trying to find a husband however is too coy to do anything about it. Also there is a common theme of conflict of self in both plays. Skipper is questioning his own worth to Brick and Laura has a low self-esteem which causes her to be shy and