Glass+Menagerie+and+Cat+on+Hot+Tin+Roof

Elizabeth Fagan: Audience



//The Glass Menagerie// and //Cat on a Hot Tin Roof// both reflect Williams’s life. Williams’s, “ ...brilliantly written, deeply researched biography sheds a light on [his] warring family, his lobotomized sister, his guilt, his plays, his turbulent homosexual life, his misreported death, even the shenanigans of his estate”(Lahr 1). Williams’s uses the characters in his plays to tell the audience his life story, and also to be able to get closure on his life. Laura, in //The Glass Menagerie//, is representative of Williams’s sister who was unable to participate in society and isolated herself. Amanda, Laura’s mother, stand in for Williams’s own mother, worried for her child. //Cat on a Hot Tin Roof// portrays William’s own struggle with his sexuality, allowing other people to relate to his situation. Williams, “... always kept writing what his inner vision dictated, despite the often contrary demands of writing classes, journalism school, a Hollywood studio and theater producers who wished he would adapt his work to the marketplace” (Lehmann-Haupt 1). By doing this, Williams opened up the world of theater to all types of backgrounds and experiences. Without these plays, the theater would be a very different place.

Lahr, John. "Introduction - Tennessee Williams: Mad Pilgrimage of the Flesh." //Tennessee Williams, Playwright.// Bloomsburg, 1 Jan.  2014. Web. 22 Apr. 2015. Lehmann-haupt, Christopher. "The Family That Produced Tennessee Williams." //The New York Times.// The New York Times, 17  Dec. 1995. Web. 22 Apr. 2015.

Thomas VanAtta: Historical



Both the // Glass Menagerie // and // Cat on a Hot Tin Roof // both exemplified and contrasted with the times in which they were written. //The// // Glass Menagerie // centered on a struggling family in the times of the great depression showing the great need and stress on the american workforce. The main character Tom forced to work to keep his family alive ultimately hates his job and ultimately finds refuge with drinking (The Glass Menagerie 2). While the //Glass Menagerie// exemplifies the life in the depression, //Cat on a Hot Tin Roof// shared the social issues plaguing the south from Racism to Homosexuality the story shared the tribulations of workers in the south. The sheer possibility of a gay character caused an uproar the government stance ultimately discriminated against homosexuals by letting government facilities fire people for being gay (Historical Context 2). Both of these plays showed what it was truly like in the times and took on social ills that existed, the trials of families in the depression to the racism that was prevalent in the south.

"Historical Context of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof." //Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Research Project//. 8 Nov. 2012. Web. "The Glass Menagerie." Spark Notes: //The Glass Menagerie.// Spark Notes. Web.

Glass Menagerie and Cat a on Hot Tin Roof



Sydney Miller: Aim

The Glass Menagerie and Cat a on Hot Tin Roof are both written by Tennessee Williams. The first, The Glass Menagerie, is an autobiographical play where the protagonist represents Williams himself. In the play, the character representing Williams is the only source of income for his weak sister and his mother. His sister is very shy and when she finally falls for a man, she finds out that he is already married, and at the end of the play the main character leaves his mother and sister to fend for themselves. This play, like Othello, is a tragedy and the main purpose is the have relatable characters and circumstances where the audience can relate so they are drawn into the tragedy. The Syracuse Stage company said, “ this moving play explores the illusory nature of dreams and the fragility of hope” (The Glass Menagerie). Cat on a Hot Tin Roof was another play he wrote, but the characters and circumstances are very different. It focuses on a southern family where one character faces imminent death and another faces losing her husband because of secrets and lies. This is again a tragedy and is made to be relatable and draw the reader in. The purpose of these two plays is to explore the “fragility of hope” and the detriments of lies.

Works Cited:

"Cat on a Hot Tin Roof: Tennessee Williams's Southern Discomfort." //The Guardian //. Web. 23 Apr. 2015. "The Glass Menagerie." //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">Syracuse Stage //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">//.// Web. 23 Apr. 2015.