Ap+2013+Glass+Menagerie+and+Cat+on+Hot+Tin+Roof

Tennessee Williams explores and exploits social realism and the element of suffering on a new level in his works //Cat on a Hot Tin Roof// and //Glass Menagerie//. He presents very controversial issues like suicide, equality and alcoholism. Moreover, Williams utilizes his experiences of drama in his life as well as several of the issues that many Americans faced in their own homes to promote keen awareness. In the play //Cat on a Hot Tin Roof//, Williams specifically relates self-pity to the character Brick. Facing a multitude of struggles with his past as well as future, Brick lives with this self-pity by shutting out the people that love him most. For instance, when talking to his father after the man finds out about his alcoholism and homosexuality, he states, “You told me! I told you” (Guthrie Theater). Throughout this play in particular, Brick appears to have quite a narcissistic relationship with his dad. Furthermore, in //Glass Menagerie//, Williams implements a similar style of writing. The play, “in which [Williams] aims not to represent ‘objective’ reality, but rather somehow depict the subjective emotions of the characters” contains the element expressionism, which focuses on the internal state of being (Studyworld Studynotes). Williams twists “reality” through excellent use of character emotion such as suffering and post-World War I controversies.
 * Aim: Cody**

Works Cited "Guthrie Theater." //Guthrie Theater//. N.p., 1999. Web. 02 Apr. 2013. "Studyworld Studynotes: Glass Menagerie, The: Summary: Historical Context."//Studyworld Studynotes: Glass Menagerie, The: Summary: Historical Context//. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Apr. 2013.

The characters in //Cat on a Hot Tin Roof// as well as //The Glass Menagerie// both work to reach out to a specific audience. Bringing about a radical change in the topics of literature at the time, Tennessee Williams alienated many with his raw and realistic subject matters. Despite his numerous awards from the Drama Critics Circle as well as his reception of 2 Pulitzer Prizes and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, he was considered offensive to Christian values and denounced by Roman Catholic Cardinal Spellman claiming his scripts were "revolting, deplorable, morally repellent, offensive to Christian standards of decency" (PBS). Beyond how the subject matters in his works connected with his audiences, the characters within them provided even more of a pull of interest. Unlike prior works of the time. //Cat// and //Glass Menagerie// both have a character that is confined to the "beauty of their inner world" and Williams "enables them to transcend the petty world of normalcy" depicted by these characters' revenge through "their spiritual superiority over the 'normal' people of his theater" (Michel- Sarotte). In //Cat// Brick is outwardly attractive to many, having a lovely wife, incredible physique (past football player), an education, and is Anglo- Saxon. Williams begins to entice his audience into a more risque topic by moving beyond this outward appearance, Brick is seen to be confined (bedroom) by ghosts that haunt his every move (his homosexuality). Just as Laura in //Glass Menagerie// is seen as being confined and trapped, but instead of being outwardly attractive Laura is both externally and thus internally trapped by her lameness and intense shyness. While characters like Jim O'Connor and Maggie, seemingly "normal" characters entice a broad audience, Williams utilizes Brick and Laura to bring forth topics unheard of at the time. Laura was accepted in the 40's well before the 60's brought pride in ones differences. Brick introduced the conflicts of homosexuality, a matter still debated today! What Williams truly does in //Cat on a Hot Tin Roof// as well asin //The Glass Menagerie//, is bring a new reality to the public, concealing this deeper reality within a raw and complex conflict between what is new and old. In turn producing such memorable characters with which to bring a greater understanding of the intensely elaborate thoughts behind the actions of humans.
 * Audience: Nicolette**


 * Works Cited:**

Michel- Sarotte, Georges. "Fluidity and Differentiation in Three Plays by Tennessee Williams: //The Glass Menagerie, A Streetcar// //Named Desire, and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof". Staging Difference: Cultural Pluralism in American Theatre and Drama.// Pg 141. Peter Lang Publishing, Inc. Book Collection Nonfiction: High School Edition. 1995. Web. 2 April 2013. "Tennessee Williams About Tennessee Williams". //American Masters.// PBS. 8 Feb. 1999. Web. 2 April, 2013.

The play the //Glass Menagerie// was written while America was in the Great Depression leading into World War 2. The historical setting of the play was described as, "There is symmetry between the uneasy peace of the period and the uneasy peace in the Wingfield house" ("The Glass...23). The background setting of the Great Depression was used to create a depressing tone in the play as well as behind the character of Tom. Tom wasn't happy with his life, he hated his job, and he resented his mother for making him take care of his sister and her. There was a lack of a family feel and instead a sense of struggle and finding understanding. This play focused on the Great Depression and World War 2 ear. Tennessee focused his next play //A Cat on a Hot Tin Roof// the next century America would fall into. A research project on the play brought up the new issue of homosexuality stating, "In 1953, President Eisenhower even made it an executive order that if a federal employee were found to be a homosexual that he or she could be fired" ("Historical...3). Many people believed that the character of Brick was a homosexual - even though he was married to Maggie - and were disgusted that he would include such a character. However, the main historical event happing in the 1950s was the baby boom. In the play Gooper and Mae have five children while Maggie never has kids, which becomes a frustration in the play. Tennessee Williams used events happening during that current time period to influence the settings of his plays.
 * Historical: Ashley**

Works Cited "Historical Context of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof - Cat on a Hot Tin Roof: Research Project." Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Research Project. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Apr. 2013. "The Glass Menagerie Study Guide." The Glass Menagerie. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Apr. 2013.


 * Cultural: Dallas**



Tennessee Williams was born on March 26, 1911. His whole work is based off his life. During his lifetime and the events that occurred gave him the inspiration to characters in his plays. He was raised in Mississippi and then moved to Missouri. In Missouri it was more of a simple and urban. That gave some inspiration to his Southern places in his plays. His culture of family developed //The Glass Menagerie// and //Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.// Stated in Tennessee Williams Biography, “His mother became the model for the foolish but strong Amanda Wingfield in //The Glass Menagerie//, while his father represented the aggressive, driving Big Daddy in //Cat on a Hot Tin Roof//” (Biography.com). His lifetime made these plays inspirational to the audience. With his personal life it gave the true nature of culture in these plays. Furthermore in //Cat on a Hot Tin Roof// Williams displays a plantation that gives off an urban lifestyle that only leads to death and sorrow. Georges-Michel proclaims, “In the middle of an immense plantation – ‘twenty-eight thousand acres of the richest land this die of the valley Nile’-, Brick finds himself in a no-exit situation. All the more so as he has interiorized all the values of his society (as opposed to his tolerant father)” (Tennessee Williams’s Plays 149). He displays that the society problems that lead to an emotion of depression. That alcohol and sexuality can be a problem that now developed into a culture, just as alcohol took Skipper and Amanda in both plays. Williams’s displays a culture can be decided by society through actions and his personal life experiences.

Works Cited Sarotte, Georges-Michel. “Fluidity and Differentiation in Three Plays by Tennessee Williams: The Glass Menagerie, A Streetcar Named Desire, and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.” //Staging Difference: Cultural Pluralism in American Theatre and Drama.// Pg 141. Peter Lang Publishing, Inc. Book Collection Nonfiction: High School Edition. 1995. Web. 2 April 2013. "Tennessee Williams." //Biography.com.// 2013. Web. 2 April 2013.