Character Analysis (AQA A-Level English Literature A): Revision Notes
Character analysis
Understanding the characters in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is essential for analysing the play's exploration of family dysfunction, inheritance disputes, and personal identity. Each character represents different responses to societal pressures, family expectations, and personal desires. This note examines the six main characters and their significance within the drama.
Tennessee Williams' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof premiered in 1955 and won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The play examines themes of mendacity (lies and deception), mortality, and sexual identity within the context of a Southern American family confronting inheritance and truth.
Brick Pollitt
Background and character traits
Brick is in his late twenties and was formerly a celebrated college football player who enjoyed considerable social admiration. Throughout the play, his character remains notably static, displaying persistent detachment and cynicism regardless of the events unfolding around him.
Sexuality and relationship with Skipper
The play reveals Brick's deep-seated fear surrounding questions of sexuality. His relationship with his deceased college friend Skipper becomes central to understanding his character. When Skipper confessed romantic feelings toward him, Brick severed their friendship entirely. Following this, Skipper died from excessive drinking.
Brick's actual sexual identity remains deliberately ambiguous. He might be a closeted gay man terrified of acknowledging his true self, or alternatively, he could be heterosexual but unwilling to examine his feelings for Skipper because he fears others perceiving him as gay. This ambiguity is crucial to Williams' exploration of repression and identity in 1950s America.
Brick elevates his friendship with Skipper to something pure and noble, which allows him to avoid confronting his genuine emotions about their relationship.
Coping mechanisms and isolation
Brick uses alcohol heavily as a means of numbing himself from his own self-disgust. He feels repulsed by the dishonesty he observes throughout society, within his family, and within himself. This disgust leads him to withdraw from all meaningful human connections.
Brick's refusal of sexual intimacy with Maggie could represent three possibilities:
- Punishment toward her for confronting him about Skipper
- Punishment toward himself for ending the friendship with Skipper
- Simply his lack of attraction to women if he is gay
This multifaceted interpretation demonstrates Williams' complex characterisation and refusal to provide simple answers.
Maggie Pollitt
Motivation and determination
Maggie is an attractive woman whose primary goal centres on ensuring her husband inherits Big Daddy's estate. Having grown up without financial security, Maggie focuses intensely on achieving this objective. Her character remains fundamentally consistent throughout the play, though some progression appears through her potential success in reaching her goal and moments where her humour and affection make her more sympathetic.
The cat on a hot tin roof metaphor
The Central Metaphor
Tennessee Williams uses the symbol of a cat on a hot tin roof specifically for Maggie's character. Despite the heat irritating the cat, it stays on the roof. Similarly, despite the frustrations in her marriage, Maggie remains with Brick for three key reasons:
- She wants to reclaim his love
- She recognises that divorce would prevent her from inheriting the estate
- She believes that winning back his affection might lead to having a child, which would strengthen their inheritance claim
This metaphor captures the essence of survival instinct overcoming discomfort.
Manipulation and strategy
Maggie demonstrates willingness to manipulate situations to achieve her desires. She attempts to provoke Brick's jealousy hoping this will lead to sexual intimacy. She also lies about being pregnant, which might ultimately become truth. To make this lie reality, she persuades Brick to sleep with her by offering him alcohol in exchange. These calculated actions reveal her determined, strategic nature.
Big Daddy Pollitt
The patriarch's dilemma
Big Daddy owns a substantial estate in the Mississippi Delta and faces a dilemma reminiscent of Shakespeare's King Lear. He must decide which of his two sons should inherit his property. He loves Brick whilst disliking Gooper, making him want to leave everything to Brick. However, Brick has become an irresponsible alcoholic who appears detached from life, whilst Gooper is hardworking and responsible. Additionally, Brick and Maggie have no children to continue the family line, whereas Gooper and Mae have five children with another expected.
The King Lear parallel is significant: both plays explore how inheritance decisions tear families apart and reveal true character. However, where Lear divides his kingdom based on flattery, Big Daddy wants to reward genuine love despite practical concerns.
Experience of mortality
Big Daddy experiences significant pressure from the inheritance decision, believing for years that he was dying from cancer. This pressure lifts momentarily when doctors declare him cancer-free, leading to the most substantial character transformation in the play. Without the immediate threat of death, Big Daddy wants to celebrate through affairs with women. He also wants Brick to stop drinking and have a child, though he believes there's time for this to happen.
Discovery and response
Big Daddy actively investigates the reason behind Brick's drinking, and through this process discovers he actually does have cancer. This revelation fills him with rage and despair. His anguish finds relief when he believes Maggie's lie about her pregnancy, offering him hope and leading him to plan for Brick's inheritance.
Big Mama Pollitt
Devotion and delusion
Big Mama is Big Daddy's wife and the mother of both Brick and Gooper. She presents as a loud, somewhat foolish woman who appears completely devoted to her husband. She constantly worries about Big Daddy's desires and his treatment of her.
The darker interpretation
According to Big Daddy, Big Mama possesses a darker aspect to her character. He claims she eagerly anticipated his death because it would grant her control over the estate. These displays of affection disgust him.
Big Mama, however, attempts to remain oblivious to her husband's hatred. Even when Big Daddy clearly demonstrates animosity toward her, she struggles to accept that he genuinely means it. Consequently, Big Mama exists in a state of delusion regarding her marriage—a delusion that both protects and traps her.
Gooper Pollitt
The responsible son
Gooper is in his thirties and serves as the older son of Big Daddy and Big Mama. He works as a hardworking lawyer and appears to be a responsible family man. He and his wife Mae have five children, with Mae pregnant with their sixth child.
Resentment and strategy
Gooper harbours resentment toward his younger brother Brick. Despite Brick's irresponsible alcoholism, Big Daddy loves him whilst disliking Gooper. Recognising this favouritism, Gooper and Mae attempt to convince Big Daddy of their devotion to him, arguing they should therefore inherit the estate.
The contrast between the brothers highlights a recurring theme in Williams' work: society often values charm and charisma over responsibility and hard work. Gooper represents practical virtue but lacks the romantic appeal that draws Big Daddy to Brick.
Relationship tensions
Gooper experiences a somewhat stressful relationship with Mae. Although both desperately desire the estate, they often behave antagonistically toward each other in their efforts to win over Big Daddy. This creates tension within their partnership despite their shared goal.
Mae Pollitt
Background and determination
Mae and her husband Gooper have five children, with a sixth child expected. She comes from a family that built a fortune through chain stores, but experienced hardship when the business collapsed.
Mae is a schemer determined to secure a fortune by convincing Big Daddy to leave the estate to her husband. She frequently eavesdrops on Brick and Maggie's private conversations, then reports any damaging information to Big Mama.
Manipulation tactics
Mae and Gooper employ their children as tools to manipulate Big Daddy. For instance, Mae has the children perform a cloying birthday song for him, attempting to demonstrate their devotion and family values. This tactic forms part of their broader strategy to secure the inheritance.
Antagonism toward Maggie
Mae and Maggie intensely dislike each other and frequently exchange insulting remarks. This hostility stems from their competing interests in the estate and their fundamentally different positions within the family structure.
Key Points to Remember:
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Brick remains static throughout the play - his detached, cynical attitude never changes, representing his inability to confront his true feelings about Skipper and his own identity.
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Maggie embodies determination and survival - the cat on a hot tin roof metaphor captures her persistence in staying within an unhappy marriage to secure financial stability and inheritance.
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Big Daddy experiences the most significant character development - his journey from believing he's cancer-free to discovering the truth drives the play's emotional climax and forces confrontations within the family.
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Family dysfunction centres on inheritance - every character's actions and motivations connect to Big Daddy's estate, revealing how wealth corrupts family relationships and exposes true characters.
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Sexual ambiguity and repression drive conflict - Brick's unclear sexuality and refusal to examine his feelings create the central tension that affects all family relationships and prevents resolution.