Cat on a Tin Roof

1. Where and when does the story take place?

The story takes place in Mississippi in the Fifties.

2. Who are the characters?

Brick and Maggie

3. What is their relationship?

They are husband and wife.

4. What is the mood of the scene?

There is a lot of tension in the scene: between Brick and Maggie, but between Brick and his dad.

5. What and whom are they talking about?

They are talking about Big Daddy, Brick's father, and how he isn't sick. Maggie is also insisting that Brick comes down to the party.


Context: Write short answers.

What kind of family did Tennessee Williams (TW) have? His family was dysfunctional. His father was a drunkard and a gambler, while his sister was schizophrenic.

Where does his first name come from? He is nicknamed Tennesse by a college friend.

What is the Pulitzer Prize? It is the top American award, worth $5,000, for journalism and literature, including plays, novels, poetry and short stories.

How was the original play changed for both Broadway and the cinema? The Broadway director changed Act III for a better resolution; the movie director took out references to Brick's homosexuality.

How did TW die?

What was the new American drama that TW represented?


Plot Overview: Put the events in the correct order.

Maggie confesses to making love with Skipper. _____

The family gets together with Mama and talks of Big Daddy’s cancer._____

Big Daddy asks Brick about his drinking problem. _____

Maggie says the Brick’s brother and wife are plotting to take all the inheritance. _____

Maggie announces that she’s pregnant. _____

Maggie talks about Brick and Skipper’s love for each other. _____

We learn that Brick injured his ankle. _____

Big Daddy enters the room. _____

Brick says that the relationship with Skipper was pure. _____


Character List: Write down all the adjectives used to describe each character. Find the definition of the words you don’t know.

Margaret:

Brick:

Big Daddy:

Big Mama:

Mae:

Gooper:

Reverend Tucker:

Doctor Baugh:

The children:


Analysis of Major Characters:

Why is Maggie the most interesting character?

What does Brick’s injury represent?

Why does Maggie call Big Daddy a “redneck’?

What does Mama desperately want?


Themes, Motifs, and Symbols:

What was American society’s view of homosexuality at the time?

What are the two “lies” in the play?

What does the image of the “cat” represent?

What is Big Daddy’s narcissistic love for Brick?

What do the children represent?

Symbols:What do these three things symbolize?

- Bed

- Console

- Crutch


Quiz

1. What is Gooper's occupation?
(A) He is a planter
(B) He is a defense attorney
(C) He is a corporate lawyer
(D) He is a sports annoucer

2. What is the name of Skipper and Brick's pro football team?
(A) The Dixie Chicks
(B) The Dixie Stars
(C) The Dixie Stripes
(D) The Dixie Cups

3. What happened to Big Daddy in Morocco?
(A) He was propositioned by a rent-boy
(B) He was fed to a man-eating plant
(C) He was eaten alive by a mob of street children
(D) He was propositioned by a child prostitute

4. What body part do Mae's children apparently lack?
(A) Chins
(B) Eyes
(C) Necks
(D) Legs

5. What did Maggie buy Big Daddy for his birthday?
(A) A clock
(B) A chandelier
(C) A tie
(D) A robe

6. Who is described as a cat at some point in the play?
(A) Maggie
(B) Mae
(C) Brick
(D) All of the above

7. Daddy believes that he suffers from which of the following?
(A) A ruptured spleen
(B) A spastic colon
(C) Appendicitis
(D) Liver failure

8. What is the ostensible object of Brick's disgust?
(A) Mendacity
(B) Time
(C) Women
(D) Children

9. Where did Maggie and Brick go to school?
(A) Emory
(B) Old Miss
(C) Duke
(D) Notre Dame

10. How old is Big Daddy?
(A) Seventy-five
(B) Fifty-five
(C) Seventy
(D) Sixty-five

11. Who was a cotton carnival queen?
(A) Maggie
(B) Big Mama
(C) Miss Sally
(D) Mae

12. What do the children sing to Big Daddy?
(A) Skinamarinka-dinka-dink
(B) My Heart Belongs to Daddy
(C) For He's a Jolly Good Fellow
(D) Yesterday Once More

13. What is Big Daddy's trademark word?
(A) Goddamn
(B) Shoot
(C) Darn
(D) Crap

14. What is Big Mama's name?
(A) Polly
(B) Cornelia
(C) Sally
(D) Ida

15. What were the names of the plantation's previous owners?
(A) Straw and Othello
(B) Straw and Ochello
(C) Ochello and Sawyer
(D) Othello and Sawyer

16. How many official versions of Cat are in circulation?
(A) Two
(B) Three
(C) Four
(D) One

17. Who directed the premiere of Cat?
(A) Burl Ives
(B) Richard Brooks
(C) Elia Kazan
(D) Madeleine Sherwood

18. When did Brick start drinking?
(A) When Skipper died
(B) When Maggie slept with Skipper
(C) When he injured his back
(D) When Big Daddy got sick

19. Who confronted Skipper on his love for Brick?
(A) Brick
(B) Big Daddy
(C) Gooper
(D) Maggie

20. Who revealed this love to Brick?
(A) Maggie
(B) Big Daddy
(C) Skipper
(D) Mae

21. How does Maggie get Brick to sleep with her?
(A) Big Mama convinces Brick to impregnate her
(B) Big Daddy commands Brick to do so
(C) She locks up his liquor
(D) She tricks him into thinking she is Skipper

22. Who tells Big Daddy that he is dying?
(A) Gooper
(B) Big Mama
(C) Brick
(D) Maggie

23.Who does Big Mama jostle in her lap?
(A) Big Daddy
(B) Mae
(C) Doctor Baugh
(D) Reverend Tooker

24. Who keeps calling from Memphis?
(A) Cornelia
(B) Sally
(C) Gladys
(D) Dixie

25. Who sleeps next to Maggie and Brick's room?
(A) Big Daddy and Big Mama
(B) Mae and Gooper
(C) Mae and Gooper's children
(D) The servants