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A review by anjumstar
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams
5.0
After reading Glass Menagerie and not enjoying it, I didn't have high hopes for Cat, despite how much I enjoyed Streetcar. Fortunately, I was pleasantly surprised. First of all, it was touching how much of Mr. Williams we got to see in Brick. Touching and tragic. Brick was an endlessly tragic character, depicted to perfection, which goes to show how well Mr. Williams knew him. Big in alcoholism and being homosexual at the beginning of the 20th century. In any note after the play, Mr. Williams wrote that it was important to him that Brick not go through any major character growth, even after his conversation with Big Daddy. Because that would be dishonest tot the truth of his condition. I fully agree. I love character growth but somehow this hit so much deeper.
Then there was the sibling rivalry between Goober and Brick. This made Goober's character understandable and even a little sympathetic. It made me hungry to understand exactly what childhood was like in this house that made Brick so heavily favored over Goober. Obviously Brick had a prime of life where he was a football star, so that at the very least must have been part of it. But I haven't say, as one criticism, that Big Daddy and Big Mama's favoritism and how they didn't even try to hide it was a little outlandish. If I were Goober I would have thrown pinches years ago.
My favorite character, aside from Brick, for whom I've grown a softness, was, of course, Maggie. The sympathetic character of the play. Her plight was heartbreaking and you could see how it would end up for her, I'd she stayed in the marriage, in Big Mama. Those to marriages were eerily similar and it was heartbreaking, as neither were good. But Maggie had spunk. She wasn't yet beaten down and it was nice to see her still feisty as a cat. Her ploy at the end, I think, captured it perfectly, even if her plan was doomed to failure. I'm just guessing.
Another character I was surprised to love was Big Daddy. Act II was all about Brick and Big Daddy. We got to see that dynamic of a family that never truly talks, which I sympathize with greatly, as that's the nature of my family. But we also saw how much Big Daddy wanted for that not to be true. And how surprisingly open-minded and good Big Daddy was, as opposed to the stereotype it was so easy to pit him as at first. And them Brick had to go and break him. Dangit, Brick!
Long story short, the plot kind of went around in circles, but the characters were phenomenal. This is how Tennessee Williams plays tend to work out. But the breakthrough moments of this story were worth the repetitive parts as well as the lulls. Totally recommend!
Then there was the sibling rivalry between Goober and Brick. This made Goober's character understandable and even a little sympathetic. It made me hungry to understand exactly what childhood was like in this house that made Brick so heavily favored over Goober. Obviously Brick had a prime of life where he was a football star, so that at the very least must have been part of it. But I haven't say, as one criticism, that Big Daddy and Big Mama's favoritism and how they didn't even try to hide it was a little outlandish. If I were Goober I would have thrown pinches years ago.
My favorite character, aside from Brick, for whom I've grown a softness, was, of course, Maggie. The sympathetic character of the play. Her plight was heartbreaking and you could see how it would end up for her, I'd she stayed in the marriage, in Big Mama. Those to marriages were eerily similar and it was heartbreaking, as neither were good. But Maggie had spunk. She wasn't yet beaten down and it was nice to see her still feisty as a cat. Her ploy at the end, I think, captured it perfectly, even if her plan was doomed to failure. I'm just guessing.
Another character I was surprised to love was Big Daddy. Act II was all about Brick and Big Daddy. We got to see that dynamic of a family that never truly talks, which I sympathize with greatly, as that's the nature of my family. But we also saw how much Big Daddy wanted for that not to be true. And how surprisingly open-minded and good Big Daddy was, as opposed to the stereotype it was so easy to pit him as at first. And them Brick had to go and break him. Dangit, Brick!
Long story short, the plot kind of went around in circles, but the characters were phenomenal. This is how Tennessee Williams plays tend to work out. But the breakthrough moments of this story were worth the repetitive parts as well as the lulls. Totally recommend!