Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
A Pulitzer-winning play about family deceit and desire.
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is a three-act play from 1955, written by Tennessee Williams and set in the American South. It grew out of Williams’s own 1952 short story “Three Players of a Summer Game” and took him from 1953 to 1955 to complete. The play ranks among Williams’s best-known works and was his personal favorite; it earned the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1955. The action takes place on the Mississippi Delta plantation of Big Daddy Pollitt, a wealthy cotton grower, and focuses on the tensions within his family, especially between his son Brick and Brick’s wife, Maggie, who is nicknamed “the Cat.”
The play explores themes like social conventions, greed, surface-level behavior, dishonesty, decay, sexual longing, emotional suppression, and mortality. Much of the dialogue uses eye dialect—nonstandard spellings meant to capture Southern American accents. The original 1955 stage production featured Barbara Bel Geddes, Burl Ives, and Ben Gazzara. A 1958 film adaptation starred Elizabeth Taylor as Maggie and Paul Newman as Brick, with Ives and Madeleine Sherwood repeating their stage roles. In 1974, Williams made significant cuts and changes to the play for a revival; that revised version has been the basis for most later productions, which have been many.
**Plot**
A Southern family is in turmoil, centered on the marriage of Brick and Margaret (often called Maggie or “Maggie the Cat”). The crisis unfolds during a single evening’s gathering at the family’s Mississippi plantation, held to celebrate the birthday of patriarch Big Daddy Pollitt, “the Delta’s biggest cotton-planter,” and his return from the Ochsner Clinic, where he believes he received a clean health report. In truth, everyone except Big Daddy and his wife, Big Mama, knows that Big Daddy is dying of cancer. The family has lied to both parents to spare them pain on this occasion, but the evening reveals that the Pollitts have long built a web of deception.
Maggie, determined and attractive, escaped a poor childhood by marrying into the wealthy Pollitt family but now feels unfulfilled. The family knows that Brick has not slept with Maggie for a long time, straining their marriage. Brick, a former football star past his prime, frustrates Maggie by ignoring his brother Gooper’s efforts to take control of the family fortune. Brick’s indifference and heavy drinking have worsened since the suicide of his c
- type
- Play
- author
- Tennessee Williams
- year_written
- 1953–1955
- premiere_year
- 1955
- genre
- Drama
- setting
- Mississippi Delta plantation home
- notable_award
- Pulitzer Prize for Drama (1955)
Lore & Background
The play, an adaptation of Williams's 1952 short story 'Three Players of a Summer Game', was written between 1953 and 1955. Set in the plantation home of Big Daddy Pollitt, a wealthy cotton tycoon, the story unfolds over one evening as the family gathers for Big Daddy's birthday. The family has lied to Big Daddy and Big Mama about his terminal cancer, and the play explores the web of deceit among them, particularly between Brick and his wife Maggie.
Maggie, determined and beautiful, has escaped poverty to marry into the Pollitts but finds her marriage strained because Brick has not slept with her for a long time. Brick, an aging football hero, is indifferent to his brother Gooper's attempts to gain control of the family fortune, and his drinking has escalated since the suicide of his friend Skipper. The play confronts the true nature of Brick's friendship with Skipper, which appears to be the source of Brick's sorrow.
Mendacity is a recurring theme, with Brick using the word to express disgust with the lies around him. The play also focuses on how humans deal with death, futility, and nihilism. The dialogue often uses eye dialect to represent Southern accents. The original Broadway production opened in 1955, directed by Elia Kazan, who convinced Williams to rewrite the third act. Williams made further substantial revisions for a 1974 revival, which has been the version used for most subsequent revivals.
Reader's Guide
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof remains one of Tennessee Williams's most significant works, winning the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1955. Its exploration of mendacity, sexual desire, repression, and death within a wealthy Southern family has made it a staple of American theater. The play's original production featured notable actors such as Barbara Bel Geddes, Burl Ives, and Ben Gazzara, and was adapted into a 1958 film starring Elizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman. Williams's willingness to revise the play for a 1974 revival, including substantial excisions and alterations, resulted in a version that has been used for most subsequent productions. The play's themes of falsehoods and facing death, along with its use of Southern dialect, continue to resonate with audiences and scholars, cementing its place in the canon of American drama.
Did You Know?
- The play was adapted from Tennessee Williams's 1952 short story 'Three Players of a Summer Game'.
- The original Broadway production opened at the Morosco Theater on March 24, 1955.
- Williams made substantial excisions and alterations to the play for a 1974 revival, which has been the version used for most subsequent revivals.
- The 1958 film adaptation starred Elizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman as Maggie and Brick.
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