Brick & Maggie Relationship in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Tennessee Williams’ “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” is an interesting yet inspirational play that revolves around an ostensibly hollow relationship between Brick and Maggie, the two leading characters. As far as Maggie is concerned, her marital life is matched up to the life of a cat living on a hot tin roof. Hence, the play’s title makes the reader comprehend the Brick’s and Maggie’s relationship – a knotty and complicated one. The reason is simple i.e. Brick’s dilemma over his gender inclination. Due to his failure as a homosexual, Brick also detests being a heterosexual. In addition, he is annoyed by Maggie as she is seen worsening the life of Skipper – Brick’s homosexual friend at one occasion (Williams).

It is easily observable that Brick cannot stand Maggie’s presence but still manages to endure her. He neither likes to talk nor respond to her. Their marriage was once great bit eventually malformed. If the truth is told, he tied the knot with her for proving his heterosexuality and succeeded in doing so. However, their marriage fell apart with the passage of time. Whereas Maggie yearns for her husband’s love and attention, Brick is not interested. Believing that she can sustain her troubled married life, she compares herself to the cat who thinks she can live on a hot tin roof. However, she does not get triumphant in winning the love of her husband considering his emptiness and lack of concern for her (Williams). To cut a long story short, it can be said that the relationship between Maggie and Brick is like a broken glass whereby the woman constantly tries to recreate it but fails.

Reference

Williams, Tennessee. Cat on a hot tin roof. Stuttgart: Reclam, 2013. Print.