She Matters Too
Close your eyes and picture yourself as a rich woman who has a beautiful physical appearance that can turn the heads of men and other women. Imagine yourself in the place of a woman who has everything she could ask for expect the love and acknowledgement from the person she loves and respect from his family. As a person, you would seek for that love, acknowledgment and respect. Even if you do have everything else, you still would not feel complete because you constantly long for the emotional and self-esteem needs that you are lacking. In Tennessee Williams’ play, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Margaret Pollitt is a woman who is living a fortunate life, but still lacks in emotional needs. Like any other person, Margaret also has her
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‘“Maggie-what did you lock the door for? To give us a little privacy for a while,”’ (Williams 19). Margaret tries to get Brick alone and have some privacy any chance she can get. Brick has not slept with her for so long that she constantly tries to have some intimate time with him. Her bold moves show how desperate she is to have Brick’s attention, even if it would embarrass Brick and herself. Margaret knows that she has a beautiful face and a beautiful body shape. ‘“That woman of yours has a better shape on her than Gooper’s got on his woman,”’ (Williams 39). Many men, including Big Daddy, have shown their appreciation towards Margaret for her physical appearance. She could easily cheat on Brick with other men if she wanted to, but she does not care for them. Despite the lack of attention that she gets from Brick, she stays with even if that means that she suffers through …show more content…
‘”I got a right to discuss my own brother with members of my own family which don’t include you,”’ (Brooks). Gooper talks to Margaret as if she is not a part of the family. Margaret is legally married to Brick which makes her a part of the family. She has every right to be counted as a member of the family just like Mae does. The fact that Gooper does not treat her as a family member shows that he has no respect for Margaret. Mae and Gooper are not the only one who has no respect for Margaret, their kids also have no respect for her. As kids, they do not treat her the way they should treat someone older than them. In the movie version, there is a scene when Margaret was saying something to one of Mae and Gooper’s kids and she aims the gun towards Margaret and fires it twice to interrupt Margaret from talking. By treating Margaret with a lack of respect shows that they have no breeding and they have no manners. As parents, Mae and Gooper should be the ones to teach their kids proper breeding and manners, especially towards people that are older than them. Instead, their kids do not have any respect for Margaret because they, themselves, do not have respect for her either. In Brick’s family, Margaret is an outcast from everyone else which makes her build walls to help her defend and protect herself from Brick’s
pick her up, she stayed with these men for a while and they gave her a
At the beginning of the short story Maggie's family is introduced, from her scrappy little brother Jimmie, to her short lived brother Tommie, her alcoholic mentally-abusive mother Mary, and her brutish father. Jimmie's friend Pete is introduced and becomes a mirror image of Jimmie later on in the book. They both are portrayed as Don Juans, the seducers of young women who treat women as objects rather than people. Maggie's father is as short-lived as her brother Tommie. However, he becomes a negative social factor in Maggie's life. Maggie’s mother was an essential symbol of hypocrisy and pessimism throughout the book, from her drinking to her last comment in the book “I'll Forgive Her” (Crane).
The Glass Menagerie closely parallels the life of the author. From the very job Tennessee held early in his life to the apartment he and his family lived in. Each of the characters presented, their actions taken and even the setting have been based on the past of Thomas Lanier Williams, better known as Tennessee Williams.
In this story, Maggie is a lot like her mother. They both are uneducated, loving, caring, and allow Dee to run over them. Maggie has been through more things than her mother has though, because of the incident that happened. Maggie has scars like Emily, except Maggie’s scars are from a house fire (319). The house fire has impacted Maggie’s life tremendously, since she is very self-conscious and shy. Walker stated that Maggie is “ashamed of the burn scars down her arms and legs (318). The mother is protective of Maggie and will be there for her whenever she needs her too. Even though her mother knows all her struggles, she still supports her and pushes her to be better. I think that is one reason she pushes her to marry John Thomas, because she wants her to become her own person and to be strong (319). The mother of “Everyday Use” is opposite from the mother in “I Stand Here Ironing”, because she is there for her children no matter what their financial status
In ‘The Great Gatsby’ Fitzgerald criticises the increase of consumerism in the 1920s and the abandonment of the original American Dream , highlighting that the increased focus on wealth and the social class associated with it has negative effects on relationships and the poorest sections of society. The concept of wealth being used as a measure of success and worth is also explored by Plath in ‘The Bell Jar’. Similarly, she draws attention to the superficial nature of this material American Dream which has extended into the 1960s, but highlights that gender determines people’s worth in society as well as class.
In The Glass Menagerie, by Tennessee Williams, the glass menagerie is a clear and powerful metaphor for each of the four characters, Tom, Laura, Amanda, and the Gentleman Caller. It represents their lives, personality, emotions, and other important characteristics.
Maggie is introduced as someone who was shy and walked like “a lame animal” sidling up to someone who “was ignorant enough to be kind” (156). This is partly because of her self-consciousness of the scar scattering her arms and legs. Dee, by comparison, is the picture of confidence. She walks and speaks as if the world owes her everything she ever asks for. She feels powerful for getting away from what she saw as a prison. While Maggie is humble and kind, Dee will not hesitate to demand things and is ruthless in her pursuit. At least, Dee is ruthless in her pursuits, in Mama’...
"Maggie will be nervous until after her sister goes: she will stand hopelessly in corners, homely and ashamed of the burn scars down her arms and legs, eying her sister with a mixture of envy and awe."(61) She is afraid of being weak and unable to project her happiness with the life she has chosen. Maggie attempts to remain quiet and reserved during the visit of her sister. The difference of their lifestyle interpretations is one of humble to extravagant. Unlike other young women, Maggie continues to live in an un-educated world where happiness is formed in the heart, not with possessions.
Big Mama, Maggie and Mae all have very different roles within the family as well as in their respective relationships. Big Mama is, in both literal and metaphorical terms, the mother of the family but her most important role is being Big Daddy’s wife. Through all the years her and Big Daddy have been married, she’s been hopelessly devoted the entire time. Even after all the treatment she’s received from Big Daddy and even the cancer scare, it’s obvious she is very much in love with Big Daddy: “And I did, I did so much. I did love you. I even loved your hate an’ your hardness, Big Daddy!” (II.39). In everything she does, she only looks to please Big Daddy as housewives were supposed to please their husbands even through her outspoken ways. Big Mama’s personal identity is a mixture of society’s norms and her love for Big Daddy. Maggie doesn’t necessarily have a positive role in the Pollitt family. She’s supposed to be pleasing her husband and having children, but she’s doing neither of these things and it’s clear the rest of the family is concerned or looking down upon her for it. Maggie is not fulfilling a woman’s typical role in her relationship with Brick, which to the family means something is wrong with her. Even Big Mama says, “Some single men stop drinkin’ when they get married and others start! Brick never touched liquor…” (I.22), showing how even she
Margaret is an intelligent, articulate, and ambitious woman who desires to rise up in social status by marrying a man of higher social rank. She attends to those above her, in hopes of elevating her status as she becomes closer to the upper-class. As a minor character, she plays a small yet crucial role in advancing Don John’s plot to slander Hero and spoil her wedding. As a lower-class character, Margaret serves as a foil to the rich girls, particularly Hero, who embodies every attitude and mindset Margaret does not. But she also offers an alternative perspective on the upper-class characters in the play. Because Margaret is victimized because of her social ambitions, punished for wanting to rise above her ...
Lies and Mendacity run rampant in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. They help keep the play going and keep it interesting. The play shows us the lies that people tell themselves and other instead of the truth that is hard to accept but must be said.
Not judging someone on their outward appearance, Lying ultimately gets you nowhere, Abusing people is never good, Treating people how you would like to be treated, and Staying true to yourself are just some of the moral and ethical lessons that I gathered from A Streetcar Named Desire. Published in 1946, this play shed light on the middle and lower classes around the time of the Great Depression. Some of these lessons arise because the nation was ready to embrace the “old fashioned values” of the home and families after World War II took place.
Daisy and Jordan are members of the elite class and are often presented as motionless, sitting or lying down, and when they do move it is leisurely. On the other hand, Myrtle is a member of the lower class and is depicted as annoyingly full of energy. During their journey to Tom and Daisy’s apartment, Daisy rapidly states “I’m going to make a list of all the things I’ve got to get. A massage and a wave and a collar for the dog and one of those cute little ashtrays where you touch a spring, and a wreath with a black silk bow for mother’s grave that’ll last all summer” (Fitzgerald, page 40). Myrtle’s abundance of energy is induced by her obsession with obtaining wealth. Despite drastic differences in how females are depicted based on their differences in wealth, both Daisy and Myrtle are treated as inferior to their husbands. This patriarchal view influences a feminist
Tennessee Williams’ Suddenly Last Summer is a one-act play with a cast of colourful characters ranging from the eccentric Violet to the troubled Catherine. One individual, George Holly, is more minor than others, and as such might get overlooked. However, the Fictional World method of analysis uncovers new insight into his nature. By analysing George’s character in the Social World of the play specifically, we get a better understanding of how traumatic and powerful the climax really is.
Portrayal of Women in The Glass Menagerie, A Streetcar Named Desire, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Orpheus Descending, Suddenly Last Summer, and Period of Adjustment