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Homosexual Theme in Tennessee William's Cat On A Hot Tin Roof
In his essay "Come back to the Locker Room Ag'in, Brick Honey!" Mark Royden Winchell discusses several aspects of the homosexual theme in Tennessee William's play Cat On A Hot Tin Roof. Winchell describes the play as subversive because it casts doubt onto the innocence of male companionship, the two most tolerant characters are the most overtly heterosexual characters, and homosexuality is depicted as a personal rather than social or political problem, despite the time period of this play. I think that Winchell is correct in all these thoughts, but what I want to know is what was Williams' approach, and that is never answered.
In Cat On A Hot Tin Roof Williams goes out of his way to question whether a very close male friendship can be purely and completely innocent. Winchell discusses this idea throughout his essay, but never gets to the simple point that literature up until the time of this play may have questioned the innocence of a female companionship, although even this was rarely overt, but,li...
In order to climb up the ladder of society, people oppress those characteristics that lead them to failure. During the 1950’s and 1960’s, homosexuality was seeing as a mental disease of the human race. Homosexuals did not fit in the schema of the American family. Tennessee Williams, in his play “The Cat on the Hot Tin Roof”, shows the effects of society´s views on homosexuals through the main character Brick. In addition to Williams´ play, the theatrical work, “Doubt” by John Shanley, also depicts the struggles that an African American kid undergoes in order to suppress his sexuality. Both plays show two characters in different social classes and from different races trying to survive the denial of society towards their sexual orientation. Through their oppression by male hegemony and with the help of the maternal figure in each play, both Brick and Donald struggle to overcome their fear of acceptance.
In 31BC Augustus won the battle of Actium against his former colleague in the triumvirate, but now bitter rival, Antony and the queen of Egypt, Cleopatra, after having been in the triumvirate since 43BC.
Susan Glaspell uses literary elements that show the readers the feminist theme in the play. The use of characters in this play really shows the feminist theme the most. Men in this play clearly demonstrates how men wer...
Augustus was remembered through out the entire empire and after. He was named the father of Rome. He united Rome as one, and still expanded the empire. But like every empire, sooner or later the great Roman Empire would fall as well. Many empires would rise and fall, and many revolutionized the world today, but none would compare to the impact Rome has on the world today
Many different depictions of gender roles exist in all times throughout the history of American culture and society. Some are well received and some are not. When pitted against each other for all intents and purposes of opposition, the portrayal of the aspects and common traits of masculinity and femininity are separated in a normal manner. However, when one gender expects the other to do its part and they are not satisfied with the results and demand more, things can shift from normal to extreme fairly quickly. This demand is more commonly attributed by the men within literary works. Examples of this can be seen in Tennessee Williams' “A Streetcar Named Desire”, where Stella is constantly being pushed around and being abused by her drunken husband Stanley, and also in Charlotte Perkins Gilman's “The Yellow Wallpaper”, where the female narrator is claimed unfit by her husband as she suffers from a sort of depression, and is generally looked down on for other reasons.
In the 19th Century, women had different roles and treated differently compared to today’s women in American society. In the past, men expected women to carry out the duties of a homemaker, which consisted of cleaning and cooking. In earlier years, men did not allow women to have opinions or carry on a job outside of the household. As today’s societies, women leave the house to carry on jobs that allow them to speak their minds and carry on roles that men carried out in earlier years. In the 19th Century, men stereotyped women to be insignificant, not think with their minds about issues outside of the kitchen or home. In the play Trifles, written by Susan Glaspell, the writer portrays how women in earlier years have no rights and men treat women like dirt. Trifles is based on real life events of a murder that Susan Glaspell covered during her work as a newspaper reporter in Des Moines and the play is based off of Susan Glaspell’s earlier writing, “A Jury of Her Peers”. The play is about a wife of a farmer that appears to be cold and filled with silence. After many years of the husband treating the wife terrible, the farmer’s wife snaps and murders her husband. In addition, the play portrays how men and women may stick together in same sex roles in certain situations. The men in the play are busy looking for evidence of proof to show Mrs. Wright murdered her husband. As for the women in the play, they stick together by hiding evidence to prove Mrs. Wright murdered her husband. Although men felt they were smarter than women in the earlier days, the play describes how women are expected of too much in their roles, which could cause a woman to emotionally snap, but leads to women banding together to prove that women can be...
As women's studies programs have proliferated throughout American universities, feminist "re-readings" of certain classic authors have provided us with the most nonsensical interpretations of these authors' texts. A case in point is that of Kathleen Margaret Lant's interpretation of Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire in her essay entitled "A Streetcar Named Misogyny." Throughout the essay, she continually misreads Williams' intention, which of course causes her to misunderstand the play itself. Claiming that the play "has proved vexing to audiences, directors, actors, readers, and critics" (Lant 227), she fails to see that it is she herself who finds the play vexing, because it does not fit nicely into the warped feminist structure she would try to impose upon it.
The play connects to Williams’s life and his struggle to find satisfaction in his sexual relationships. “Throughout his life Tennessee Williams was driven from one sexual encounter to another, exactly like Blanche, and like B...
...children's; in addition, Durang adds two homosexual characters: Tom and Ginny. This is evidence that For Whom the Belle Tolls does more than just provide a humorous approach to the situations in The Glass Menagerie: it shows how the American society and family have changed since Williams wrote his play. According to Durang, people have become more open with their personal feelings and sexuality, but they have also become more self-centered. Works Cited Durang, Christopher. For Whom the Southern Belle Tolls. Literature and Its Writers: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Eds. Ann Charters and Samuel Charters. Boston: Bedford Books, 1997. 1937-1948. Williams, Tennessee. "The Glass Menagerie." Literature and Its Writers: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Eds. Ann Charters and Samuel Charters. Boston: Bedford Books, 1997. 1704-1750.
Communication is a very important aspect of any type of relationship. There are many themes in the play, Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, by Tennessee Williams, but the major theme is that of isolation and the lack of communication. This type of theme involves many character such as Brick and Margaret. Big Daddy and his oldest son Gooper. And Big Daddy and his youngest son Brick. The entire Pollitt family manifests the theme isolation and lack of communication.
...ve been suffering mental abuse by their husband. This play presents the voice of feminism and tries to illustrate that the power of women is slightly different, but can be strong enough to influence the male dominated society. Although all women are being oppressed in the patriarchal society at that time, Glaspell uses this play as a feminist glory in a witty way to win over men. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters solve the crime by reflecting on Minnie Wright’s unhappy marriage that leads her to murdering. Using the relationship between female and male characters throughout the play, Glaspell speaks up to emphasize how the patriarchal society underestimated women’s rights and restricted women’s desires.
In this play, the men and women characters are separated even from their first entrance onto the stage. To the intuitive reader (or playgoer), the gender differences are immediately apparent when the men walk confidently into the room and over to the heater while the women timidly creep only through the door and stand huddled together. This separation between genders becomes more apparent when the characters proceed in investigating the murder. The men focus on means while the women focus on motive: action vs. emotion. While the men...
Julius Caesar was one of the world’s greatest influential people in history. Not only did he have the guts to step up to the senators of the Roman Empire and make new laws, he also set a new foundation for the Roman people. He created many new laws and lead people to see things in a different prospective. As military leader, he won a great series of battles. Buying the trust of his people and supplying his country with more money.
Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew and Ibsen’s A Doll’s House portray women in many ways. Both authors have strong feelings about women and weren’t afraid to express them in their writing. Shakespeare’s views about women differed greatly with those of Ibsen’s. Both Kate, from Taming of the Shrew, and Nora, from A Doll’s House, were mistreated by the men in their lives. Throughout this paper you will hear supporting details about how the two authors had contrasting ideas about the way men should treat women.
Many people read Jane Austen’s fiction novels and only see her writing as cliché and old fashioned. But her stories have a classic, undying theme to them. Stories that are still relatable to readers today. In the last 10 years Austen’s books have been made into a number of television adaptations. Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Sense and Sensibility, and Mansfield Park. Not only do we see Austen’s story lines through her books and the movies, but many modern authors and movie directors use Austen as an inspiration when writing their books and movie scripts. Austen’s stories capture the heart of many people, but she also captures the heart of women today. Women who strive to abolish the social discrimination against themselves. It is a debatable