Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams (Summary)

 

Cat on a hot tin Roof

By Tennessee Williams

Margaret marches into the bedroom, undressing, while Brick showers in the connecting bathroom. She complains that one of Gooper’s “no-neck monsters” hit her with a hot buttered biscuit, so she has to change. Brick finishes his shower and reluctantly engages in the conversation, supporting himself on the towel rack as he does so because he has a broken ankle. Margaret continues to complain about Mae and Gooper (Brick's brother) and their five kids while standing in her slip.

Margaret says that Mae and Gooper aim to cut Brick out of Big Daddy’s estate, now that they have a report confirming that Big Daddy is dying of cancer. She continues to complain about Brick’s behaviour, which she says is only making it easier for Mae and Gooper to make a case against giving him part of the inheritance. Brick has quit work, started drinking, and just last night he injured his ankle while attempting to jump hurdles on the high school track field. 

However, Margaret says that Brick still has one big advantage—Big Daddy dotes on him and dislikes Gooper and Mae. Margaret also suspects that Big Daddy has a “lech” for her, from the way he stares at her body when she’s talking to him. She continues to tell Brick about the details of last night’s supper, how odious Mae and Gooper were, talking about their children, and how little Big Daddy seemed to care. Brick doesn’t seem to be paying much attention to the conversation, however. Margaret continues on, talking about how Gooper believes he took a step up on the social ladder by marrying Mae, when in reality, her family was only money, and then they lost that too. 

As Margaret continues to make fun of Mae’s title as a former cotton carnival queen, she suddenly notices the way that Brick is staring at her. Frightened, she asks Brick why he’s looking at her like that. Brick claims that he wasn’t conscious of looking at her, but Margaret continues to speak. She says that she’s aware that she’s gone through a transformation and become thick-skinned and mean.

When Margaret recovers and gets Brick’s attention again, she tells him that she gets lonely. Brick tells her that everyone gets lonely, but Margaret continues, informing him that living with someone you love can be lonelier than living alone, when the person you love doesn’t love you back. Brick asks whether she would like to live alone, and Margaret vehemently says no—before turning the conversation to more ordinary matters. She asks Brick whether he had a nice shower and offers him an alcohol or cologne rub. Brick says that cologne rubs are nice after a workout, but he hasn’t been working out lately. 

Margaret replies that it’s impossible to tell he hasn’t been working out—in fact, she thinks he might have gotten better looking since he started to drink. She starts to mention Brick friend Skipper before abruptly interrupting herself and apologizing. She starts reminiscing about how wonderful Brick was as a lover and says that if she thought he would never make love to her again, she would find a knife and stab herself in the heart. She hasn’t given up hope, however, and compares herself to a cat on a hot tin roof—trying to stay on the roof as long as she can. 

Margaret again asks what Brick was thinking of when he was looking at her. She asks whether he was thinking of Skipper, and Brick ignores her, as Margaret informs him that the “laws of silence don’t work.” Brick drops his crutch, and when Margaret tells him to lean on her instead, he loses his temper, yelling that he doesn’t want to lean on her shoulder. Margaret hurriedly hands him his crutch.

Margaret tells Brick that they mustn’t shout because the walls have ears—but she believes that a crack in his composure is a good sign. Brick smiles over a new drink he has poured for himself and says he only lost his temper because the “click” hasn’t happened yet. He explains that he gets a “click” that makes him peaceful after he’s had enough to drink.

Brick asks Margaret for a favor and tells her to keep her voice down. Margaret whispers that she’ll keep her voice down if he agrees to make this drink his last until after Big Daddy’s birthday party, which Brick has forgotten about. She tries to get Brick to sign a card for his present to Big Daddy so that Big Daddy won’t know that Brick forgot his birthday, but Brick resists.

Brick says that they decided on certain conditions when Brick agreed to continue living with Margaret, but Margaret retorts that they aren’t living together—just occupying the same cage. She interrupts their argument when she hears footsteps in the hall.

Mae enters, carrying the bow of an archery set. She asks whether it belongs to Brick, and Margaret responds that the bow is her Diana Trophy, won at an intercollegiate archery contest. Mae reproaches her for leaving such a dangerous item around children, and a tense exchange ensues as Margaret puts away the bow. Mae tells Brick about her children’s musical performance for Big Daddy after supper, and Margaret asks why Mae’s children all have dogs’ names—Dixie, Trixie, Buster, Sonny, Polly. Mae asks Margaret why she’s so catty, and Margaret responds that she’s a cat. Mae starts to explain her children’s names before someone downstairs calls her away.

Brick tells Margaret that being catty doesn’t help matters, and Margaret says she knows that—but she’s eaten up with longing and envy. Brick tells her that she’s spoiling his liquor with her voice, and Margaret says that she feels all the time “like a cat on a hot tin roof.” Brick’s response is that cats can jump off roofs and land on their feet—he advises her to jump and take a lover. She says that she can’t see other men and wishes Brick would get fat or ugly so that she could stand their lack of a sex life. 

Margaret locks the door, and Brick tells her not to make a fool of herself. He tells her that she agreed to conditions, and she screams that she can’t accept them and seizes his shoulder. He breaks away from her and grabs a small chair to block her. They pause before breaking into laughter, at which point Big Mama calls through the door.

Big Mama says she has wonderful news about Big Daddy. Margaret opens the door while Brick hobbles into the bathroom, but Big Mama meanwhile has entered through the other entrance, Gooper and Mae’s gallery door. Big Mama tells Brick to come out of the bathroom so that she can give him the good news. Meanwhile, she comments on Margaret wearing only a slip, and Margaret explains that one of Gooper and Mae’s children used her dress as a napkin. Big Mama accuses Margaret of disliking children, but Margaret denies it—she says she just likes well brought up children. Big Mama responds that she ought to have some of her own then and bring them up well.

Big Mama yells for Brick again and then discloses that the results of Big Daddy’s health report were all negative—he’s in fine condition, save for a “spastic colon.” Big Mama is disappointed with Brick’s lack of response, saying that she fell on her knees when she heard the news. She tells them to get dressed, since everyone’s coming up to their room to celebrate, on account of Brick’s broken ankle. One of the black servants interrupts to say that there’s a Miss Sally on the phone, and Big Mama shouts into the phone before passing it on to Margaret to deliver the news about Big Daddy’s health report.

As Big Mama leaves the room, she jerks her finger towards the liquor cabinet to ask whether Brick’s been drinking, and Margaret pretends not to understand. Big Mama rushes back and tells her to stop playing dumb. Margaret laughs and answers that he might have had a highball after supper. Big Mama tells her not to laugh and that Brick started drinking after he got married. She asks whether Margaret makes Brick happy in bed, to Margaret’s indignation. Pointing at the bed, Big Mama that when a marriage goes on the rocks, the rocks are there—and leaves the room with Margaret feeling alone and fuming. Margaret rushes to the mirror and asks, “Who are you?” She answers herself in a high voice: “I am Maggie the Cat!”

Margaret straightens when Brick exits the bathroom. She announces that she believes their sex life will revive as suddenly as it stopped, and that’s why she keeps herself attractive. She says that other men still look at her and recounts the story of one good-looking man who tried to force his way into a powder room with her at a party. Brick asks why she didn’t let him in, and she responds that she’s not that common and also wouldn’t risk letting anyone catch her cheating. She doesn’t want to give him any excuse to divorce her. Brick responds that he’d be relieved to know that she took a lover, but Margaret says that she’ll take no chances—she’d rather stay on her hot tin roof.

Brick tells Margaret that she could leave him, but she refuses and adds that he wouldn’t have a cent to pay for it except for what he gets from Big Daddy, who’s dying of cancer anyway. Brick looks surprised and says that Big Mama reported that the results were good. Margaret reveals that both Big Mama and Big Daddy were given a false story and that Big Mama will find out the truth after the night’s party. In any case, the cancer is malignant, and this is why Gooper and Mae have been trying to convey Brick and Maggie’s shortcomings to Big Daddy before he makes a will.

Margaret says that she’ll defeat Gooper and Mae though. She launches into a rant about having been poor all her life, always having to kiss up to relatives she didn’t like, just because they had money. She says this is why she’s like a cat on a hot tin roof—it’s one thing to be young and poor, but she doesn’t want to be old and poor too.

Margaret gets visibly upset again, moving restlessly about the room as she says that she made her fatal mistake when she told Brick about the “thing with Skipper.” Brick warns her to stop talking about Skipper, but Maggie continues. She says that she and Skipper made love, but they both did it to feel closer to Brick. Brick says that Skipper is the one who told him first. Maggie doesn’t see why that matters and continues to speak, as Brick turns and calls to a little girl over the balcony, telling her to get everyone to come upstairs now. Margaret says that she couldn’t stop herself from speaking, even if everyone were there.

Margaret remembers a double date they had in school, during which it seemed more like Skipper and Brick were on a date, and the girls were chaperoning. Brick interrupts the memory, threatening to hit her with his crutch. He says that his friendship with Skipper was the one true thing in his life, and he accuses her of making it dirty. Margaret denies this and says she’s aware that only Skipper ever harboured even unconscious sexual feelings for Brick. She reminisces about the beginning of their marriage, which was ideal and happy, but adds that eventually something turned bad. Skipper started drinking, and one evening, Margaret drank with him before accusing him of loving her husband. He slapped her and later that night, they made love—afterwards, Skipper gave in completely to drinking.

Brick continues to try to attack Margaret with his crutch as she tells this story. She says that she knows what she did was wrong, but that Skipper is dead and she’s alive. Brick hurls his crutch at her and misses, just as Mae and Gooper daughter Dixie runs into the room with a cap pistol and shouts, “Bang, bang, bang!” Breathless, Margaret tells her that someone ought to teach her manners.

Ignoring Margaret, Dixie asks Brick why he’s on the floor. Brick responds that he tried to kill her Aunt Margaret, but failed, and asks Dixie to fetch his crutch for him. Margaret explains that Brick broke his ankle trying to jump hurdles on the high school track field, and when Dixie asks Brick why he was jumping hurdles, he replies that people like to do what they used to do, even when they’ve stopped being able to do it.

Margaret tells Dixie to go away, and Dixie points the cap pistol at Margaret, who loses her temper and yells for Dixie to get out. Dixie says that Margaret’s just jealous because she can’t have children herself. This leaves Margaret shaken, and after Dixie exits, Margaret tells Brick that she went to see a gynaecologist in Memphis, and the doctor confirmed that she can bear children. Brick says he doesn’t know how she’s going to have a child by a man who can’t stand her, and Maggie responds that she’ll figure it out. She wheels around and announces that everyone is coming up to the room now.

A group enters, with Big Daddy in the lead, followed by Reverend Tooker and Gooper, who are discussing memorials. Big Daddy interrupts the talk about memorials, asking whether they think someone’s going to die. Reverend Tooker laughs awkwardly, as Mae and Doctor Baugh appear, talking about the children’s immunizations. Margaret tells Brick to turn on the Hi-Fi. When he ignores her, she turns it on herself, and Big Daddy shouts to shut it off again. The speaker is turned off immediately, as Big Mama enters the room and calls for Brick. Big Daddy shouts to turn the speakers back on again, and everyone laughs, at Big Mama’s expense. She herself laughs it off and approaches Brick.

Big Mama fusses over Brick and flops down on the couch, pulling the reverend onto her as a joke. Big Daddy bellows at her to stop joking around, and Big Mama signals the cue for the black servants to bring in Big Daddy’s birthday cake and champagne. Everyone except Brick sings “Happy birthday to you,” and when that’s finished, Mae signals at her children to sing another song about how much they love Big Daddy and Big Mama. 

Moved by the spectacle, Big Mama again launches into a speech about the wonderful results of the health report. Margaret interjects, asking Brick whether he’s given Big Daddy his birthday present yet. Gooper bets that Brick doesn’t know what the present is, while Margaret opens the package. She sounds surprised as she pulls out a cashmere robe, but Mae accuses her of faking the surprise, since she happens to know that Margaret purchased it last Saturday. As the conversation gets cattier, Big Daddy bellows for quiet. The reverend unfortunately finishes a sentence in the silence after everyone stops speaking, and Big Daddy turns on him, accusing him of speaking about memorials again.

As the atmosphere in the room grows uncomfortable, Big Daddy turns to Brick and asks what he was doing on the high school track field last night. In crude language, he asks whether Brick was laying a woman, while Mae quickly ushers the reverend out on the gallery. Brick denies it, and Big Daddy continues to interrogate him, asking whether he was drunk. Big Mama and Margaret try to change the subject, drawing attention back to the cake, but Big Daddy bellows in disgust for them to stop. Meanwhile, Gooper has retreated to the gallery as well.

Big Daddy says that he’s tired of Big Mama trying to take over because she thought he was dying of cancer. Big Mama tells him to hush, but he continues. He says that he made the plantation as successful as it was by himself, and he refuses to let her take it over now. Big Daddy claims that his colon has been made spastic by disgust for hypocrisy and liars. Big Mama, upset, exclaims that she has loved him all these years, but he doesn’t believe her. She rushes out onto the gallery, as Big Daddy says to himself, “Wouldn’t it be funny if that was true…”

Big Daddy asks to speak to Brick, and Margaret delivers him, exiting onto the gallery with a kiss, which Brick wipes off. At this point, Big Daddy and Brick are the only ones left in the bedroom, and all the others are out on the gallery. Big Daddy compares Margaret and Mae, and he and Brick agree that they both look like a couple of cats on a hot tin roof. Brick says it’s because they’re trying to get a piece of Big Daddy’s land, and Big Daddy responds that they have a surprise coming to them—he’s not planning to die for a while yet.

Big Daddy hears a sound from the bedroom and asks who’s there. Mae appears by the gallery entrance, and Big Daddy tells her to stop spying. Mae accuses him of being unkind to those who love him, to which Big Daddy tells her to shut up. He says that he plans to move Mae and Gooper out of the room next to Margaret and Brick’s, since all they do is spy and report their findings to Big Mama. Mae leaves the room dramatically, pressing a handkerchief to her nose.

Big Daddy tells Brick that Mae and Gooper have reported that Brick won’t sleep with Margaret. He asks whether this is true and tells Brick to get rid of Margaret if he doesn’t like her. Brick, meanwhile, has gone to the liquor cabinet to freshen his drink, and Big Daddy tells him he has a real liquor problem. He advises Brick to quit drinking and stop throwing his life away. Brick agrees, without really listening. Big Daddy comments that it’s hard to truly communicate.

Meanwhile, the clock chimes, and Brick remarks on how pleasant the chiming sound is. Big Daddy says that he and Big Mama bought the clock on their European tour. Big Daddy adds that he’s lucky he’s a rich man because Big Mama bought so many items on that tour. He tells Brick to guess how much he’s worth, and when Brick doesn’t respond, Big Daddy informs him that he’s worth ten million dollars and has 28,000 acres of the richest land on this side of the Nile. He concludes on a sombre note, however, saying that a man can’t buy his life. He continues to reminisce about his trip to Europe, saying that he has enough money to feed all of Barcelona, and remembers how an Arab woman sent her naked child to him to proposition him for sex. He claims that rich men hoard their money to buy items, however, because they hope that one of their purchases will turn out to be life everlasting. 

Brick pours himself another drink and informs Big Daddy that he’s talking a lot tonight. Brick says that he prefers "solid quiet" and asks whether Big Daddy’s through talking to him. Brick tells Big Daddy that they never truly talk—he tries to look like he listens, but he never actually listens. Meanwhile, Big Daddy closes the gallery doors so that he and Brick are alone, and asks Brick whether he’s been downright terrified of anything in his life. Big Daddy continues on to say that he thought he really had cancer. With the new health report though, he feels much better.

Big Daddy announces to Brick that he’s contemplating "pleasure with women." He says that he slept with Big Mama until five years ago, when he was sixty, and he never even liked her. Big Mama bustles through the room on the way to answer the phone down the hall. Big Daddy tells her she should go through a different room, but she just makes a playful face at him and hurries through. Brick has started to hobble towards the gallery doors to leave, but Big Daddy tells him that the talk’s not finished yet. Big Mama finishes talking to Miss Sally on the phone, but when she tries to walk back through the room, Big Daddy closes the door and doesn't let her in. After entreating Big Daddy to take back his earlier words about her trying to take over the plantation, she retreats down the hall with a sob.

As Big Daddy goes back to contemplating pleasure with women, talking about how he plans to use his wealth to secure a young woman, Brick rises with effort. Big Daddy asks Brick what makes him so restless, and Brick responds that the “click” hasn’t happened yet. He explains the click he gets when he drinks enough alcohol, and Big Daddy, astonished, calls him an alcoholic, which Brick calmly accepts. Brick attempts to leave again, saying that this talk is like all the others they’ve had, going nowhere. Big Daddy seizes Brick’s crutch and tosses it across the room. Big Daddy continues to talk about his test results and how he believed he had cancer, and Brick makes a wild dash for his crutch.

Big Daddy yells at him to stay, and Big Mama rushes in to see what all the yelling is about. Big Daddy tells her to get out, and she runs out, sobbing. Brick attempts to hobble towards the gallery again, but Big Daddy takes his crutch again. Big Daddy demands to know why Brick drinks and refuses to return the crutch until he gets an answer. He tells Brick that he’ll pour him a drink if Brick says why he drinks. Brick responds that he drinks out of disgust. Big Daddy asks what he’s disgusted with, but Brick refuses to say until Big Daddy pours him a drink. Brick responds that he’s disgusted by mendacity, or lying and liars.

The children start chanting that they want Big Daddy, and Gooper appears in the gallery door to ask him to come and see the rest of the family, but Big Daddy shuts him out. He demands to know who’s been lying to Brick. Big Daddy says he knows all about mendacity, having had to lie about caring for Big Mama, for Gooper, for Mae—in fact, he says the only one he’s ever had any devotion to in his life is Brick. He says there’s nothing to live with other than mendacity. Brick contradicts him, holding up his glass and saying that liquor is something else to live with.

Big Daddy informs Brick that that’s not living. He says that he couldn’t decide who to make his will out to before the health report came in—to give it to Gooper and Mae or to support Brick as he rotted away. Brick responds with indifference before heading to the gallery door to watch Big Daddy’s birthday fireworks. Big Daddy stops Brick. He says that they shouldn’t leave the conversation there, without being fully honest with each other. Brick says that he’s never lied to Big Daddy, but they’ve never truly talked to each other either. Big Daddy wants to continue the discussion about Brick’s drinking.

Big Daddy suggests that Brick goes back to sports announcing, but Brick responds that he hates to sit in a glass box watching games he can no longer play. Big Daddy comments that Brick started drinking when his friend Skipper died. There’s a silence for a few moments, and then Brick asks what Big Daddy is suggesting. Big Daddy says he’s suggesting nothing, but that Gooper and Mae suggested that there was something off about Brick’s friendship with Skipper. Brick loses his composure, asking who else has made the suggestion.

Brick yells at Big Daddy for accusing him, his son, of being a queer. As Big Daddy denies this, Reverend Tooker steps in to look for the bathroom. Big Daddy directs him on his way, and continues talking. He says he’s seen a lot in his life, and that the previous plantation owners, Jack Straw and Peter Ochello, had a special relationship. When Jack Straw died, Ochello stopped eating and died too. Brick wheels around and throws his glass across the room, shouting at Big Daddy. Completely losing his composure, Brick accuses Big Daddy of insinuating that Brick and Skipper performed sodomy together. He charges Big Daddy with comparing Brick and Skipper to a pair of dirty old men like Ochello and Straw. Brick drops his crutch and falls without noticing the pain, while Big Daddy helps him up, trying to calm him down.

Brick says that there was a pledge at his former fraternity who was found attempting to do an “unnatural thing” and was chased off campus. The pledge fled all the way to North Africa. Brick asks why true friendship between two men can’t be respected as something pure and decent. Big Daddy once again says that it’s hard to talk, but instead of letting it go, he asks why Skipper started drinking. Brick decides he’s going to tell Big Daddy the truth about the health report. First, though, he grabs another drink and starts telling Big Daddy his version of what happened with Skipper. He says that Margaret was jealous of their friendship and started planting in Skipper the idea that he was in love with Brick, and Skipper went to bed with Maggie to prove it wasn’t true. When that didn’t work out, however, he believed it was true.

Big Daddy continues to press Brick, believing that he purposefully left something out of the story. Finally, Brick admits that Skipper called Brick long-distance to give a drunken confession of love, and Brick hung up on him. That was the last they spoke to each other. Big Daddy tells Brick that his disgust is really with himself for digging the grave of his friend before he’d face the truth with him.

Brick says that no one—Big Daddy included—can face the truth. Brick blurts out that everyone but Big Daddy knows the truth of the health report, for example. As Big Daddy faces this revelation, Brick swings around on his crutches, finally escaping to the gallery. Big Daddy shouts for Brick, and Brick returns to apologize, admitting it’s hard for him to understand that anyone cares whether they live or die anymore. Big Daddy passionately condemns all liars before leaving the room and retreating down the hall. Down the hall, there is the sound of a child being slapped. It runs through the room, crying, and out of the hall door.

Everyone but Brick trickles back into the room, calling for Big Daddy. Big Mama says that she believes Big Daddy has left because he was just worn out, but was really very happy to see family. Margaret goes to the gallery to fetch Brick, while Big Mama starts to get nervous that the family is gathering around her. Mae suggests that Brick said something he shouldn’t have said to Big Daddy, and Big Mama wants to know what that might be. Before Gooper can say anything, Mae rushes over to Big Mama and gives her a hug, which Big Mama impatiently pushes off. Big Mama starts talking about Brick’s drinking, as Brick appears in the room behind her. Brick immediately heads for the liquor cabinet.

Margaret tells Brick to sit with Big Mama as they deliver the news, but he tells Margaret to sit with her instead. Gooper and Mae reveal the news that Big Daddy actually does have cancer. In hysterics, Big Mama calls for Brick, her “only son.” This statement offends Mae and Gooper, and Gooper asks what that makes him. Big Mama responds that Gooper never liked Big Daddy. Reverend Tooker slips out. Doctor Baugh leaves a package of morphine on the table in case Big Daddy has pain, and then he leaves as well.

Big Mama tells Margaret that she’s got to help get Brick sober again so that he can take hold of the estate, which sends Gooper and Mae into a panic. They say that Brick is much too irresponsible to take hold of things, and Margaret comes to his defense, saying that Gooper and Mae’s campaign against Brick is founded completely in avarice and greed. Gooper, furious, admits that he does, in fact, resent Brick and Big Daddy’s favouritism, but he knows enough to protect his own interests. Mae and Gooper grow increasingly nasty towards Margaret and Brick as Brick reenters the room. Big Mama tells them to hush, and Gooper signals for his briefcase. He pulls out a large sheaf of papers and says that he’s drafted a trusteeship. Infuriated, calling the document "crap" because that's the word Big Daddy uses when he's disgusted, Big Mama tells him to put it away or she’ll tear it up. 

Meanwhile, Brick is drinking and singing to the moon. Big Mama says that he looks just like he did when he was a little boy. Big Mama tells Brick that Big Daddy’s fondest dream would be to have a grandson from Brick. Mae responds that it’s too bad Margaret and Brick can’t oblige. In response, Margaret grows determined and says she has an announcement to make. Margaret announces that she and Brick are going to have a child, and Big Mama gasps in happiness, while Gooper and Mae dismiss the news as false.

Big Mama rushes out to tell Big Daddy the news, while Mae screams that Margaret is lying about her pregnancy. Mae says that she and Gooper can hear Maggie and Brick in the room and know that Brick won’t sleep with her. Suddenly, a cry of pain and rage fills up the house, and Mae and Gooper run to go see what it is, leaving Brick and Maggie alone in their room.

Margaret thanks Brick for not exposing her. Meanwhile, Brick continues to drink and finally obtains his “click.” As he stands on the gallery, Margaret grabs all the bottles in the liquor cabinet and runs out of the room with them. When she returns, she faces off with Brick. She tells him that she’s now stronger than him and can love him more truly. Margaret says that she’s locked up Brick’s liquor, and they’re going to make her lie true before she unlocks it. As Brick reaches for his crutch, Margaret grabs it and runs out to hurl it over the gallery before returning, panting. Suddenly, Big Mama runs into the room looking for the doctor’s package. She runs out again after kissing Brick and calling him “Little Father.” As the curtain falls, Margaret announces to Brick that she does love him, and he responds sadly, “Wouldn’t it be funny if that was true?”