Study Aids for CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF

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Study Aids forCAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF

• By Tennessee Williams

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Table of Contents Synopsis

• Part One Drama A short introduction
• Part Two Tennessee Williams A biography

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Table of Contents Part One

• Drama A short introduction
• Classification
• Definition
• The concept of Aristotles
• The Shakespearean drama
• 20th century drama
• Important dramatists after 1945

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Classification
3 genres
lyric
epic
drama
includes
poem
novel
play
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Definition

• Drama work meant to be performed on stage by
  actors

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The Concept of Aristotle(384 - 322 BC)
Distinction
Unity of

• time

• place

• action

Division of plot into acts
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The Shakespearean drama

• Blurring of the strict conventions of the Greek
  drama

• comic elements in tragedies
• (f.e. drunk porter in Macbeth)

• tragic elements in comedies
• (f.e. faked death of the heroine
• in Much ado about nothing)

• some tragedies are set in bourgeoisie
• (f.e. Romeo and Juliet)

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20th century drama

• The drama in the 20th century distinguishes
  itself by an increasing diversification

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20th century drama

• realistic kitchen sink drama
• set in working class, contains social criticism

(f.e. George Bernard Shaw
Pygmalion)
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20th century drama

• absurd drama
• surrealistic plot

(f.e. Samuel Beckett Waiting for Godot)
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20th century drama

• After 1945 increasing individualism of the
  dramatists.

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Important Dramatists after 1945

• Edward Albee
• (Whos afraid of Virginia Woolf)

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Important Dramatists after 1945

• Arthur Miller
• (Death of a Salesman)

He was married to ...
... Marilyn Monroe !
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Important Dramatists after 1945

• Harold Pinter
• (Look Back in Anger)

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Important Dramatists after 1945

• Sam Shepard
• (True West)

GOOD LOOKING !
He is also a famous actor
(f. e. The Pelican Brief with Julia Roberts)
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Important Dramatists after 1945

• Thornton Wilder
• (Our Town)

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Important Dramatists after 1945

• and of course ...

... Tennessee Williams !
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Table of Contents Part Two

• Tennessee Williams - A biography
• childhood
• university years
• his success
• his decline

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His childhood

• March 16, 1911 Tennessee Williams is born as
  Thomas Lanier Williams in Columbus, Mississippi

1911 - 1918 grows up in Clarksdale, Mississippi
1918 familiy moves to St Louis
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University years

• 1929 Enters University of
  Missouri

1931 Leaves university because his father wants
him to work in a shoe company
1937 parents admit his sister Rose to a lunatic
asylum
1938 Graduates from University of Iowa
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His success

• 1939 Wins his first prizes
  for American Blue and Battle of Angels.
• 1940 outs himself as a
  homosexual

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His success
1944 -1955 writes his most famous plays
Hot! Hot! HOT!
1944 The Glass Menagerie
1947 A Streetcar Named Desire
1955 Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
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His decline

• Lack of success causes phases of depression
• death of his longtime companion in 1963
• increasing addiction to alcohol and pills

Feb 25, 1983 dies in a hotel room as a result of
his addiction