Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Playwright Tennessee Williams

                                                                                                                               

     There are a lot of things that are taking place in this play, "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof." There's Love, Homosexuality, Alcoholism, Lies, Truth, Abuse, Death. Could it be a possibility that the reason Brick does not want to have sex with Maggie is because he in fact is homosexual and at one time, had an affair with Skipper? The answers all lie in the truth. One of the observations that I noticed is, why does Maggie continue to stay with him if he does not want to really be with her? Plus, he hit her with his cane. She even goes as far as to say if she knew that she would never have sex again with Brick, she would kill herself.

After all, she's dying inside to have sexual contact with her husband while in the meantime, he appears to be very depressed, drowning in his alcohol addiction. This truly is a coping mechanism for his unhappiness. Alcohol is helping to numb the lie. Could it be that he's still grieving the loss of Skipper, his "best friend?"  I think it's also a combination of the fact that Maggie slept with Skipper.

 The truth may come from Brick’s own "Mendacity" of his sexual orientation. Just like Skipper wanted to dismiss his sexual orientation by having sex with Maggie, Brick married Maggie to cover up his sexual identity. I also believe that since Maggie didn’t come from money, the only reason why she's staying with Brick is to cash in on the 28,000-acre plantation when Big Daddy dies. In many ways, Maggie and Mae are just alike coming from humble beginnings and both expecting to be beneficiaries of their husband’s inheritance. The Character we see least of in this play is the Matriarch, Big Mama, who I’m not sure is happy if Big Daddy will live or dies.

But before Big Daddy dies, he needs to find out the truth from his son as to if he's gay.  I can also say, I believe that another theme in this play is denial because of the denial of Big Daddy's terminal cancer. They're all lying to him about his spastic colon.  Another lie that Big Daddy made aware of was his disdain for Big Mama. Another loveless marriage.

Even Gooper was only concerned with what he could benefit from his father’s death. He’s had to contend with the fact that Brick is his mother’s favorite son. Maggie, even to the end, was relentless in getting Brick to make love to her. Still, when and how did she become pregnant?  I believe everyone was angry and very selfish in this play. Everyone is lying and manipulative and trying to take control of  everyone's lives. They just all seem so dissatisfied with everything. Even before Maggie said she was the "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" I had come to believe that she was the cat because of, for a lack of a better term, "in heat."

A Midsummer Night's Dream

I really had a difficult time reading this play and trying to keep a track of all the characters.  I had to keep looking back and forth and rereading it, to keep everything intact. To cut down on this, I ended up reading the modern version alongside the textbook version. (Drama) I was reminded of how if a daughter from a middle eastern custom doesn't obey her father he has the right to kill her, such as the case with Hermia to her Father Egeus. It was interesting to see how even back then young women protested an arranged marriage. I would believe that would be going against Sharia law today and the father could carry out an "Honor Killing." What an awful option to be given to Hermia to live single like a nun or die a barren virgin. I like the way she stood her ground and decided that her soul didn't even give her permission to marry Demetrius and she was content to remain a virgin or die. Well, this is a first, to see that there is a play taking place within a play as part of the wedding celebration for the Duke.  As I read the character bottom is to play, a Lover that will kill himself for love, I'm wondering if Demetrius will kill himself for the love of Hermia.  I think it's very ironic this play “A Midsummers Night’s Dream” is about couples in love and the play within is about two people in love with a fantasy of fairies. I'm also able to see how Titiana, The Queen of the Fairies speaks to Oberon, King of the Fairies and paints a picture of what their surroundings likes while they're dancing in Fairyland. So now, I’m seeing that the fairy character Oberon can see and interact with Hermia, Demetrius, Lysander and Helena. I believe the structure of the plot is where the play “A Midsummers Night’s Dream" is the solution to the unrequited love of the two characters Demetrius and Helena whose love is being rejected. Cupid's arrow and Oberon's flowers can be given to the recipients that want love so desperately. It also looks like there's three scenes with three separate sets of characters are taking part in this play when Peter Quinces' part comes to light. It looks like Peter Quince and his characters are trying to overcome their staging and design issues. It also looks like they're trying to overcome their storyline in order to avoid scaring the women that will be in the audience viewing the play. So, it looks like the solution to getting someone to fall in love worked with Tatiana the fairy and Bottom who had the head of a donkey. When the fairies come on the scene, it looks so magical, mystical and whimsical! It seems like this play, "A Midsummer Night's Dream” is not a comedy, but really a tragedy. There's more sadness than laughter coming out of this play. This is a real twist for both men to end up being in love with Helena. I’m sure that Hermia really became confused to find her Lysander and Demetrius has fallen in love with Helena from the love flower Juice. Since everyone is sleeping and this is called, “A Midsummer Night’s I'm wondering is this a dream for all of them or a nightmare?

"Everyman" Assignment 1C

While reading this play, I enjoyed the way in which it was written like a rhyming poem. This play get to the core of our immortality in the deciding factor of where we're going to spend eternity. I question whether the playwright's background was in the church having written a play from a theological standpoint. When Beauty, Strength, Discretion and Five Wits enters the play at the recommendation of Knowledge and Good Deeds, I question why it was so important for these characters to help Everyman with his pilgrimage into death.

The playwright A.C. Cawley really brought the characters to life in "Everyman." When the character God speaks, it's almost as if he speaks with a jealous tone.  Although this is written in 1495, if I were in the audience I felt it to be actually, timeless. Cawley spoke  today's mind frame of greed in our society. Sin does continue to go on without the feelings of repercussion. It is also interesting to note that in the beginning you hear God speaking but then you hear Jesus come alive and say that he died for us and the mention of the shedding of his blood after hanging between the two thieves.  I also found it quite intriguing that Everyman would try to bribe death with a thousand pounds. I can definitely agree with a commentary that the writer Cawley may have been a man of the cloth or had great influence from his church to create such a theological theme. I believe that the character friends to Everyman shed light on the fact that these are attributes that are not standards worthy of giving credit to get into Heaven. This character shows so much empathy for Everyman's impending doom. But as I move through the play, I see that every character decides that they won't travel with him on his journey to his grave and I wonder why does the playwright keep leading us to believe that each character he comes in contact with will go with him?  What came to mind in this play was that if every one of these characters were to go with him they would also have to account for their own life before God of all the characters, I think the main important ones was knowledge and Good Deeds because Good Deeds is going to account for what he's done here on Earth and knowledge is the force that allows him to do good deeds. This play shows us that only you can come before God and give an account of your life here on Earth. And in the end, all you can take with is your good deeds that you've done on this Earth. For Jesus to be mentioned so much in this play, I think that the underlying theme of the play is introduced in the beginning of  the play when, ( I will paraphrase) God/Jesus is speaking saying, "Every man lives after his own pleasure and everyone is going to have to give an account of their Own actions on Earth." It seems throughout the play, there is a lot of reference to greed and riches which connects to the seven deadly sins of pride and envy. No one can take that Journey for you just like no one could take that Journey that Jesus died for Everyman. God / Jesus leaves us alone to determine whether we will be with them in eternity.