“Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” by Tennessee Williams – Greed, Lust, Loneliness, Death

The desire to communicate, to understand someone else, to accept them and to receive the same in return is perhaps one of the most basic human drives and desires there are, which is why it should not be surprising that most spend their lives in search of that… for in the end, if the search proves fruitless, loneliness is what lies ahead.

Going along these lines is the great American classic, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, a play written by none other than Tennessee Williams.

For those who’d like a brief spoiler-free description of the story, it is about a few brothers living in a very large family, vying for their dying father’s will.

Though the premise itself may sound rather simple with not much to it, the characters are the ones who truly steal the show here. None of them are perfect, completely good or completely bad. Rather, they are all humans who fall into that nebulous gray area where personal morality, needs and desires are our greatest guiding force.

The story is certainly interesting to watch unfold as the characters tumble through their lives frantically searching not only for meaning, but also understanding, acceptance, and the reciprocity of their love. There are plenty of twists and turns to actually keep you entertained and glued to the pages, so in that department the play is solid.

What really sets this play above many others is, in my own opinion and in that of many others’, are the large number of rather somber and bleak themes which are explored.

Mainly, they include the repression of sexuality and the ensuing frustrations it can cause, how an inability to communicate leads to death and dissolution, what greed does to the hearts of men, our desperate quest to fend off loneliness, how the secrets we bury can end up putting us six feet under one day or another, and more. In other words, this is one play that will cater even to the most reflective and intelligent of readers out there.

As you can certainly imagine, I can only recommend this essential American drama to those interested in such a subject, and I actually advise that you purchase the edition we have placed a link above (if of course you are intent on acquiring it), mainly because: it is the definitive version of the play (Williams rewrites his stories over the course of years), contains various endings, the essay “Person-to-Person”, notes from the author as well as a chronology of his life.

All in all, the play translated very well into a book and was nothing but a pleasure to read and explore.

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Tennessee Williams (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983) Born Thomas Lanier Williams III ,”Tennessee” Williams was a famous American writer and playwright whose rise to fame came with the publishing of The Glass Menagerie in 1944. Many of his best works were adapted to the silver screen, and in 1979 he was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.