Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958 Film) Literary Elements

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958 Film) Literary Elements

Director

Richard Brooks

Leading Actors/Actresses

Paul Newman, Elizabeth Taylor

Supporting Actors/Actresses

Burl Ives, Jack Carson, Judith Anderson, Madeleine Sherwood

Genre

Drama

Language

English

Awards

Nominated for 6 Academy Awards: Best Actress in a Leading Role, Best Cinematography-Color, Best Picture, Best Actor in a Leading Role, Best Director, Best Writing-Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium

Date of Release

1958

Producer

Lawrence Weingarten

Setting and Context

Pollitt Plantation Estate in Mississippi

Narrator and Point of View

POV is that of Brick

Tone and Mood

Dramatic and Serious

Protagonist and Antagonist

Protagonist is Brick. Antagonist is Maggie

Major Conflict

Maggie wants to inherit Big Daddy's wealth, but needs to have a baby in order to get the money but Brick wants nothing to do with her.

Climax

After Big Daddy's cancer diagnosis Maggie announces to everyone that she is pregnant. We are not told if this is true or not.

Foreshadowing

Brick breaking his leg foreshadows the pain that is to come.

Understatement

It is understated as to whether or not Maggie is actually pregnant, and it is understated that Brick is in love with his best friend, Skipper.

Innovations in Filming or Lighting or Camera Techniques

N/A

Allusions

The film is an allusion to the Old South clinging to its need to hold on to its power and influence.

Paradox

Gooper and his wife Mae want to be the ones to inherit Big Daddy's money, but paradoxically Gooper even admits that Maggie has life her at the end of the film which means he is seceding.

Parallelism

Mae's need to get the money from her father parallels Maggie's desire to as well get the money from her father-in-law, Big Daddy.

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