Cat on a Four Post Bed Eve Broffman

Space is an important element in drama and is embodied by the stage itself as a representation of a space where action is presented. Plays differ significantly with regard to how they present space and how much information about space they offer the audience. The analysis of place and setting in plays can help the audience get a better feel for characters and their behavior as well as for the overall atmosphere. In the script of a play, the layout and overall appearance of the set is usually described in stage directions or descriptions at the beginning of acts or scenes. The dichotomy between extremely detailed and sparsely mentioned stage sets in the secondary texts of plays is another crucial starting point for further analysis, since the preponderance or lack of setting description tells the reader something about more general functions of settings.

The significance of scene descriptions is very apparent in Tennessee Williams play Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. The extensive descriptions introduce the reader to the setting for the entire play, namely Brick and Maggie's bed-sitting room in Big Daddy's Southern Mansion. Though all of Williams's stage notes merit careful consideration, it is undeniable that certain...