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Essay / Analysis of the setting in Cat on a Four Post Bed
Space is an important element of theater and is embodied by the stage itself as a representation of a space where the action is presented. The pieces differ significantly in how they present space and how much information about space they offer to the audience. Analyzing the location and staging of plays can help the audience get a better idea of the characters and their behavior as well as the overall atmosphere. In the script of a play, the layout and general appearance of the setting is usually described in stage directions or descriptions at the beginning of acts or scenes. The dichotomy between extremely detailed settings and those that are rarely mentioned in the secondary texts of the plays is another crucial starting point for a more in-depth analysis, since the preponderance or absence of description of the setting informs the reader about the more general functions of the decorations. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original Essay The importance of scene descriptions is very evident in Tennessee Williams' play, Cat on a Hot Tin Tin Roof. The detailed descriptions introduce the reader to the setting of the entire room, namely Brick and Maggie's living room in Big Daddy's Southern Mansion. Although all of Williams's stage notes merit close examination, it is undeniable that certain elements of the setting have strong symbolic associations. Through these symbolic elements, greater insight into the emotional makeup of Brick and Maggie and the dominant homosexual tension of the play can be discovered. Williams explains some of the symbolic elements of his piece, including the console which contains a radio-phonograph. , television and liquor cabinet, in the side notes. The importance of this console is to serve as a sanctuary to the "comforts and illusions" (6) behind which people hide things and, throughout the play, provides the characters with auditory and (along with alcohol) distraction ) sensory. However, a more passive symbolic element of the play's setting is the large double bed, which Williams instructs the actors to make a "functional element of the setting as often as possible" (6). This large piece of furniture is the focal point of the set, and setting all the action of the play in Maggie and Brick's bedroom makes sense because a major plot point concerns whether Brick will start sleeping with Maggie again . When Brick and Maggie openly fight, the bed serves as a point of refuge for each in turn. When Maggie confronts Brick about his own vitality in the face of the death of his true love, Skipper, Brick throws his crutch at her, over the bed behind which she takes refuge. This is a symbolic action in that Maggie is crouching behind an object charged with sexual tension; literally hiding behind this the setting in which Brick would have to have sex with her in order to refute her assertion of his homosexuality. To join Maggie, Brick must literally overcome what separates them. This is why Brick has to throw something over the bed – it's a metaphorical attempt to overcome Maggie's accusation. When his throw misses Maggie, Brick fills his glass and sits down on the imposing “big four-poster bed” (44). His pathetic return to the dreaded piece of furniture is the ultimate failure. Brick was forced to return at least temporarily to their hated love nest. Williams is keen to reveal that Brick and Maggie's room once belonged to the plantation's original owners, Jack Straw and Peter Ochello. These two bachelors apparently shared a..