There exist few living dramatists that share an inexorable commitment of Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams to an exploration of the hopes of contemporary man. What set apart these two men from the rest is apparently their massive success and their concern with the perfection of drama in the modern world. Arthur Miller is considered as one of the best American play writers with his play, A view from the Bridge being his best plays due to its intensity of both echoes and passion with Greek tragedy. Arthur Miller had first written the play in 1955, but the reception was negative as he had focused on the homosexual issues. Later, he opted to revise it and curtail the incestuous and homosexual aspect present in the play. Many people have also identified Tennessee Williams as one of the best America’s best play writes and a major dramatist. Critics have praised his compassion in understanding the spiritual downtrodden, and his play, Cat on the Hot Tin Roof, has been viewed to be his most powerful work on the subject of homosexuality. The play is a heavy biography of the author’s life as it elaborates some of the challenges Tennessee went through when growing up. While young, Tennessee Williams was shy and sensitive and he grew up believing he was a disappointment to his family especially his father. A Classic triadic family system was created by the play writers parents, a background commonly associated with homosexual men. “Cat on a hot tin roof” by Tennessee Williams is a play of a person experience in a community that dictates and instruct how people should live their lives in an era where lack of communication results to unavoidable loneliness of man. In an overcharged scenario of family crises, many truths are regarding human feelings, our love life, our materialism, our insecurities among others.
Major themes in the plays
Cat on a hot tin roof
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is one of the “inadmissible things” that one cannot help but notice hovering in the background of the play. T room where we see the action taking place is the exact room that was had once been occupied for many years by Jack Straw and Pete Ochello who were homosexual lovers. In the play, Big Daddy is seen to have a thing for homosexuality as he speaks affectionately of Ochello, who was responsible for giving him the opportunities he now posses. However, his Big Daddy’s tolerance when it comes to sexuality is not shared by Brick. Brick is seen to get horrified even when he gets the idea that his father might assume he is homosexual. The reason as to why Brick is like this is because he has been influenced by how the society regard homosexuality. He is highly concerned of how the society views him and this result in him avoiding things that might go against the social norms. Brick is a handsome football player and also a TV sports announcer, and for many years, he has been living upholding societal norms. Brick identifies all homosexuals as “queers” and “fairies,” and he defends his friendship with Skipper saying its clean and civilized and has nothing to do with sex(pg 122). Skipper is afraid of what others might think of him something that is in contrast with Big Daddy who says,”….I have stayed with too much space even to care what people think of me…”(p 122). It’s hard to fully assess Bricks sexuality like no one within the play regards to him as being homosexual though it’s possible he might be repressing his desires. Moreover, Skipper appears to be homosexual one, but this is not fact. Maggie is one character who seems to think Skipper is homosexual arguing that Skipper and Brick has an exceptionally close relationship. However, Tennessee Williams leaves this issue deliberately with ambiguity and lets the audience guess.
Arthur Miller- A View From the Bridge
The law
One of the most prominent themes in the play is the various codes of statutes present in multiple communities that conquer with the national law. Miller has multifaceted the law within the play and presented to us a world that is entirely occupied by Italian immigrants thus society operates under two laws, American law and Sicilian the code of law that governs the community is characterized by the safeguarding of illegal immigrants, hard work, family bond, the sacredness of trust and the urge to revenge once a member of the community has been wronged. Alfieri, who is a lawyer, tries to act as the speaker for the official law but this type of legislation is not received well by the characters and thus doesn’t accomplish its sole purpose. This law Alfieri tries to speak doesn’t offer actual justice as it serves to render lives apart. Moral Law is entirely different from the official law. One character, Eddie Carbone, is seen adhering to the formal law and opts to report his wife’s cousins. By subscribing to the American Official law, Eddie is condemned and forsaken by the community as he is regarded to have disrespected his community. Marco, on the other hand, is seen to violate the federal law and adheres to the moral code and the society embraces him. The community is fast to condemn and avenge if an individual turn against them and it is this tension between the two kinds of laws that offers complexity as well as a nuance to the play.
In summation, it’s correct to say that despite the play writers being the best in the business and agreeing in various points, such as homosexuality, they do compare on what position they emphasize more and use it as their primary theme. William uses homosexuality as his primary theme while Miller opts to focus more on the code of laws.
References
Miller, Arthur. A View from the Bridge. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2015.
https://www.sfponline.org/uploads/70/AViewFromtheBridge.pdf
Williams, Tennessee. Cat on a hot tin roof. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2014.
http://shsdavisapes.pbworks.com/w/file/fetch/76523768/Cat%20on%20a%20Hot%20Tin%252
