1

The psychoanalysis of the characters from the play Cat on a hot tin roof
I have decided to apply psychoanalytic theories on the characters from this play because
they provide a rational and an objective explanation for a persons behavior which helps us
analyze the characters actions from various angles and perspectives. Therefore, psychoanalysis
does not limit our possibilities of interpretation to a single possible answer. Moreover, if we take
into consideration the structural aspect, psychoanalysis can be regarded as a theory that elicits
and tells stories and similary to literature, it is structured around narratives (Literature and
psychoanalysis, n.d, para.3).
Throughout this paper I will psychoanalyze the main characters from the play Cat on a
hot tin roof, using mostly Sigmund Freuds theories. Psychoanalysis plays an important role in
understanding the human mind. In this paper, several psychoanalytical theories will be further on
presented such as: the unconscious, repression, sexuality, defense mechanism.
The first psychoanalytic theory I will present is that of the unconscious. Sigmund Freud
reached the conclusion that the human mind contains a dimension that is only partially
accessible to consciousness (Freud in Rivkin & Ryan, 1998:389). In the unconscious there are
stored a repository of repressed desires, feelings, memories, and instinctual drives (Freud in
Rivkin & Ryan ,1998:389) which will eventually lead to violence and increases sexual desires
(Freud in Rivkin & Ryan ,1998:389).
In Bricks case, he tries to repress the true feelings he has for Skipper (his homosexual
desires) and the guilt he feels for not being able to prevent his death. In order for him to achieve
that, his superego places these feelings into the unconscious, out of the conscious awareness.
Each time his repressed feelings try to come to the surface of his conscience, he finds refuge into
alcohol. By drinking, he hopes to hear a click inside his head: You know what I like to hear
most? Solid quiet. Perfect unbroken quiet Because its more peaceful167 and I gotta
drink till I get it. Its just a mechanical thing, something like a switch clicking off in my head,
turning the hot light off and the cool night on and all of a sudden theres peace168.
Even if it might seem a paradox, through drinking he can actually make peace with
himself and it represents a reason for him to find his True Self. Brick also drinks because he feels
disgusted of the world around him. For him, the meaning to life has simply stopped the moment
2

his friend Skipper died. From that moment on, he decides to abandon the cruel world and slowly
withdraws into himself and refuses to communicate with the world around him.
He now perceives the world as being terrible, since his whole projections and ideals he
has invested into Skipper have suddenly vanished. He states that Ive lied to nobody ,nobody
but myself, just lied to myself165. After the death of Skipper he has isolated himself from the
world and tries to find his true Self.
As I have previously mentioned, Brick has developed a weak Self and in the following
lines I will briefly present this theory. Sigmund Freud in his work The Uncanny (1919), states
that a subject needs to be able to recognize itself in the reflection in order to be one with itself (
Freud in Kooijman and Laine, 2003).
This theory is later on developed by Lacan, who concludes that the divided subject
misrecognizes itself as a unified subject who acts in the world (Kooijman and Laine, 2003).In
other words, this implies the idea that the subject has to accept its fundamental disunity,
meaning his Self, in order to function properly in the world. This takes place for the first time in
what Lacan calls the mirror stage ( Kooijman and Laine, 2003).
In the following lines, Lacans theory will be presented in detail because it helps us have
a better understanding of the main character. In the mirror stage the infant becomes aware of
itself as an autonomous entity that is distinct from its environment (Lacan in Kooijman and
Laine, 2003). During this period, the child gains a sense of wholeness by making an imaginary
identification with its reflection in the mirror and he appears as a unified entity that is separate
from other entities (Lacan in Kooijman and Laine, 2003). The subject needs to have this
unitary body image, in order to preserve the sense of Self (Kooijman and Laine, 2003)
During childhood, it is crucial for the mother to mirror her child and allow him to get in
contact with his authentic Self, through spontaneous actions. For example, if a child begins to cry
then the mother trough her facial expression should show him that she is aware he has some sort
of discomfort and thus the child would know he is understood and accepted by his mother.
However, this must occur frequently in order for the child to develop a strong and genuine Self.
On the other hand, if a mother interrupts her child from doing a particular gesture (for
instance, she starts to sing to him when he cries), chances are that the child might not develop his
true Self, since the mother constantly rejects any of his gestures. Also, by doing so, the child
3

begins to rely more and more on his mother for survival and does not want to displease her.
Thus, this is how he develops his False Self, which is mother-adapted and the split occurs
between the Self occurs.
When applying this theory to Bricks case, the following conclusion can be drawn: he has
a very weak Self and he does not feel himself as being a whole person, mostly because of his
mother. Due to the fact that in his childhood, Brick was deprived of his fathers love, a normal
separation from his mother could not occur. He suffers from the Oedipus complex. He couldnt
identify himself with his father and remained stuck with the image of his mother.
Big Mama treats Brick, in an infantile way and calls him her baby: Here he is, heres my
precious baby!156 and OH! Heres Brick! My precious baby 157. She also invades his
privacy many times and she even gets really angry when she sees that the door is locked and
Maggie says that he is getting dressed: Thats all right, it wont be the first time Ive seen Brick
not dressed158.
She even tells Maggie very clearly that she hates locked doors in a house
(159):MAGGIE: people have got to have some moments of privacy, dont they?BIG
MAMA: No maam, not in my house 160. .I have also noticed that Big Mama behaves in a
more maternal manner towards Brick, than she does towards her other child, Gooper. She seems
to be more preoccupied by Bricks life and she even claims at one point: Wheres Brick? Where
is my only son?(154)
Another aspect worth mentioning is the role his father had in Bricks life and the way in
which he influenced Brick in a negative way. Throughout his life, he tried to gain his fathers
love and affection by having a successful carrier as a football player, but it was useless. He even
imitates his father behavior and his belief that women are like objects and therefore they need to
be possessed. He recreated the relationship his father had with his mother in order to get close to
him and understand his father better. Thus, he found Maggie, a women, who just like Big Mama
adored her husband, Maggie adored Brick.
At one point in the play, Brick identifies himself with his cruel and heartless father.
When he hung the phone up on Skipper he behaved in a cruel way, just like his father behaved
with him. He wanted to repeat the way in which his father made him feel throughout his life. He
later on realizes that and it was not appropriate to behave in such a way with his ideal object and
in order to carry on with his life, he decides to projects all his guilt towards Maggie. Thus, he
4

began to perceive her as a liar, as a money-grubbing cat, just like Big Daddy perceived his
wife.
Big Daddys attitude can be explained by the fact that he was ashamed of his father,
because of the poor and miserable life he had as a child. Big Daddy suffered a lot during his
childhood, therefore he used a defense mechanism in order not to experience the same
unpleasant feelings once again. He decided to block his feelings and never show them again.
Bricks false Self might also be triggered by Skippers spontaneous death. Skipper plays
a very important role in Bricks life. In psychoanalytical terms, Skipper was to Brick an idealized
object, and he has invested into him all his hopes and wishes that he could not fulfill himself.
Brick has turned Skipper into his ideal ego, therefore he created a false image of him. Skippers
death has devastating consequences upon Brick, since this means that Bricks ideal object has
been destroyed.
Perhaps Maggie would be a way through which he could find his true self, since she is an
honest person and communicates freely with him. Maggie is the one from the play who seem to
keep him alive and thus his Self together but after he no longer trusts her, he begins to develop
his False Self. After the death of Skipper, Brick projects into his wife Maggie all the negative
aspects of himself. This is in fact a device mechanism, which help him avoid pain and by doing
so, all his negative feelings are no longer recognized by him as being part of himself, but instead
they are attributed to his wife Maggie.
Another psychoanalytical theory worth analyzing in this play is that of the human
personality and in order to have a better understanding of this theory, some psychoanalytical
explanations will be further on presented about the way in which the id, ego, and superego
interact in order to create the human personality (Friedman & Schustack in Schaffer, n.d) and
then apply this analysis on the main characters personality.
Freud defines the id as an assortment of desires, which have a subjective character,
because they only care about reaching their objectives (Freud in Neu, 2006:212). In other
word, the id represents the most basic and primal instincts in the sense that it eats, mates, and
kills (Schaffer, n.d). The superego is the manifestation of morals that have been ascribed by
the society, which is why each person has to strictly follow the rules he has learned to the
letter, even if some of these rules might be unrealistic (Schaffer, n.d). The ego is the moderator
5

of these unrealistic demands from each side of the spectrum. It guides realistic behavior that
satisfies urges and follows rules (Schaffer, n.d)
All this analysis of the id, ego and superego will be applied in Bricks personality, in
order to find out which are the causes that led him to isolate himself from the world. Brick does
not have a balanced ego, since his superego has taken control over his id. He represses his id,
which contains all the sexual urges and desires, because his superego wants to punish Maggie, in
order for him to easily accept Skippers death.
On an abstract level, Maggie is the one who functions as his superego, since she is a
harsh judge and an internal critic. The superego observes our every thought and this
means that it is aware of all our sins (Freud in Neu, 2006:217).
She constantly reminds him to finally face the truth about his sexual orientation, instead
of keeping it locked in the unconscious. She even tells him: not facing a fire doesnt put it
out. Silence about a thing just magnifies it. It grows and festers in silence, becomes
malignant182 or : its got to be told and you, you! you never let me!183.
Maggie seems to be the character with the strongest ego from the play, because she
manages to keep a balance between her instincts and sexual urges and her morality. She never
gives up and she always fights for Bricks love, even if she faces a lot of misery, she is frustrated
and so on. Despite the fact that she was treated in an unpleasant way by her husband she still
wants to please him and stands up for him. She longs for her husbands love, at least on a
physical level.
Next, I will present some of Freuds theories regarding sexuality in order to apply it on
the main characters personality. He states that an individual becomes aware of his sexual desires
from an early stage and classifies children as being polymorphously perverse (Freud in Castle,
2007:1900). Also, it is the pleasure principle, which is the pure and unfettered energy of the
sexual instinct, that makes an individual want to experience different forms of sexuality, but
the reality principle, blocks our perverse impulse and represses our desires (Freud in Castle,
2007:193).
Brick does not rule his life according to the pleasure principle but according to the
reality principle, the one that blocks our perverse impulse and represses our desires (Freud in
6

Castle, 2007:193). Brick does not only control these sexual urges, like most normal people do,
but he also completely represses his sexual desires.
Right from the beginning of the play, Maggie desperately wants to gain Bricks attention
through a sexual way, even if he behaves so distant with her. Brick constantly denies his sexual
orientation and attraction to Skipper. Maggie constantly reminds him to face his hidden sexuality
instead of repressing it. It is very difficult for Brick to admit openly that he is a homosexual,
since he perceives homosexuals as being: that pair of old sisters [Cat, 76, 81], dirty things,
dirty old men, ducking sissies, and finally queers. [Cat, 77] He is the one who talks about
things like that, an unnatural thing [Cat, 78], and fairies [Cat, 79].
.Maggie is a very seductive and attractive person and she reminds Brick that (Men)
still see me, Brick, and they like what they see. Uh-huh, Some of them would give their Look
Brick! [She stands before the long oval mirror, touches her breast and then her hips with her two
hands] How high my body stays on me! Nothing has fallen on me not a fraction170.
Brick is also a handsome man and Maggie states that :I always thought drinking men lost their
looks, but I was plainly mistaken171.
However, it is a paradox that despite the fact that the two are so attractive they do not
have a sexual life. Even if Brick and Maggie decide to remain together after Skippers death,
there is no physical intimacy between them. Maggie really wants him sexually, and he is well
aware of this: MAGGIE: I feel all the time like a cat on a hot tin roof!BRICK: Then jump
off the roof Take a lover! MAGGIE: I cant see a man but youWhy dont you get ugly,
Brickso I could stand it?172
From a psychoanalytical perspective, he might perceive Maggie as a negative object, now
that his ideal object is gone. This is why he chooses to torment her and causes her a great amount
of pain. You know, if I thought you would never, never, never make love to me again I would
go downstairs and pick out the longest and sharpest knife I could find and stick it straight into
my heart 173.
Furthermore, he despises her because he blames her for the death of Skipper, since she
was the one who seduced him and thus, this lead to his suicide. Thus, he decides to deprive
Maggie from any sexual desires, due to the fact that she was the one who has torn apart his ideal
object, represented by Skipper. She managed to get to Skipper through a sexual manner,
therefore Brick decides to deprive her of exactly the weapon that she used to obtain Skipper.
7

However, towards the end of the play, he might have regained his true self, because he
tells Mae that Im drunk, and sleepy not as alive as Maggie, but still alive189. Maggie
and Big Daddy force him to find his inner self, that is his true self, through their honesty.
It is only towards the end of the play that Big Daddys and implicit Bricks perception
upon people changes. When Big Daddy finds out that he is going to die he finally makes peace
with his father. He realizes that he really loved his father, and thus he loves Brick as well. Upon
hearing this, Brick feels a huge relief and he also admits that he had let down Skipper, but that it
was not his fault that Skipper decided to kill himself. His perception of Maggie also changes, he
sees as an honest person, who truly loves him, and not the liar and money-grubbing person he
believed she was, in order for him to cope with the death of his dear friend.














8

Bibliography