A Passive and a Non-desiring Hero. The Topic of Homosexuality in the Play 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof' by Tennessee Williams

Essay from the year 2016 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 5.75/6, University of Lausanne, language: English, abstract: In the play 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof' Tennessee Williams plunges the audience in the middle of a broken family arguing about Big Daddy's cancer on the one hand and about Brick's homosexuality on the other. However, the critics often argue about the topic of homosexuality in Tennessee Williams Play 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof'. While for Nicholas de Jongh this drama is a play about homosexuality, John Clum on the other side affirms that there is nothing gay in this play. Both studies argue about homosexuality because Tennessee Williams evokes the topic of male homosexuality indirectly. Through the use of circumlocution, the problem of communication and Brick's passiveness, Tennessee Williams demonstrates that the topic of male same-sex desire is a problematic issue thus drawing attention to the societal disgust for homosexuality.

- Bachelor's degree (BA): Arts (English, German and History), University of Lausanne, Switzerland. - Master's degree (MA): Science of Education, Haute Ecole Pédagogique (HEPL), Lausanne, Switzerland.