Maggie, the "Cat"

Brick’s wife
Refers to herself as a Cat, a “cat on a hot tin roof” (Williams I.55)
Very attractive woman; uses her looks to move up socially as well as attract Big Daddy’s positive attention
Came from a lower class family, but worked herself up the social ladder

Clever, hard-working, cunning, selfish
Closely monitors the lives of others (such as Mae Pollitt, her sister-in-law); she is sharply aware of the social distinctions that separate people
Desperately loves Brick, but this may be as much for the social position and financial security her marriage to him offers as it is for his actual character
Wants to have a baby with Brick and wants him to love her; she sleeps with Brick’s best friend in an attempt to gain his attention
Is the outsider in the Pollitt family; feels isolated, alone, and unsure of herself despite the controlled and confidant façade she puts on

Stage directions: “Margaret is alone, completely alone, and she feels it” (Williams I.49)
She asks her self, “Who are you?” (Williams I.49), and answers shrilly, “I am Maggie the Cat!” (Williams I.49)

Brick Pollitt

“He has the additional charm of that cool air of detachment that people have who have given up the struggle” (Williams I.19)

An alcoholic former football star who broke his leg attempting to jump hurdles while drunk
Disinterested, unloving, and dismissive of Maggie and his family
Haunted by the death of his very close friend Skipper; it is heavily hinted that he and Skipper homosexually loved each other
Attempts to conform to society’s standards but is struggling to uphold these standards; evident by his internal struggle and consequential turn to alcohol to desensitize himself
Preferred by Big Daddy and will thus be the probable heir of the family plantation estate, though Brick has little interest in the money