Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
by Tennessee Williams

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof: Situational Irony 1 key example

Key Examples in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Act 2
Explanation and Analysis—Birthdays and Blowouts:

In a humorous moment in Act 2, Williams uses situational irony to momentarily ease the tension:

BIG DADDY: BIG MAMA, WILL YOU QUIT HORSIN'?—You're too old an' too fat fo' that sort of crazy kid stuff an' besides a woman with your blood pressure—she had two hundred last spring!—is riskin' a stroke when you mess around like that...

BIG MAMA: Here comes Big Daddy's birthday!

[Negroes in white jackets enter with an enormous birthday cake ablaze with candles and carrying buckets of champagne with satin ribbons about the bottle necks.]