Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Act III Summary

We may have made a bee-line to the concession stand to find us some

milk duds, and we may have knocked over a few folks on our way to
beat the restroom line, and we may have moved into those three seats
in the second row that have been empty throughout the first two acts,
but for the Pollitt family, there has been no lapse in time as we begin Act
III.
Mae and the everend enter. !h, we"re in the bedroom again.
Mae wonders where #ig $addy is.
#ig Mama enters woo%y from the firecracker smoke, asking for #ig
$addy.
#ig Mama reckons he went to bed.
&ooper enters, asking where #ig $addy is.
#ig Mama re-reckons he went to bed.
&ooper says it"s a mighty fine time to talk.
#ig Mama wants to know what e'actly needs to be talked about.
Maggie appears in the gallery talking to $oc #augh.
We hear Maggie telling $oc #augh that her ancestors had once had
slaves and that they freed their slaves five years before the (ivil War
began.
Mae catches wind and e'claims that Maggie has climbed back into her
family tree.
Maggie asks where #ig $addy has gone.
Mr. Williams inter)ects with a note to tell us that the actors" pace picks up
here with *&reat +outhern animation.*
#ig Mama tells everyone that #ig $addy was )ust worked up tonight
because he loves the family so much, and that he )ust needs his rest.
,he everend thinks #ig $addy is remarkable.
#ig Mama agrees, using his huge appetite as evidence.
&ooper hopes he doesn"t regret it.
Maggie says they had a real country dinner, replete with hoppin" )ohn.
-Interlude. We interrupt this program to inform you that /oppin" 0ohn is
indeed a famous +outhern dish. /oppin" 0ohn is a rice and beans
concoction that is traditional throughout (aribbean culture. It consists of
black-eyed peas, onions, bacon, and a dash of salt. It is said that by
eating /oppin" 0ohn on 1ew 2ear"s $ay, one ushers in a year of great
luck. If one eats /oppin" 0ohn the day after 1ew 2ear"s $ay, it is called
+kippin" 0enny, and shows great frugality, thus granting even greater
luck.3
#ig Mama informs us that they also had candied yams.
&ooper hopes that #ig $addy"s dinner doesn"t come back to haunt him.
/e hopes this with *a grim relish.*
#ig Mama wants to know what &ooper said and what he meant by it.
Mae interprets for &ooper, telling #ig Mama that he hopes #ig $addy
doesn"t suffer from his meal tonight.
#ig Mama dismisses their worries, saying that #ig $addy is fit as a fiddle,
especially without the burden of knowing he is going to die.
Maggie blesses his old sweet soul, *sadly and sweetly.*
#ig Mama wonders where #rick is.
Mae tells her he"s outside.
&ooper adds that he"s drinking. What a surprise.
#ig Mama informs them that, contrary to popular opinion, she is not blind
as a bat, and knows that #rick is drinking.
Maggie applauds #ig Mama. +arcastic, much4
#ig Mama talks about how other people drink, have drunk, and will drink
all their lives.
Maggie has never trusted a man who doesn"t drink.
Mae informs her that &ooper never drinks.
Maggie acts surprised and tells &ooper that she wouldn"t have made that
comment had she known that he didn"t drink5at least not in his
presence.
#ig Mama calls after #rick.
Maggie goes to get him from the &allery so that they can all talk.
#ig Mama wonders what this mysterious family conference is all about.
Awkward silence.
#ig Mama belches and e'cuses herself.
#ig Mama fans herself with the fan suspended around her neck.
Maggie calls after #rick.
#rick sings to the moon.
#ig Mama asks &ooper to open the gallery door to let the air circulate.
Mae believes it would be best to keep the door shut until their family
conference is over.
#ig Mama asks the everend to open the door.
,he everend certainly obliges.
Mae is concerned that #ig $addy will hear their conversation.
#ig Mama swans, which means *to swear.* -,he verb *to swan* was
originally American slang, meaning *to stay.* ,he first time this verb
appeared in the dictionary was in 6789.3
#ig Mama swans that nothing will be said in her house that #ig $addy
can"t hear too.
&ooper starts to spill some beans.
Mae pokes him hard in an effort to shut his trap.
&ooper glares at Mae.
Mae circles him *like a burles:ue ballerina,* raising her arms and shaking
her bracelets. Ah, an ;#I agent and a burles:ue dancer<
Mae e'claims, *A bree%e< A bree%e<*
everend believes the Pollitt house to be the coolest house in the $elta.
/e starts talking about some congregant who had an air conditioner
installed in a neighboring church in memory of her husband. +ubtle
much4
=verybody starts talking away again, so that it sounds like a big bird-
cage.
&ooper sympathi%es with the everend"s hot church and surmises that
he sweats a lot in the pulpit.
Mae asks $oc #augh about >itamin #68 in)ections.
$oc #augh says that if you are going to get poked with a needle, a
needle full of >itamin #68 is as good as anything else.
#ig Mama asks Maggie if she"s going to bring #rick in.
Mae announces that she has a strange and peculiar feeling.
=veryone is silent.
#ig Mama wants to know what feeling that is.
Mae replies that she has a feeling #rick said something he shouldn"t have
said to #ig $addy.
#ig Mama wants to know what #rick could have said that he shouldn"t
have said.
&ooper starts to tell #ig Mama something.
Mae interrupts him.
Mae rushes up to #ig Mama, hugs and kisses her.
#ig Mama pushes her off.
,he everend"s voice is heard in the awkward silence talking about the
gold in his chasuble -his priest"s outfit3 fading to purple.
We don"t really know what that means.
&ooper surmises that the everend was preaching *hell"s fire* last
+unday.
,he everend is not amused.
#ig Mama asks $oc #augh about the ?eeley cure and tablets called
Annie #ust for heavy drinkers.
#rick appears in the doorway followed by Maggie.
@naware that #rick is behind her, #ig Mama continues to discuss how
#rick is depressed about +kipper"s death.
#ig Mama tells us how +kipper died. ,his is her story.
+kipper is given a dose of sodium amytal at home one day. #y whom, we
don"t know.
An ambulance is then called.
,he doctors give him another dose of sodium amytal.
,he mi'ture between the sodium amytal and the alcohol in his blood is
too much for his heart.
#ig Mama ends her story about +kipper"s death and talks about her fear
of needles.
#ig Mama stops mid-sentence, then turns around to find #rick standing
behind.
uh-roh.
+he fawns over #rick and starts to cry.
#rick smiles and gestures gallantly for Maggie to pass before him into the
room.
#rick goes to the bar to pour himself some =cho +pring.
Mr. Williams tells us that everyone watches him, *as everybody has
always looked at #rick when he spoke or moved or appeared.*
#rick drops ice cubes in his glass and offers a drink to others in the room.
#ig Mama wishes he wouldn"t drink.
#rick wishes he didn"t have to, but tells her that he"s waiting for the click
in his head to smooth things out.
#ig Mama tells him he breaks her heart.
Maggie tells #rick to go sit with #ig Mama.
#ig Mama sobs.
&ooper commences the family conferences once more.
Maggie tells #rick to go sit ne't to his mother and to hold her hand.
#rick tells Maggie to go sit ne't to #ig Mama, tells her he is a restless
cripple and has to stay on his crutch.
#rick hobbles to the gallery door and leans there like he"s waiting for
something.
Mae sits with #ig Mama while &ooper sits on the edge of the sofa and
takes center stage.
$oc #augh lights a cigar.
Maggie turns away.
#ig Mama wants to know why everyone is surrounding her and making
signs at each other.
Mae tells #ig Mama to calm herself.
#ig Mama tells Mae to calm her own self, and asks her how she is
supposed to be calm when everyone is looking at her like she has blood
on her face. +he wants to know what is going on.
&ooper coughs.
&ooper gives $oc #augh a cue.
Mae gives $oc #augh a cue.
#rick shushes everyone suddenly.
#rick laughs, shakes his head, and informs everyone that he thought he"d
heard the click, but it was a false alarm. ;au' clickage.
&ooper tells him to either shut up or stay on the gallery, because they
have a serious matter to talk about with #ig Mama and the report on #ig
$addy"s condition.
$oc #augh begins to speak.
#ig Mama rises from her chair, terrified, and wonders if there is
something going on that she doesn"t know about.
As she says those words, Mr. Williams informs us that #ig Mama
*reviews the history of her forty-five years with #ig $addy, her great,
almost embarrassingly true-hearted and simple-minded devotion to #ig
$addy, who must have had something #rick has.*
Mr. Williams tells us that while #ig Mama reviews the history of her
marriage to #ig $addy in her head, she has a dignity about her and
*she almost stops being fat.*
$oc #augh begins to speak again.
#ig Mama interrupts, screaming that she wants to know the truth.
#ig Mama thrusts her fist into her mouth.
#ig Mama grabs the corsage pinned at her breast, throws it on the
ground, and stomps on it. +he e'claims that someone is lying to her.
Mae coa'es #ig Mama to sit back down.
Maggie tells #rick to go sit with his mother.
#ig Mama wants to know what is going on.
$oc #augh informs everyone that he has never seen a more thorough
e'amination given to a patient than the one given to #ig $addy.
&ooper says the clinic is one of the best in the country.
Mae corrects her husband and says it is THE best clinic in the country.
Mae pokes &ooper hard again.
&ooper slaps at her hand.
$oc #augh says the doctors were ninety-nine and nine-tenths sure before
they began their e'amination.
#ig Mama wants to know of what they were sure.
#ig Mama starts to sob again.
Mae kisses #ig Mama.
#ig Mama pushes her away, again.
Mae tells #ig Mama to be brave.
#rick stands in the doorway and sings a song about the silvery light of the
moon.
&ooper tells him to shut up.
#rick apologi%es.
#rick walks out on the gallery.
$oc #augh strikes up again and tells #ig Mama that they cut a piece of
#ig $addy"s growth off.
#ig Mama interrupts him and wants to know what growth he"s referring to,
since #ig $addy doesn"t have cancer.
#ig Mama starts sobbing again.
$oc #augh tells her that they did tell #ig $addy his condition was )ust a
spastic colon, but that when they tested the tissue from the growth, the
doctors discovered that it was malignant.
=veryone pauses.
#ig Mama says, *cancer4< (ancer4<*
$oc #augh nods.
#ig Mama cries.
Mae and &ooper try to calm her down.
#ig Mama demands to know why they didn"t cut the growth out of #ig
$addy.
$oc #augh says that too many organs would have been affected by that
kind of treatment.
&ooper and Mae tell her the liver and kidneys have been affected.
#ig Mama takes a breath that sounds like a dying gasp.
,he everend makes a weird noise.
$oc #augh says #ig $addy"s condition is inoperable.
Mae e'plains that that"s why #ig $addy has turned yellow.
#ig Mama tells Mae to get away from her.
#ig Mama rises and calls after #rick. +he calls him her only son.
,his ticks Mae and &ooper off.
#ig Mama continues to call after #rick.
Maggie tells her #rick was so upset that he went back out to the gallery.
=veryone tries to comfort #ig Mama.
#ig Mama continues to call for #rick.
&ooper gets )ealous.
#ig Mama says that &ooper never liked #ig $addy.
Mae e'claims that that is not true.
,he everend coughs, rises, and leaves.
$oc #augh comments that the everend is lacking intact for talking about
memorial windows and air conditioners at a time like this.
#ig Mama describes this as one big bad dream.
&ooper tells everyone he thinks #ig $addy is in a lot of pain but )ust not
telling anyone.
$oc #augh confirms that a lot of patients go into denial at death"s door.
&ooper thinks #ig $addy should be given morphine.
#ig Mama says absolutely not.
$oc #augh tells her the pain is going to get really intense.
#ig Mama says no one will give #ig $addy morphine.
Mae tells her she doesn"t want to see #ig $addy suffer.
&ooper pokes Mae this time.
$oc #augh leaves a package on the table and tells everybody to use it in
case there is a sudden attack of pain.
Mae tells everyone she knows how to give shots.
&ooper vouches that Mae took a course in nursing during the war.
Maggie says that somehow she doesn"t think #ig $addy would want Mae
to give him a shot. Agreed.
,he doctor leaves, telling #ig Mama to keep her chin up.
&ooper says she"ll keep both chins up. (harming.
&ooper ushers the doctor out the door, thanking him, but the doctor
doesn"t acknowledge him.
&ooper gets his feelings hurt and wonders why the doctor can"t act more
human.
#ig Mama sobs and says that the news she"s )ust heard is not true.
&ooper tells her the medical tests are infallible.
#ig Mama asks him why he"s so intent to see his father dead. !h snap.
Maggie says she knows what #ig Mama means.
Mae turns on her and tells her that for a newcomer to the family, she sure
does seem to know a lot about the Pollitt family.
Maggie says understanding is hard to come by in the family.
Mae supposes Maggie needed a lot of understanding in her family due to
her father"s alcoholism and now #rick"s alcoholism.
Maggie tells her that #rick is devoted to #ig $addy.
#ig Mama agrees that #rick is #ig $addy"s boy, and that Maggie has to
cooperate with the family in helping to straighten out #rick, in order that
he might take over the plantation and the assets.
,his sends Mae and &ooper spinningA they cannot believe what #ig
Mama has )ust said.
#ig Mama says there"s no need to discuss to whom the inheritance is
going to go, because #ig $addy is not dying.
&ooper and Mae tell her that everyone has to be prepared for the
eventuality of death.
Mae goes to get &ooper"s briefcase.
&ooper saves face by saying he and #ig $addy have always loved each
other in :uiet ways, but that he has always had to be the responsible
one.
Mae agrees and says he"s always shouldered the responsibility, while
#rick has )ust thrown footballs around.
&ooper starts to talk about how much work it takes to run a plantation.
Maggie goes out to the gallery and calls softly to #rick.
#ig Mama tells &ooper and Mae that they don"t know anything about
running a plantation.
,hey continue to talk about what a help &ooper has been to #ig $addy in
the past few years and about how #rick only threw footballs around.
Maggie comes back into the room and corrects them by saying that #rick
is not a football player but one of the best sports announcers in the
country.
Maggie wishes they would stop talking about her husband.
&ooper informs her he will talk about his brother and his family if he
wants to. /e tells her to go outside and drink with #rick.
Maggie says she"s never seen such malice toward a brother before. +he
tells everyone she knows the reason why &ooper and Mae are vilifying
#rick. *avarice, avarice, greed, greed<*
#ig Mama tells everyone she will scream unless the fighting stops.
&ooper approaches Maggie with clenched fists, as though he is going to
hit her.
Maggie tells everyone that she and #rick have no plans to take over the
plantation, that they will leave as soon as #ig $addy has died.
#ig Mama invites Maggie to come sit with her, and Maggie cuddles with
#ig Mama.
&ooper and Mae bring out the big guns in their )ealous rage.
Mae informs #ig Mama that the reason why Maggie is childless is that
#rick won"t sleep with her.
&ooper launches into a lecture about how he has resented #ig $addy for
favoring #rick all these years, and he tells everyone that right now #ig
$addy is sinking into uremia, which is the poisoning of the body when
the kidneys can no longer get rid of poisons.
Maggie comments to herself how poisonous &ooper"s words are.
&ooper continues, saying that he wants retribution for all those years of
being mistreated by #ig $addy. /e tells everyone he will hire a lawyer if
he finds that anyone is plotting to take his entitlement from him.
#rick enters carrying an empty glass.
&ooper and Mae mock him, saying he looks like a failed football hero.
#ig Mama tells them to shut up.
&ooper remarks on how a family crisis can bring out the best and worst of
everyone involved.
=veryone agrees.
Mae gestures to &ooper"s briefcase.
#rick sings while he prepares another drink.
&ooper tells #ig Mama he has to go to work tomorrow, while Mae
arranges documents from his briefcase on the bed.
#rick continues singing.
&ooper e'plains that he is bringing up the delicate topic of #ig $addy"s
estate so prematurely because he has to leave so soon.
&ooper proposes a trusteeship that he"s been drawing up and planning.
#ig Mama takes control of the conversation in a #ig $addy kind of a way
and tells everyone there will not be anymore catty talk in her house.
+he tells &ooper to get rid of the documents in his hand. ,hen she
searches for the word #ig $addy uses when he"s disgusted.
#rick tells her the word is *(rap.* A mighty fine word, we feel.
#ig Mama goes *crap*-cra%y.
Mae scolds her for swearing.
&ooper is offended.
#rick starts singing again.
#ig Mama comments on how #rick looks like he used to look when he
was a little boy.
#ig Mama runs her hand through #rick"s hair.
#rick pushes #ig Mama"s hand away and continues singing softly.
#ig Mama talks about how the family needs to stay strong together and
love each other.
#ig Mama presses her head to #rick"s shoulder.
&ooper returns his documents to his briefcase.
#ig Mama continues to fawn over #rick, telling him how much #ig $addy
loves him and e'claiming that #ig $addy"s greatest wish is for #rick to
have a baby boy.
Mae sarcastically comments how it"s a pity that #rick and Maggie can"t
make that dream come true.
Maggie takes center stage and tells everyone she is going to have a
baby.
#ig Mama is happy.
Mae says it"s too good to be true.
#ig Mama grabs #rick"s drink from him and tells him that having a baby
will straighten him out.
#ig Mama runs out of the room to go tell #ig $addy the news.
#rick drops ice cubes in his glass, and Maggie whispers something to him
while she pours the li:uor.
Mae pokes &ooper again and hisses.
&ooper pushes her away and asks #rick for some alcohol.
#rick obliges.
Mae starts to talk.
&ooper shuts her up.
Maggie, &ooper, and Mae proceed to bicker about whether or not Maggie
is really going to have a baby.
#rick turns on the phonograph.
A long cry of agony is heard from the other end of the house and *rage
fills the house.*
Maggie turns the phonograph down.
Mae and &ooper go investigate the noise, but not before Mae turns to
hiss at Maggie.
#rick and Maggie are left in the bedroom.
Maggie e'hales and grabs hold of #rick"s arm.
#rick informs her he hasn"t felt the click.
#rick asks Maggie to hand him a pillow.
Maggie puts it on the bed.
#rick asks her to put it on the sofa, where he sleeps.
Maggie says he won"t be sleeping on the sofa tonight.
#rick goes to the li:uor cabinet and takes three shots.
#rick feels the click.
#rick goes out to the gallery and starts singing again.
Maggie puts the pillow on the bed.
Maggie grabs all of the bottles from the li:uor cabinet and takes them out
of the room.
#rick comes back into the bedroom and picks up the pillow from the bed.
Maggie comes back in and shuts the door.
+he tells him she used to think he was stronger than her, but now that
he"s a drinker, she feels like the stronger of the two.
Maggie turns out all of the lamps, e'cept for a single rose-silk-shaded
lamp by the bed.
Maggie tells #rick she"s been to a doctor and knows that this is her time
of the month to conceive.
#rick asks her how she e'pects to conceive a child by a man in love with
his li:uor.
Maggie replies that she will do so by locking his li:uor up.
#rick reaches for his crutch, but Maggie grabs it and hurls it over the
gallery balcony.
#ig Mama bursts into the room asking for the package of morphine $oc
#augh had left.
Maggie hands her the package.
#ig Mama tries to embrace #rick.
Another cry of agony is heard from across the house.
#ig Mama leaves.
Maggie tells #rick they are going to make their lie true, and that she will
return him his alcohol once they are finished.
#rick has nothing to say.
Maggie turns out the final lamp.
,he curtain begins to fall.
Maggie tells #rick she does love him.
#rick says, *wouldn"t it be funny if that were true4* $B)C vu4
,he =nd.