Character analysis
Gooper Pollitt
in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams
Gooper Pollitt is the oldest son of Big Daddy and Big Mama in Tennessee Williams's Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, representing the play's themes of calculated respectability and unfulfilled ambition. As a lawyer in Memphis, Gooper has spent his life doing everything "right"—marrying Mae, raising five (soon to be six) kids, and building his career—yet he always feels overshadowed by his younger brother Brick, who is openly favored by Big Daddy, despite his struggles with alcoholism and emotional turmoil.
Gooper's journey reveals his bitterness. Throughout the play, he works diligently with Mae to present himself as the responsible heir to Big Daddy's vast Mississippi Delta plantation, especially as the family suspects that Big Daddy is dying of cancer. In Act Three, he unveils a legal document—a proposed estate co-management agreement—that showcases how carefully he has plotted his takeover. Unfortunately, this move backfires; instead of gaining sympathy, it exposes his self-serving motives and alienates Big Mama, who is taken aback by his cold efficiency.
His key traits include a resentment masked by a sense of procedural correctness, an insatiable need for validation that he never receives, and a readiness to use family loyalty as a legal tactic. He and Mae operate almost as one, fueling each other's grievances and scheming together. Gooper is more than just a villain; Williams gives him a genuine wound—the painful realization that love in his family is unevenly distributed—but instead of showing vulnerability, he responds with calculation, which ultimately undermines his chances for both the inheritance and his parents' love.
Connected characters
- Brick Pollitt
Gooper's younger brother and lifelong rival. Brick receives Big Daddy's love effortlessly while Gooper earns nothing despite dutiful achievement. Gooper's resentment drives the entire inheritance plot; he repeatedly contrasts his own productivity with Brick's drunken uselessness, yet every comparison only deepens the family's preference for Brick.
- Big Daddy Pollitt
Gooper's father and the object of his frustrated need for approval. Big Daddy barely conceals his preference for Brick, leaving Gooper feeling invisible. The inheritance crisis forces their relationship into the open, but even on what may be Big Daddy's last night, genuine warmth between them never materializes.
- Big Mama Pollitt
Gooper's mother, whom he attempts to manage and persuade in Act Three. When he presents the legal co-management document, Big Mama rejects it with disgust, seeing through his efficiency to the opportunism beneath. Her rejection is the play's clearest verdict on Gooper's strategy.
- Mae Pollitt
Gooper's wife and co-conspirator. Mae amplifies his grievances, keeps score of Brick and Maggie's failures, and helps orchestrate the inheritance campaign. They operate as a united front, though their alliance reads to the rest of the family as cold and grasping rather than loving.
- Maggie Pollitt ("The Cat")
Gooper's sister-in-law and adversary. Maggie and Gooper compete directly for the family's future; her announcement of a (fabricated) pregnancy at the play's climax is aimed squarely at neutralizing Gooper's claim that Brick's line will die out, undercutting his entire argument for control of the estate.
- Doctor Baugh
Gooper aligns with Doctor Baugh in managing the truth about Big Daddy's cancer diagnosis, positioning himself as the responsible adult who can handle hard facts—a contrast he deliberately draws against Brick's avoidance and Big Mama's denial.
- Reverend Tooker
Reverend Tooker circulates through the birthday gathering as a symbol of social performance. Gooper tolerates his presence as part of maintaining the veneer of respectable family life, though Tooker's oblivious cheerfulness underscores the hollowness of the occasion Gooper is trying to exploit.