Nutshell Summary

Margaret, or as she is referred to by the other characters, Maggie, enters the sole setting of the play, the bedroom, after one of her in-laws’ children gets her dress dirty. Her husband Brick, gets out of the shower. He seems less than enthused while responding to his wife as she changes her dress and goes on a longwinded rant about how his brother Gooper is looking to inherit their dying father’s estate. Sporting a broken ankle from drunkenly jumping hurdles the night before, Brick’s lack of input in the conversation and Maggie’s desperate attempts to get his attention reveal a marriage that is just as broken as its occupants. The two cycle through various arguments before Brick’s father and the family patriarch Big Daddy and his birthday party relocate to the claustrophobic bedroom.