Brick and Maggie had been married since college, so you would think that what they shared was special, unbreakable, true love. Everything that they built became deferred when Maggie slept with Skipper, Bricks best friend. We cant really give a solid explanation as to why she did this because we dont know her motivations, but she may have committed this act for various reasons, one being to shift any displacement in Bricks mind from her to skipper. Perhaps she was trying to prove a point because she thinks that Skipper loves her husband. Perhaps she was trying to save her relationship because if she would prove that skipper was homosexual by trying to sleep with him, she could tell Brick then he would see the truth. Perhaps Maggie just wanted to get revenge because she felt that Skipper was getting more attention than her and was trying to steal Brick away from her. Perhaps she just wasnt content with herself, so she tried to make Brick and Skipper out to be the bad guys when the problem was really within herself. Any of these reasons may be sufficient as to why she slept with Brick even if she is in denial about them.
Brick and Skipper had an indescribable relationship, one that arose many suspicions in Maggies mind. She believed that skipper was homosexual and wanted more than just a friendship from her husband. In act I, Maggie says SKIPPER! STOP LOVIN MY HUSBAND OR TELL HIM HES GOT TO LET YOU ADMIT IT TO HIM! HE SLAPPED ME HARD ON THE MOUTH!then turned and ran without stopping once (43). Maggie feels like she really knows whats going on with Brick and Skipper and now that she knows the secret, Skipper tries to run from the truth. No matter what Maggie says, Skipper is going to object it whether its true or not. In Skippers mind, sleeping with Maggie may have been another way for him to get closer to Brick so whatever Maggie was doing to seduce Skipper, he just went along with it. Even though he wanted to prove that it wasnt any sexual attraction between him and Brick, he may actually be the one in denial.
Sometimes you have to bring activities that are going on in the dark, to the light in order to save a relationship and what youre fighting for. Maggie may have assumed that this strategy would be effective in the case of Brick and Skipper, so the first thing she thought to do was sleep with him. This is risky knowing the type of relationship the two friends have between each other. Brick may feel like shes lying on Skipper just to throw him under the bus and this can actually cause Brick to turn against Maggie instead. In act I, Brick expresses one man has one great good true thing in his life. One great good thing which is true!I had friendship with skipperyou are naming it dirty! (42) This shows how sensitive Brick really is about Skipper. Aside from this scenario, Maggie sleeps with Skipper which leads to Skipper telling Brick and everything goes downhill from there. Her intentions could have been to tell her husband that his best friend slept with her so that it could destroy their friendship and she could get all of his attention, but this just put Brick in a stage of isolation because his reaction was not the one she was expecting. Some things dont always work out how you plan them.
After feeling neglected for so long, Maggie felt like she had to do something to get her husband back. Skipper was a big part of Bricks life and he was getting more attention than Maggie was and this made her jealous of their relationship. When it seems like someone is taking your place, it makes you feel lost and angry, like you have to do something about it. It was Maggies id that was making her act on impulse, so she wanted Brick to feel the same pain that he made her feel and thought revenge would get the job done. She figured that if she slept with Bricks best friend, someone extremely close to him who he cares deeply about, that would impose the same heartache upon him that he imposed upon her. Bricks feelings were just as strong, if not stronger, about Skipper and it was hard for her to compete with that so she had to figure out something that would solve this problem. Just because she may have been hurting inside, that doesnt make her actions justifiable. Although she did achieve her goal in this case, it actually ended up hurting her and her relationship more than she thought it would.
Since Maggie was jealous of Brick and Skippers relationship, this may have drove her to want to criticize him and make it seem like he was sexually attracted to her husband. Sometimes people have to bring others down to bring themselves up and make them feel like theyre worth something. Maggie grew up poor and did not want to ever return to that lifestyle. She knew that big daddy was going to die and wasnt sure if she was going to reap any of the benefits so this brought about self-conflict and how she was going to avoid her old poverty background. She also knew that that Gooper and Mae, Bricks brother and sister-in-law, had children which was something that she longed for. She was finding all these issues within herself and it made her self-esteem drop. She wanted to feel loved, she wanted attention, and she wanted a wealthy, prosperous life of her own with her husband. Because she felt like these needs werent being met she had to find comfort from somewhere, so this is where she turns to skipper. Skipper was always around and was the closest thing to Brick so she took it upon herself to sleep with him. She says in act I you got a spinal injurycouldnt play the Thanksgiving game in Chicago, watched it on TV from a traction bed in Toledo. I joined Skipper. The Dixie Stars lost because poor skipper was drunk. We drank together that night all night in the bar (43). She had no regards of anyones feelings but her own and she just wanted to make sure that her needs and wants were satisfied. Sleeping with Skipper brought comfort and security to her and this is what she felt she needed.
We can see that these are possible motivations behind Maggie sleeping with Skipper, even though none of these explanations justify the fact that what she did was right. Although she may give many reasons as to why she did this, we will never truly know the real incentive.
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