How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Act.Page.Line). Every time a character talks counts as one line, even if what they say turns into a long monologue. We used the New Directions edition of the play, published in 1971.
Quote #4
MARGARET
In this way I destroyed him, by telling him truth that he and his world which he was born and raised in, yours and his world, had told him could not be told? (I.59.1126-1128)]
Maggie has seen the destructive power of truth, its ability to kill. Truth kills when what it reveals lies outside of societal expectations.
Quote #5
MARGARET
I'm honest! Give me credit for just that, will you please? (I.1140)
Maggie isn't entirely honest, though. She's complicit in the lie everyone has told Big Daddy about his spastic colon. She lies about her pregnancy at the end of the play.
Quote #6
BIG MAMA
And I did, I did so much, I did love you!—I even loved your hate and your hardness, Big Daddy!
[…]
BIG DADDY
Wouldn't it be funny if that was true… (II.364-368)
It's hard to believe that Big Mama doesn't love Big Daddy, considering the show of affection she demonstrates every time he's around. We never see Big Daddy and Big Mama alone, and so we don't really know them as intimately as we know Brick and Maggie.