death of a salesman 2
It's been over 50 years since the release of Arthur Miler's play Death of a Salesman. Written in 1949, Death of a Salesman is widely regarded by many as one of the masterpiece play of 20th century. It has seen countless reprisal performances spanning across the globe in such unlikely places such as China, and Japan for over 50 years. Its impact on our society has been so great that students, ranging from high school students to university students study Death of a Salesman and attempt to interpret its message. After reading this compelling play about a failed American dream of an ordinary man, a careful examination of characters reveals an aspect of the play that cannot be ignored. Miller's play reveals gender discrimination between female and male characters that is permeates palpably throughout the play. In contrast to male characters of the play, female characters lack the vivid, multi-layered human quality that male characters seem to possess. They are flat, two dimensional, lifeless, stereotypical portrayals of such women as a devoted mother, a mistress, and a barfly. Given the complex and compelling traits of the male characters in Death of a Salesman, it is surprising that Miller
"marginalization of women"(Smith, Susan H.) permeates throughout the Death of a Salesman. Linda Loman is a prime example of this premise. Linda's role in the play is characterized as the devoted wife of Willy. She displays blind devotion and love to her husband, this despite constant degradation and belittling she endures from Willy. "Don't interrupt!"(661), "Will you stop!"(660), "Stop interrupting!"(660) Willy shouts at Linda. In this passage Linda's futile attempt to speak her mind is squashed repeatedly despite Linda's support of Willy's views. Smith writes, "Willy's repeated interruption of Linda's speech...anticipates ... silencing of women by men." (Smith, Susan H.) Incapable of her own thoughts and opinions, Linda's character is relegated to submissive wife of Willy. Despite this de-humanizing treatment from Willy, Linda asks, "Just rest, should I sing to you?"(661) Infinitely loving and devoted to her husband, Linda appears to possess no identity of her own. In many respects, I am torn between compelling and tragic story telling of the play and the neglect of female character development in Miller's play, Death of a Salesman. Can I accept the claims of countless critics as hailing this work as a masterpiece? The answer to this question is difficult to answer. There's no question in my mind that the play as a whole succeeds in conveying its audience including myself the tragedy of an ordinary man. But at the same time, it is abundantly clear that this is a tragedy of an ordinary man, specifically the tragedy of Willy and his lost sons, Biff and Happy. The neglect of female characters reveals the weakness to the play. I found myself difficult to fully accept the stark disparity between the stereotyped, shallow female characters co-existing with such vivid and realistic male characters of the play. Ultimately, Miller's neglect of this aspect of the play compromises the full impact of Death of a Salesman. Smith, Susan H. "Conceptualizing Death of a Salesman as an American Play." Approaches to
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Approximate Word count = 1894
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)
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