Death of a Salesman - Linda

A detailed Summary of Death of a Salesman - Linda


In the play, Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, Linda Loman's character is viewed differently by many people. Some critics have seen Linda as a "controlling mother figure" who is actually the one to blame for this failure of both her sons and her husband. In this report I will defend this view citing specific examples from the play. Linda was undoubtedly the only one in control throughout the play.

I believe that Linda tried to be a good mother and wife but she did not really know what she was doing. At the very beginning of the book we see that Willy, on his way to Boston, has come home because he was unable to concentrate on the road. And just as he was beginning to figure out why, she took his mind off the subject by suggesting that the problem was with the car's steering and not with him. "Oh. Maybe it's the steering again. I don't think Angelo knows the Studebaker.". And again: "Maybe it's your glasses. You never went for your new glasses.". By repeatedly doing this throughout the


Willy isn't the only one that Linda has affected. There is also Biff and Happy. Willy had taught Biff and Happy that if you were handsome, opportunity would come to you. Now while that doesn't have anything to do with Linda, she never challenged what Willy taught them; she simply agreed with everything that Willy said. Linda is able to manipulate Willy, by making his ideas seem greater by giving them her full support. An example of this, similar to what happened with Willy and Howard Wagner, is when Biff goes to see Bill Oliver about a job. The two of them have not seen each other in twenty years and when they did know each other Bill Oliver did not know Biff too well. Despite this, Willy thought Bill would recognize Biff and offer him a job on the spot. Hearing this Linda did not challenge Willy; she actually tried to quietly support him even though I felt she knew Biff would not be successful.

In this report, I have defended the belief that Linda is a "controlling mother figure" who is ac

Some common words found in the essay are:
Biff Happy, Linda Loman's, Howard Wagner, Hearing Linda, Linda Willy, Willy Boston, Willy Linda, Studebaker Maybe, Linda Loman, Willy Bill, play linda, biff happy, failure sons husband, figure actually blame, mother figure, actually blame, blame failure, failure sons, figure actually, sons husband, controlling mother figure, mother figure actually, maybe it's, linda willy, blame failure sons,

Approximate Word count = 681
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

join now Save Paper



Saved Paper

Save your papers so you can locate them quickly!

Newest Essays

Testimonials

  • "Thank You So Much!!! You have saved me once again!!!"
    Jack M.
  • "With so many papers to chose from, I was able to get ideas to help me with all of my classes. Thank You!"
    Brian P.
  • "I've used this site for the last 3 years to help me come up with ideas for my papers."
    Sara J.
  • "I use this site every week to help me write my own papers!"
    Rachel W.
  • "I love this site!!!"
    Marie N.