Linda Loman

997 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Analysis of death of a salesman by arthur miller

Death of a Salesman Character Analysis 2017 is an era of independence amongst women. More and more modern women are content without husbands. This, however, was not the case in the 1950’s. Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman centers on a family of dreamers. The father and two sons want nothing more than to be successful. The sons desperately seek the approval of their father but, he too is seeking approval from his deceased brother. The only rational member of the Loman family is Linda. Miller’s Character, Linda Loman, may seem like a typical 50’s housewife but, in reality she is the rock of the Loman family. Linda Loman’s ever-optimistic outlook serves as a necessary juxtaposition to the pessimism of her dear husband Willy. While …show more content…

When it came down to it, she would rather have no relationship with her sons than have them disrespect Willy. Linda Loman did her best to keep Willy as content as she possibly could no matter the circumstance. She knew her husband was losing his mind and had tried and failed numerous times to kill himself. Linda was very quick to overlook the issue as to not upset him any further. He was not able to emotionally handle the situation and instead chose to ignore all the red flags. She feared confronting him would only make matters worse. Not only did she pretend to not see Willy’s harmful behavior, she also vehemently denied his condition when confronted by others. Linda claimed her husband’s condition was merely a symptom of …show more content…

His aggressive personality hinders Linda and makes it difficult for her to stand up for herself. In some sense, it is almost as if she is begging for his approval and affection. Linda is eternally indebted to her husband and feels as though she must protect him from his own feelings, especially the vendettas he holds against Biff. Often times, Linda’s nurturing spirit can cross the line into enabling. She finds it very important to support her husbands dream but, sometimes she encourages his delusions too much, thus worsening his

Show More
Related

  • Tragic Heroes Bring Suffering Upon Themselves: Death of a Salesman

    518 Words  | 2 Pages

    Willy Loman is not the only victim of his tragic flaw. The rest of the Loman family is also affected by Willy's problem. Willy's wife, Linda, is the only one who supports and understands Willy's tragic flaw completely. Linda supports every far-fetched claim her husband makes. She is even described as having “infinite patience” whenever she is conversing with Willy (Miller 99). Willy's two sons, Biff and Happy, are also affected by his flaw. Happy, when in the company of two ladies, claims that Willy is not even his father, and “just a guy” (Miller 91). Later in the play, Biff decides that he does not want to be in his father's life anymore. Biff's problems are simply too much for Willy to handle with his current state of being, even though Willy needs Biff in his life. After both internal and external conflict, Biff reveals to Willy that Willy had been lied to for a number of years, and that the life he lives is essentially a lie (Miller 104).

    Read More

  • Individuality In Willy Loman's Death Of A Salesman

    1987 Words  | 4 Pages

    Willy’s lack of self-worth translates into the deep state of depression that eventually causes him to attempt to take his own life. His wife, Linda has become aware of this, even warning her own children. She discusses with her sons about Willy’s attempted suicide, showing them a rubber hose she found behind the fuse box in the basement; she believes it was used by Mr. Loman in an effort to try and asphyxiate himself. Also, there is evidence that Willy’s car accidents are inevitably not “accidents” at

    Read More

  • Death Of A Salesman Denial Analysis

    372 Words  | 1 Pages

    Every member of the Loman family is living in denial about their reality or continue a cycle of denial for others. Willy is incapable of accepting the fact

    Read More

  • Death of a Salesman

    1674 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller is a controversial play of a typical American family and their desire to live the American dream “Rather than a tragedy or failure as the play is often described. Death of a Salesman dramatizes a failure of [that] dream” (Cohn 51). The story is told through the delusional eyes and mind of Willy Loman, a traveling salesman of 34 years, whose fantasy world of lies eventually causes him to suffer an emotional breakdown. Willy’s wife, Linda, loves and supports Willy despite all his problems, and continually believes in his success and that of their no good lazy sons, Biff and Happy. The play takes place in 1942, in Willy and Linda’s home, a dilapidated shack on the outskirts of a slum. Willy has spent his whole life teaching and believing that you can achieve success by your appearance and by making yourself as amiable as possible. Eventually Willy begins to fabricate stories at himself to be able to live with himself because he can’t meet his own expectations. He falls deeper into his lies, making himself and his family suffer for it. (Thesis). In the play Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller proves he is America’s social critic when he criticizes Willy’s relationship concerning his family, his lack of success in achieving his goals and his dreams along with his inner turmoil and personal collapse which result in suicide.

    Read More

  • Self Deception In Willy Loman

    1601 Words  | 4 Pages

    Linda Loman is the enabler of the Loman family, and also uses self- deception to escape her life mentally. Linda never spoke up to Willy, and did nothing but feed his unrealistic dreams. Linda lived a life of “what ifs” with Willy. They both did the bare minimum in every aspect of their life, which is why

    Read More

  • Their Common Enemy

    636 Words  | 2 Pages

    (35)." Linda says this to Willy after she found out that his pay wasn't as

    Read More

  • Linda as an Anabler in Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller

    1051 Words  | 3 Pages

    To start with, in the play Linda makes many excuses for Willy. For example, Willy says, “I suddenly couldn’t drive anymore. The car kept going off onto the shoulder ya know?” Linda replied, “Maybe it’s your glasses” (Miller 22). By making these kinds of excuses, it’s almost like Linda is ignoring the problems Willy has with his head. Also, Willy says, “I suddenly couldn’t drive anymore.” Linda replied, “Oh, maybe it was the steering again” (Miller 27). Willy doesn’t make excuses for himself, its Linda who acts like nothing is wrong. Willy is living half in the past and half in the present. In the play, Willy says, “It took me nearly four hours from Yonkers.” Linda replied, “Well, you’ll just have to take a rest” (Miller 27). By making all of these excuses, it shows that Linda refuses to believe that Willy has problems, and she tries brushing it off like it’s no big deal. She knows there are problems, but she is unwilling to face them.

    Read More

  • Death of a Salesman: The Flaws and Failures of Willy Loman

    556 Words  | 2 Pages

    Arthur Miller’s play “Death of a Salesman”, primarily focuses on the flaws and failures of Willy Loman, Millers’ main character in this story. Willy’s distorted and backward views of the American Dream, paired with his inability to let go of the past lead him down a road of regret and in the end his biggest failure which was his wasted life.

    Read More

  • The Objectification Of Women In Arthur Miller's Death Of A Salesman

    982 Words  | 2 Pages

    Outside of their marriage, Willy has an affair. This affair shows how little he actually cares about Linda’s feelings, and it gives yet another example of the misogynist views woven into the

    Read More

  • Movie Analysis: Linda's Infidelity

    1405 Words  | 3 Pages

    Neuroticism is the “tendency toward unstable emotions,” and Linda is very unstable. She curses at the pharmacists when she picks up Earl’s prescriptions. She is also very anxious when she begs Earl’s attorney to write her out of Earl’s will because she feels guilty about cheating on Earl. Interestingly, high neuroticism has been shown to be associated with infidelity in heterosexual couples (Mark et al., 2011). After Linda leaves the attorney’s office, she continues to exhibit neurotic behavior.

    Read More

  • Isolation In Death Of A Salesman

    873 Words  | 2 Pages

    One negative influence in Willy's life is the inability of his friends to confront him about his problems. It is Willy's wife that causes him the most harm. In her vain attempt to protect Willy, she actually allows his eventual death. The first sign of her negligence comes in one of Willy's flashbacks. Willy brags, "I did five hundred gross in Providence and seven hundred gross in Boston"(35). But as Linda begins calculating his commission, the value rapidly diminishes to "roughly two hundred gross on the whole trip"(35). Linda sees what is going on but does not confront him. A very similar situation occurs later in their life when she finds out that Willy is no longer on salary, but borrows money every week from Charley. Again she will not confront him. By not confronting Willy in either of these instances, Linda allows him to sink further into his false reality. But Linda makes an even worse mistake that allows for Willy's suicide. She acknowledges his suicidal tendencies when she says, "He's been trying to kill himself"(58). She tells the boys that she has found the rubber hose in the basement, but she still will not confront Willy. Another character who is unable to be straight with Willy is Willy's boss Howard Wagner. Howard allows Willy to keep his job, but does not pay him. If he had just fired him right out it would of forced Willy to find a new job. By stringing him along, Howard allows Willy to maintain his fantasy world unchallenged. These are examples of the most negative influences in Willy's life simply because they have the ability to help but choose not to.

    Read More

  • Willy's Tragic Flaw and the Effect it Has Upon his Sons in Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller

    1496 Words  | 3 Pages

    Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller concerns itself with the fall of a simple man perpetually in a steadfast state regarding his own failure in a success-driven society. The protagonist of the play, Willy Loman, will follow a tragic trajectory that will eventually lead to his suicide. Arthur Miller's tragic play is an accurate portrayal of the typical American myth that sustains an extreme craving for success and a belief in the illusion of the American dream, a dream attainable only by a handful of people. Having chosen a career in sales Willy Loman constantly aspires to become 'great'. Nevertheless, Willy is a poor aging salesman that considers himself to be a failure when comparing himself to his successful father and brother, but he is incapable of consciously admitting it. Consequently, Willy will measure his level of success with the level of success attained by his offspring, particularly his eldest son Biff. Their difficult relationship contribute to the play's main plot. Willy unfolds his deluded perception and recollection of the events as the audience gradually witnesses the tragic downfall of a man shadowed by a mental illness that has already began to take it's toll on his mind and personality.

    Read More

  • Death Of A Salesman American Dream Essay

    1042 Words  | 3 Pages

    Linda lives in denial, from the moment she decided to marry Willy. She struggles emotionally, for the rest of the play until the very end, so much so that she cannot even cry when her husband commits suicide. The pain and agony drains her from everything including her ability to produce tears. “Willy, dear, I can't cry. Why did you do it?

    Read More

  • Theme Of Reality In Death Of A Salesman

    899 Words  | 2 Pages

    Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman is a tragic play about an aging and struggling salesman, Willy Loman, and his family’s misguided perception of success. In Willy’s mind, being well-liked is more important than anything else, and is the means to achieving success. He teaches this flawed idea to his sons, Biff and Happy, and is faithfully supported by his wife Linda. Linda sympathizes with Willy’s situation, knowing that his time as an important salesman has passed. Biff and Happy hold their father to impossibly high standards, and he tries his best to live up to them.

    Read More

  • Miller's Critique of American Society in "Death of a Salesman"

    1876 Words  | 4 Pages

    In Death of a Salesman Miller explores and exposes modern American society in a brutal and scathing manner. His analysis and critique is conveyed clearly to the audience concluding that society is based on a corrupt and immoral capitalist dream. Miller implies this through the Loman family and their struggle to survive and compete. Techniques Miller employs to illustrate this are symbolism, characters and structure.

    Read More

More about Linda Loman

Open Document