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

982 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Critical analysis of the death of a salesman

Arthur Miller’s work, Death of a Salesman, presents the objectification of women through using and emotional, or verbal, abuse, while still making them essential for life to run smoothly, in order to deeply show the female social group as a source of strength, hope, and truth.
Throughout the play, women are treated like objects; they are used for the man’s benefit, starting from Happy and making it all the way back to Willy. Miller showcased the sexist and misogynist views in the society of the time. He expanded on this idea of objectification of women specifically through the character Happy. This is first seen in a dialogue between Happy and his older brother, Biff. “I get that any time I want… I just keep knockin’ them over and it doesn’t …show more content…

This is an example of toxic masculinity finding its way into the lives of men and hurting those who are involved in their lives. Although Willy may love Linda, the way he treats and talks to her can be seen as verbal, possibly even emotional abuse. According to the Oxford dictionary, emotional abuse is a form of abuse, characterized by a person subjecting, or exposing, another person to behavior that may result in psychological trauma, including anxiety, chronic depression, or post-traumatic stress disorder. Within their relationship, Willy talks to Linda in a constant condescending tone. “Stop interrupting!” “Will you stop!” “I was talking, wasn’t I?” In simple conversations, he sees her as unimportant and insignificant. He makes her appear as though she does not belong in family conversations because she is a woman. When she did try to participate, her own husband would angrily yell at her and push her thoughts aside. 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

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

  • Attention Depicted In Arthur Miller's Death Of A Salesman

    726 Words  | 2 Pages

    This also show that Linda loved her husband more than anything, she would do anything to protect his pride including not telling Willy that she knows he had been trying to commit suicide. Everything Linda di is to protect Willy pride and face, and not letting any of her son

    Read More

  • The Death Of A Salesman: The Reality Evasion Drug

    992 Words  | 2 Pages

    Willy becomes more and more dependent on his drug as the story progresses. His next allusion to the past was during a conversation with his wife. Willy is downhearted about his failure to provide for his family, his looks, and basically his whole life in general. He begins to see some of the truth in his life: "I know it when they walk in. They seem to laugh at me."(Miller; The Death of a Salesman; pg. 23) By trying to see the reality in life, for once, he depresses himself so awfully, that he has a rendezvous in his head with his women that he sees on the side. He only uses this women to lift his spirits and to evade the truths that nearly scare him into his own grave.

    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

    Linda, Biff and Happy are the one's that come together to help Willy be content.

    Read More

  • death of a salesman

    784 Words  | 2 Pages

    Disrespectfulness is the cause of personal tension in this play. There are many occurrences where a character is being disrespectful, which triggers emotional and physical conflicts. Throughout the movie, Willy is extremely disrespectful to his wife Linda. He loses his patience every time she talks during a conversation that he is having. When he talks to Biff at the table about his new job opportunities, Linda adds some remarks like, “I’ll make breakfast,” (1853) and Willy loses his control. He turns to her quickly and tells her to shut up. Sometimes he even puts his finger angrily to her face, screaming at her to shut her mouth, even though she is just adding relative comments.

    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

  • Willy Masculinity

    905 Words  | 2 Pages

    He seems to believe that the best way to be the “man” in the relationship is to be the dominant one and to put her down all the time. “I won’t have you mending stockings in the house! Now throw them out!” Willy feels guilty about Linda mending stockings when he bought the woman he’s having an affair with a new pair. He transfers this guilt into being horrible to her, which isn’t very fair. He seems to believe that this is a way to assert his masculinity, and it could possibly resonate from the way that his father treated women before he left. This is similar to Othello; when Othello believes that Desdemona is having an affair he slaps her in front of everyone, thinking that it is a way to assert his masculinity to the public. Willy also refers to Linda as “kid” a lot, which could be a playful nickname but it also could be a way of him putting her down and making her seem immature. It is an excuse to dismiss her. It also suggests that he thinks he is more mature than Linda, whereas the audience know this not to be the case as Willy is losing it a little and can act incredibly childishly. In treating Linda like this, it also drives Willy and Biff further apart than ever. He doesn’t approve of the way Linda is treated, especially since he knows how much she puts up with from her husband. In being so uncertain of his masculinity Willy can be horrible, which makes him unlikeable and drives him apart from

    Read More

  • Willy Loman Suffering

    618 Words  | 2 Pages

    Linda was always the nurturing character that cared for Willy along with her two sons. She has to deal with all of Willy’s antics such as him becoming easily angered and belligerent, his suicide attempts, and his fanatical ideas about becoming rich. All of these actions that Willy repeatedly does add on to the stress and anxiety that Linda has to bear. In addition to all of this, Linda has to deal with her suspicion of Willy having an affair all while she is providing for the family and being loyal to her husband. This whole situation ends up in Linda being in extreme stress during the play and becomes a tragic character in a lot of aspects thanks to

    Read More

  • Character Analysis in Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller

    793 Words  | 2 Pages

    Biff is home for a visit and is talking with his brother, Happy in their room just as they did when they were young boys. Willy has come home prematurely from a business trip and is downstairs when the boys overhear him talking to himself in a sort of quasi-reality. In the meantime, the two boys discuss the past. It is interesting here that the roles of the two boys with respect to each other seem to have reversed. Happy was the shy one growing up and Biff had all the courage and self-confidence. Now, Biff appears to have been beaten down by life and is on the brink of the se...

    Read More

  • Death of a Salesman Character Development Essay

    757 Words  | 2 Pages

    Foremost, Willy has a problem with his inability to grasp reality. As he grows older his mind is starting to slip. For example, when he talks to the woman and his brother Ben. Throughout the story, Willy dreams of talking to the woman, because the woman is a person that he was dating in when he went to Boston. He was cheating behind his wife’s back. Willy basically uses her as a scapegoat when he’s hallucinating about her. He blames all of his problems on the woman. For instance Willy says, “ Cause you do… There’s so much I want to make for.” (38) This is the evidence right here. Also he dreams about his brother Ben. Willy wishes could be more like his brother who has just passed away a couple of months previously to the story. He also wishes he didn’t have to work and could be rich like Ben. He respects Ben for not really working and making a lot of money. Another example of Willy’s hallucinations are when he says,“ How are you all?” (45) This occurs when Willy is talking with Charley and he starts thinking about Ben. Willy’s inability to grasp reality never changed throughout the story.

    Read More

  • Death Of A Salesman Women Essay

    929 Words  | 2 Pages

    For instance, when the Loman family is having a conversation about the boy’s optimistic business plan, Linda attempts to speak, but is told, “Stop interrupting” by Willy (64). It is clear that Linda was not interrupting, but instead was just wanting to feel included in the family discussion. Willy’s harsh response entails that he doesn't care about Linda’s thoughts or views, nor does he see her being worthy of an opinion. Willy’s influence on his sons with regards to disrespecting the opposite sex is apparent when Biff and Happy meet two women at a restaurant. When Happy begins speaking to the girl he just met, one of the first things he asks is, “You don’t happen to sell, do you?”

    Read More

  • Happy Loman

    996 Words  | 2 Pages

    Much like Happy deceives himself; he manages to hoodwink this girl. More and more Happy and Willy begin to look the same, and this may be why Willy formerly neglected his son because it felt like staring into a mirror. The second instance is where Happy and Stanley are having a conversation and Happy insists on an expensive meal because it’s a “little celebration”. He then moves on to lie that Biff “pulled off a big deal” and that they will start a family “business together” (72). However, Happy doesn’t know any of this for a fact-- He hasn’t even spoken to Biff ever since his meeting with Bill Oliver.

    Read More

  • Death Of A Salesman Ambition

    1522 Words  | 4 Pages

    She did this in attempt to protect Willy from the criticism of others, but it really only harmed both of them. Pretending to believe his lies only encouraged Willy to keep up with the false reality he had created for himself. Linda was constantly being put down and degraded by Willy, never being able to voice her opinion without Willy telling her to be quiet. I truly believe that Willy did not love Linda half as much as she loved him. Willy was so afraid to lose his reputation as a good husband, he let his marriage suffer, instead of telling the truth.

    Read More

  • Crucial Role of Women in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman

    2125 Words  | 5 Pages

    In Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, women play a crucial role in Willy’s life and in the lives of the other characters. While the roles themselves have not changed since the play was written, society’s opinion of these roles has changed greatly. When it was written, Miller’s representation of Linda was seen as a portrait of the ideal American wife. She was a nurturing wife and mother, loyal to her family, and almost overly supportive of her pitiful husband Willy. The other women in the play, however, were seen as “working women,” or women who care about money as opposed to emotional support.

    Read More

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

Open Document