Death of a Salesman quoteations Flashcards
I’m vital in New England.
- Willy Loman, Act I
Willy Loman, the protagonist, is asserting that he is an important person in his business. These lines show that he is trying to establish his importance in the business and to prove himself though he is aware of the fact that his sales are on the constant decline. Tragic sense of dignity - Hubris. Low man and Willy = childish diminutive. Low status only place willy can fall from is in his mind. Hyperbolic statement
You’re my foundation and support, Linda
- Willy, Act 1
Reliance and dependence on Linda. Contradicts where he is often derogatory and degrading through his behaviour to his wife. Here, Willy seems to be more in touch with reality. Audience may have some respect for Willy here. Prior the stage directions indicate he turns ‘to Linda guiltily’; he is aware of the impact his behaviour has on Linda? Tragic importance of Linda.
Yeah. Lotta dreams and plans
- Biff, Act 1
Happy’s words reveal a strong bond between the brothers and their good memories of their childhood years. The scene reminds the audience that Willy Loman has provided a home for his family and that his family has shared his dreams. Willy does possess aspects of a good father despite his evident flaws.
Prior stage directions reveal that Biff seems ‘less self-assured’ and Happy has ‘succeeded less’. Maybe give weight to a sense of tragic waste, their dreams evidently have not succeeded.
dreams are important in “Death of a Salesman” because they explain the past, present and allow the audience to predict events in the future. Characters can be seen portrayed as their full selves - their whole lives, almost - rather than a stranger.
He’s liked, but not well-liked.
- Biff, referring to Bernard. Act I
Willy’s recipe for success is based entirely around a cult of personality. Most people are liked by their friends and acquaintances. But only great men, according to Willy, are truly well-liked - and that is what brings them success. In this quote, we see that Willy’s belief in personal connections has been transferred to his sons as well, as they dismiss their friend Bernard for only garden-variety likability.
Willy’s love for his family is only an extension of his love for himself, his love for biff can often be seen as oppressive and destructive, his care for his family is not in the forefront of the drama and his flaws are what Miller focuses on. willy is delusional and tragic in the sense that this catalyses willy’s downfall, his ideals surrounding being liked are almost a façade that cover the roots of his issues.
That’s why I thank almighty god that you’re both built like Adonises.
- Willy referring to his sons, Act 1
Yearning for ‘greatness’, for a distinction that separates you from and elevates you above the crowd is what undoes Willy. Imagery of Greek gods and heroes, Miller reminds us of a classical tragedy. Idealisation of Biff, wants to live vicariously through Biff.
America is full of beautiful towns and fine, upstanding people.
- Willy act 1
Reference to Willy’s desire for the American dream. Willy desires the typical assets associated with the American dream a perspective which would have been shared by much of Miller’s contemporary American audience.
If business don’t pick up I don’t know what I’m gonna do!
- Willy, Act 1
Use of abbreviations and colloquial language give weight to Willy as an ordinary man, emphasizing the tragedy of the common man. Here, he almost comes to an epiphany of his financial troubles - juxtaposing his usual dream-like and optimistic speeches.
Few men are idolized by their children the way you are.
- Linda to Willy, Act 1
Through Willy’s fragmented memory. Arthur Miller employs a disjointed time structure in Death of a Salesman, in which the play shifts settings and time within the act. The tone of these scenes is idyllic; the tension that is later apparent between Biff and Willy is non-existent, while both characters demonstrate a confidence and contentment that has disappeared decades later. Foreshadows the breakdown of a relationship between Willy and his sons, where Biff calls him a ‘fake’. Linda enables willy to not fully recognise his faults she acts as a peacekeeper but in many ways this creates more damage than good.
Ben! That man was a genius, that man was success incarnate!
- Willy about Ben, Act 1
Ben symbolizes the broadest reaches of success, which are intangible and practically imaginary. Whether Ben is a Horatio Alger figure, a character whose history is to be taken literally, is disputable; some aspects of his biography are so romanticized and absurdly grandiose that it is likely that the information that Miller gives concerning Ben is filtered through Willy Loman’s imagination.
The world is an oyster, but you don’t crack it open on a mattress!
- Willy, Act 1
An example of Willy’s abnormal use of clichés. Made more interesting, adjusted by him. His philosophy relies on hard work
How did you do it?
- Willy to Ben , Act 1
Fundamental question to the tragedy. Willy admires Ben and desires his level of success, his consistent questioning of how Ben achieved what he did is tragic and is a parallel to when Willy talks to Ben at the end of the play.
I have never kept books … Diamond mines.
- Ben, Act 1
Important, as there is no account of Ben’s success, is it real or just a figment of Willy’s imagination?
I still feel - Kinda temporary about myself.
- Willy, Act 1
This is a powerful self- description of an individual - once powerful and vibrant - who recognizes his vulnerabilities and weaknesses are beginning to overwhelm him to the point he no longer has the ability to turn them back or, at least, hold them at bay. His anguish goes beyond recognizing his own mortality. Rather, he is becoming increasingly aware that when he passes he will leave worse than when he began. Willy can be pragmatic and perceptive and see his declining state at times.
So attention must be paid.
- Linda about Willy, Act 1
Mr. Miller’s deluded Brooklyn dreamer or looks ennoblingly up to him as a martyr to a success-driven country. Instead, it demands that you experience Willy’s suffering without sociological distance, that you surrender to the sense of one man’s pain and of the the toll it takes on everyone around him. That line has traditionally been held up as a social signpost, a cry to heed the plight of an aging, insignificant man seduced and abandoned by a capitalist system that promised unattainable glory. Linda acts as a mouthpiece - tragic importance. Model verb ‘must’ reflects a sense of urgency.
He’s a fake.
- Biff about Willy, Act 1
Realization that Biff has seen through his father. Biff can be brutal but his honesty is there to wake up Willy.
He’s been trying to kill himself … I’m ashamed.
- Linda, Act 1
Linda shares with her sons Biff and Happy her fears that their father Willy is contemplating suicide. Her plea reveals a great deal about Linda’s character. While she presumes to know everything in Willy’s mind, she is afraid of her husband and does not dare confront him. Her words disclose that she is emotionally manipulative, trying to shift all the blame for Willy’s problems onto her sons, so that she herself can avoid confrontation and responsibility.
That is a one-million-dollar idea!
- Willy, act 1
Moment of dramatic relief or dramatic irony? Audience are aware of Biff’s tendency to steal so unlikely that this will be successful? Miller is mixing up ambitions failed in the past and ambitions now which are destined to fail. Willy is still dreaming.
Stop interrupting!
- Will to Linda, act 1
he says this ‘wildly enthused to Linda’; gives insight into his temperamental anger. Here, Willy doesn’t seem to reciprocate Linda’s support and love towards him. Audience feel pathos towards Linda, potentially shifting from any pathos felt prior for Willy.
A star like that, magnifcent, can never really fade away!
- Willy about Biff, act 1
Ebbets field game. Foreshadowing and dramatic irony. This portrays the apex of Biff’s potential success which reflected well on Willy. Steady decline from here onwards.
