Happy Flashcards
”[_________ is like a visible colour on him]”
sexuality
“You’re an _______”- To Biff Act 1
idealist
What is ironic about Happy declaring
“You’re an idealist” Act 1
It is ironic because it is Happy and Willy who live in the dream world convincing themselves through self deception that they possess success, this then highlights the implication that Happy will follow the same tragic fall s his father
“He lived there about ___ _______ and sold it….. He can;t _____ __ once it’s finished” Act 1
two months
enjoy it
“I’m _____” To biff Act 1
lonely
“I don’t know what ___ ____ I’m workin’ for” Act 1
the hell
“Everybody around me is __ ____ that I’m constantly _______ __ _____” To biff Act 1
so false
lowering my ideals
What are “ideals”?
“everybody around me is so false that I’m constantly lowering my ideals” To biff Act 1
satisfying one’s conception of what is perfect
What quote contradicts Happy when he said to Biff
“You’re an idealist”? and why
“when he walks into the store the waves part in front of him” , this exaggerative and religious imagery is suggestive of Happy’s aspirations to have extensive wealth in the hierarchy of capitalist america which is an unrealistic aim to attain
“Hap Loman can ____ ___ ____” Act 1
make the grade
What Willy quote does
“Hap Loman can make the grade” Act 1 compare to in Act 2 ?
“I am not dime a dozen! I am Willy Loman”
“I have an ____-_________ _____ __ __________” Act 1
over-developed sense of competition
“___________ bum” - Linda to Happy Act 1
philandering
What is meant by Linda calling Happy a
“philandering bum”? Act 1
a man who enters casual relationships with women
“He’s been ______ __ ____ _______” Act 1
trying to kill himself
“I know every _______ in his _____” Act 1
thought
mind
“Biff, his ____ is in _____ ______!” Linda Act 1
life
your hands
What is the significance of Linda claiming to
“Biff, his life is in your hands!” Act 1 ?]
This demonstrates that Linda as a wife and a woman is unable to help Willy due to her subordinate role, therefore transfers the responsibility of Willy’s “life” onto Biff, a man. Clearly Miller illustrates here the inevitability of Willy’s fall as Linda does not understand that it the falsity of the American Dream that cripples his mind rather than the absence of his sons which were a by product of his reluctance to let go of the dream that left him in despair. It could also be said that Linda arguably blames Biff for Willy’s mental fatigue as “hands” could be implied to take the purpose of blame (e.g Lady Macbeth’s hands has alluded the common phrase ‘the blood’s on your hands’) and therefore conveys the point that she holds him accountable for not being successful
“No, thats not __ ______. He’s just a ___” Act 2
my father
guy
“I’m gunna _____ ____ _______!” - Requiem
beat this racket
“It’s the only _____ ___ ___ _____.” Requiem
dream you can have
How does Happy try to compensate for his lack of acknowledgement in work?
he suggests that he would love to show off his physical prowess in the store by outfighting the others and the competition for job success is transformed into a competition for the more physical pleasure of sexual success
How does Happy explain how he views women?
he sees them as conquests and takes pleasure in seducing women colleagues for sport
What 2 things in the opening of the play display a rather pathetic picture of an old man?
the arch supports in his shoe and a motherly wife
Why does Happy hate himself for sleeping with women involved with his senior colleagues?
as fundamentally he is honest
Happy’s worry about ruining women refers to the moral attitude dating from nineteenth century, when….?
when a women who had sex might never get married because of her reputation
Willy sometimes gives perceptive advice however he does not understand it himself, such as when he tells his son Happy “The world is an oyster, but you don’t crack it open on a mattress”
What does this mean?
this means that you have to work hard to succeed, but it also implies that going to bed with people is not a means to economic and social success
What does Happy represent?
he is the stunted incarnation of Willy’s worst traits and the embodiment of the lie of the happy American Dream. He is one-dimensional and static throughout the play, having gained no self-insight; his empty vow to avenge his father’s death by finally “beat[ing] this racket” provides evidence of his critical condition. For Happy who has lived in the inflated expectations of his brother, there is no escape for the indoctrination of the Dream. His disease is irreparable and lacks the capacity for self-analysis which has saved Biff by the end of the play. As he does not possess a hint of the latent thirst for knowledge that proves Biff’s salvation. Ultimately he is a duped figure destined, alike Willy, to be swallowed up by the force of blind ambition that fuels his insatiable sex drive.
