Death of a Salesman - Character Sketch

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* Cooking, housekeeping, babysitting and counseling – the list can go on – all these are responsibilities part of the job description of (what some might call being superwoman) being a mother and a housewife. These women are the heart and soul of the family. Without them a family could not function and stay together (at least most of the time). Linda Loman of Miller’s play, Death of a Salesman, is one of these women who also embodies the traits of loyalty, naivety and levelheadedness. * * At the ripe age of almost sixty years old with notably gray hair, Linda Loman is the loving, devoted wife of Willy Loman whom he calls his “foundation and support”. She is most often jovial and wears a mask of happiness but has developed “an iron repression of her exceptions to Willy’s behaviours”. Linda Loman is faced with many great internal conflicts as she fails to be able to define herself. With her sons she is able to speak sternly and confidently but with Willy she is delicate, careful and even almost afraid. Throughout the play, Linda has to maintain herself as she deals with the ongoing malevolence between her son, Biff and Willy and with Willy’s suicide attempts and failures of trying to fulfill the American Dream. * * Linda Loman has one mission in life and that is to devote herself to Willy. Through her loving actions, Linda takes being a loyal wife to the extremes. For example, Linda knows that their son Biff is one source of agony for Willy and constantly throughout Act One she chastises her son for not being more attentive and understanding. She even goes to say, “Biff, dear, if you don’t have any feeling for him, then you can’t have any feeling for me.” Next, she states, “He’s [Willy] the dearest man in the world to me, and I won’t have anyone making him feel unwanted and low and blue.” Another example where Linda Loman chooses her husband over her
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