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

crucial Role of Women in oddment of a Salesman In Arthur Millers expiration of a Salesman, women play a crucial role in Willys smell and in the lives of the other characters. While the roles themselves have not changed since the play was written, societys opinion of these roles has changed greatly. When it was written, Millers delegacy 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 silver as opposed to emotional support. This view has almost spun 180 degrees since the womens rightist movement rocked society. Critics rethought the role of women in society and in marriage (Murphy and Abbotson 6), and reason that the women in the play are much more complex and sizeable than earlier interpretations had given them credit for. Not only are the women a recreation for the men in the play, they can be seen as heavy influential on the lives of the men with whom they come into contact. Willys entire mournful life could have been turned around if only Linda had encouraged him to determine Ben to Alaska rather than insisting the couple cling to the seemingly safe life they had begun to build. The secretaries, who at first glance seem to exist merely to practice such menial tasks as typing, actually are able to satiate Biffs and Willys entrance to the offices of the powerful men who could advance their careers. (Stanton 131) In addition to cosmos far more powerful than early critics of the play recognized, the women in Death of a Salesman also are far more complex. Women are not simply good or bad - supportive wive... ...Works Cited and Consulted Arthur Millers Death of a Salesman. Harold Bloom, ed. New York Chelsea House, 1988. Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman. 50th Anniversary ed. New York Penguin Books, 1999. Murphy, Brenda and Susan C. W. Abbotson. fellow feeling Death of a Salesman A Student Handbook to Cases, Issues and Historical Documents. The Greenwood compaction Literature in Context series, Claudia Durst Johnson, series editor. Westwood, CT, London 1999. Stanton, Kay. Women in Death of a Salesman Readings on Death of a Salesman. Ed. Thomas Siebold. San Diego, CA Greenhaven Press, 1999. 130-137. Guth, Hans P. and Gabriel L. Rico. 1993. Discovering Literature. calamity and the Common Man by Arthur Miller. Upper Saddle River, NJ prentice Hall. Oakley, J. Ronald. Gods Country America in the Fifties. New York Dembner Books, 1990. 245.