Misogyny in death of a salesman:

Published in 1948, death of a salesman by Arthur miller is a realistic look at a dysfunctional American
family plagued with the idea of the American dream. This plays’ popularity is often accredited to
how the readers see themselves in the different characters, so much so that after its debut in the
theaters, legend says that doctors were called, and men were taken to hospitals to find out why they
couldn’t stop crying. But, as moving as this play and its message are, one thing is clear: women were
continuously degraded and dehumanized through-out Death of a salesman, which makes sense
given how women were viewed and treated in the 1940’s. From the emotionally abused housewife
to the mistress, at no point in this play are the women given even close to the same amount of
character depth as the men. In this essay, ill be delving into the theme of misogyny in death of a
salesman, specifically how it is shown through the depiction of women and their treatment at the
hands of male characters.

On one hand, misogyny is shown through the way that women are depicted in this book. Despite
being an integral part of every society, women are represented in exactly four roles through this
play: the housewife/ mother, the mistress, the prostitute, and the secretary.

The first role, that of the housewife/mother, is depicted through two characters, Willy’s mother, and
Linda, Willys wife. Though these roles are not inherently degrading, the lack of importance which is
given to them by Arthur miller is. Willy’s mother, for example, was barely mentioned at all
throughout the play, despite the fact that she raised him alone since he was three, after his father
abandoned them to go to Alaska. The only time she is mentioned is at the end of page 31, “Ben: “Is
Mother living with you?” Willy: “No, she died a long time ago.” Ben: “That’s too bad. Fine specimen
of a lady, Mother.” Ben: “I’d hoped to see the old girl.””. this quote further illustrates their mothers
lack of importance, since ben, the oldest son, didn’t even know his mother had died a long time ago.
Linda was also forced to take a backseat in the shaping of her sons, Biff and Happy. The quote
“Linda: “He’s right, Willy, you’ve gotta—" Willy [exploding at her]: “There’s nothing the matter with
him! You want him to be a worm like Bernard? He’s got spirit, personality . . . “[As he speaks, Linda,
almost in tears, exits into the living-room.]” on page 27 shows us how willy devalues Linda’s
concerns and opinions about the children and how they should be raised.

The second role, that of the mistress, is depicted through the character only known as “the woman”.
The dehumanization of this character starts with the fact that she isn’t even given the dignity of a
name. All she is to willy is a tool to stroke his fragile ego, a source of validation to prove to himself
that he isn’t unwanted, even though his wife had never been anything but loving and supportive of
everything he does despite his lack of success. She is shown to be naïve, a common trait found in
female characters through-out this book, as she doesn’t even seem to have known of Willys
marriage or children.

The third role of women, that of prostitutes or “ladies of the night”, is depicted through Miss
Forsythe and Letta. Though they only make a brief appearance, they are the only women that Happy
and Biff are seen interacting with other than Linda. Almost no information is given about them,
other than the insinuation that they are prostitutes, for example through the quote “happy: “Wait a
minute. I’ve got to see that old confidence again. Do you want her? She’s on call”” on page 80. they
are simply used to further the story, placed there to be a distraction for the boys from their father’s
madness and to show where their priorities lie.
The last role, that of secretary, is only briefly mentioned but it fits into the historical context and
shows the second of the “working” roles that women could take. Despite having worked in factories
throughout the wars, once the wars were over women were put back into a subservient position. In
this book, the only jobs that women have are that of prostitute and secretary, and those were some
of the only jobs women were allowed to do in the 1940’s.

On the other hand, misogyny is also shown through the men and their treatment of women,
specifically Happy and Willy, who both display flagrant amounts of misogyny on several occasions
and towards a number of different women.

Willy is meant to be a role model for his sons, yet time and time again he sets the wrong example.
From the start of the play, Willy constantly disregards Linda’s feelings and how his actions affect her,
whether it be by cutting her off over and over, ignoring what she says. For example, this interaction:
“Linda [trying to bring him out of it]: “Willy, dear, I got a new kind of American-type cheese today.
It’s whipped.” Willy: “Why do you get American when I like Swiss?” Linda: “I just thought you’d like a
change—” Willy: “I don’t want a change! I want Swiss cheese. Why am I always being
contradicted?””, found on page 6 perfectly illustrates how willy sees Linda making decisions for
herself, given that he says she is contradicting him because she chose to get a cheese he didn’t ask
for. But the most blatantly disrespectful thing Willy does is cheat of Linda with the woman, especially
given how understanding and loyal she is to him throughout the entire book. Another example of his
betrayal of his wife is when he gives his mistress brand not one but two new pairs of stockings, while
his loving wife has to repair her own.

He also manages to be shamelessly disrespectful of his mistress. Given that she means nothing to
him and is simply a way for him to boost his own ego, him being with her in inherently disrespectful.
But he adds to that by completely blindsiding her and further humiliates her by casually throwing
her away when Biff finds out about his affair, tossing her out into the hall in nothing but a
nightgown, and saying “She’s nothing to me, Biff. I was lonely, I was terribly lonely.”” on page 95.

Willys son, Happy, seems to take after his father concerning his treatment of women. He is shown to
be a blatant womanizer, saying for example “You know how honest I am, but it’s like this girl, see. I
hate myself for it. Because I don’t want the girl, and, still, I take it and—I love it!” on page 14. He
portrays a clear “if I want it, then ill get it” attitude, especially towards women, and on more than
one occasion brags about his sexual conquests. On page 13, he brags not only about the newest
woman he was sleeping with, but also about the fact that she is another man’s fiancée, when he
says, “That girl Charlotte I was with tonight is engaged to be married in five weeks.”. This is not
the first or the last time he brags about sleeping with women but if I were to quote every
degrading comment he made, this essay would never end.

Another way that happy disrespects women is by lying and manipulating them. The scene in
Franks chop house perfectly illustrates this, as he lies about both his and biff’s occupation to
make them seem more impressive to the girls that he immediately assumes are prostitutes.
First, he lies by saying “excuse me, miss, do you mind? I sell champagne, and I’d like you to try
my brand. Bring her a champagne, Stanley.”, which we know is a lie given the fact that he does
not sell champagne, then when biff arrives, he continues to lie, saying “Biff is quarterback with
the New York Giants.”. From this scene, we can clearly see that Happy says whatever he thinks a
woman would want to hear, whether it be the truth or lies, so that they will sleep with him.
In conclusion, this book is blatantly misogynistic towards women, never giving them the importance
or depth of the male characters and portraying them in very stereotypical ways. The only women
who have jobs in this book are in positions of service to men, whether it be as secretaries or ladies of
the night, and they are never shown as intelligent or successful. Linda suffers a near constant
emotionally abuse at the hands of Willy, and is never shown standing up to him, given that during
the time that this play was written, a wife standing up to her husband was basically unthinkable. This
disregard for women’s value and feelings is present throughout the entire book, and most of the
main male characters are seen disrespecting women.