I liked Briggs’ post about the symbolism of names in Death of a Salesman.
But I’d like to take it one step further. Let’s take a look at the women’s names in the
play, shall we?
Linda: A nice, practical name even though it has
nothing to do with the conflict. But I
still say that the omission of a “symbolic” name here is, well, symbolic. Linda is the (largely ignored) voice of
reason and practicality throughout the play, but she neither starts the
conflict nor has the power to resolve it.
She is nearly as much of a spectator as we are, except for one difference. Her whole life is turned upside-down by the
conflict.
The Woman: Nameless.
Miss Forsythe and
Letta: They have names, even though
Linda seems to resent that fact: “Did
you have to go to women tonight? You and
your lousy rotten whores!” And the
script always refers to Miss Forsythe as “Girl.” I don’t recall Letta ever speaking.
Jenny: She has a name. Perhaps she earned it because she is a career
woman living in a man’s world. But she
doesn’t have a highly developed character behind that name. All we know about her is that she is
Charley’s secretary.
No, I don’t consider myself a feminist. I just thought the difference between the men’s
and the women’s names was revealing.
I find it interesting that in yours and Briggs posts you talk about the symbolism of names in one play we read and the other play was all about the importance of a name! Weird how that worked out, right?
ReplyDeleteThat is super interesting! I appreciate your response. The women do seem to be largely ignored in the story. I am not sure if that is Miller's commentary on society or if he just did not want well developed female characters. Still there is nothing wrong with being a feminist. Go ahead and ask for women with personality in literature.
ReplyDeleteMakes you wonder what Miller was thinking and what his views of women are in the first place. Still, using names as part of the story's symbolism brings an interesting dimension to analysis.
ReplyDelete