Manhood and Misogyny in “Death of a Salesman”

An important boldness of Millers end of a Salesman is the piece of cakes denouement &8212 which is normally accepted as being the moment that Loman commits suicide, and in doing so, hopes to decl be oneself his son, Biff, with insurance money for a fresh start (Phelps 239).This resting is commonly construed to represent a pyric victory on Lomans behalf because it implies that he has &8212 in the end &8212 acted out of love for his family.However, as H.C. Phelps evens out in his very shrill article Millers remnant of a Salesman (1995) the feelingal climax of the play is non at the moment of Lomans actual remnant, notwithstanding earlier when Loman makes his final, irrevocable conclusion after the play has reached its undoubted emotional climax, Biffs striking declaration to his father (Phelps 239) which is basically a confession of his self- perceive worthlessness.The plays emotional climax, viewed in one way, seems to falseer solving which hints at possible happine ss, even in suicide, even in death &8212 further gibe to Phelps explication, the true resonance of Lomans suicide and death is not heroic but only tragic and ironic.In ending of a Salesman, the family of happiness or completeness of flavor is central to the plays dramatic impact. The play explores how the lives of a man and his sons are connected through contemporary judgments of manhood and family. In the play, many aspects of masculinity are presented in a way that promotes irony.Part of the realisation with manhood which exists for the manful characters in the play is steeped in misogyny or in the objectification of women. This misogyny is important to the boilersuit theme of family and manhood in the play because it shows, through irony, that the diminishment of womens experience and labor by men contributed to the atomisation of the family.Part of this atomization includes the degradation or de-evolution of male-bonding and particularly the bonding between a father an d his sons. As Phelps points out in his brief but penetratively able essay, the perceived closure of the plays end is really better perceived as ironic and as a natural extension of the plays essentially fragmented and misogynistic presentation of American social realities.A good example of this fragmentation is the character of Linda who is presented in the play as being both subservient to her husband, Willy, and held in low esteem by her own sons.While the overt dramatic impact of this arrangement of characters might seem to suggest only the cold-blooded detachment of the ultramodern male or the inability of the modern male to overcome chauvinism against women, a careful reading of play reveals that this disjuncture between the male characters of the play and the character of Linda is exemplary of the incompleteness of modern male experience.In fact, the main sense of distress for the Loman family comes not from poverty or emotional barriers, but merely from Lomans absence f rom his domestic sphere. This absence is symbolic of the western, primarily American, male experience.When Linda implores Willy to Talk to them again. theres no reason why you cant invent in New York (Miller) she is imploring that Willy take more of an interest in his familial than professional life. This familial perception of male-responsibility is a crucial aspect of Lomans suicide because it is primarily due to their insistence on Biffs love for his father, not to any explicit comment by his son, that Willy decides to take his own life (Phelps 239).However, as Phelps points out, Linda and Happy are repeatedly shown to be among the most deluded, obtuse, and mendacious characters in the play (Phelps 239) so their assurances to Willie that Biff loved him are, for the alert reader, according to Phelps, mere lies which are rooted in misogyny and fragmentation of relationships.Later in the play, Willys involvement with the Woman shows clearly that the misogynistic aspects of masculi nity as represented by Miller extend not only to the domestic and familial spheres, but to the erotic and sexual spheres. When The Woman asks Willy Whynt you have another drink, honey, and stop being so damn self-centered? (Miller) Lomans reply is Im so lonely (Miller) and the deeper pith of his answer lies in the fact that his very misogynistic attitude has cut him off from feminine love or even feminine erotic solution.Because Loman is inefficient to relate to his wifes need for his patriarchal presence in his own home and also unable to relate to The womans need for erotic stimulation and celebration, Loman is in fact cut off from the primary energy-sources of true manhood fatherhood, husbandry, and eros. The bank check to Lomans happiness is not actually poverty but mis step forwardd male-identity and misogyny.Lomans take issue with femininity is reflected also in the behavior of his sons who recklessly abuse women and take outside(a) themselves as womanizers. Similarly, when Biff and Happy talk about Betsy they they refer to her as a pig and a pig suggests pigskin, the material that footballs were traditionally make of, and compares their relationship with Betsy to sport (Ardolino).Because the misogyny of Lomans sons is manifested primarily through their sexual response and sexual behaviors, the thematic impact of their relationships with women as represented in the play seems to suggest that the corruption of Eros is the first happening of misogyny and that the decline of the family and finally of manhood and the self follow quickly thereafter.The corruption of Eros is a symbol and symptom of the degeneration of family values which has taken place under the predominantly materialistic order which is represented in Death of a Salesman however, the sexual function is merely a preliminary casualty of the malaise and soul derangement which Miller perceives in the society which he is endeavoring to dramatize in the play.Closely associated with ero tic love is love itself, and even this emotion is so tainted by mendacity, by corruption, and by atrophy indoors the social microcosm of the play, that the absence of true love is what actually drives the plays climax not reconciliation or closure, but tragic despair and loneliness. Biffs final lyric poem to his father are Ill go in the morning.Put him specify him to bed (Miller) and as Phelps points out, these words are a tepid and ambiguous mien of care (Phelps 239) adn reveal, not love, but the absence of love which is, in fact,the true indigence for Lomans suicide.The key aspect of the lack-of-love interpretation is to realize that it is a misogynistically determined issue a symptom of a male-ordered social-universe which has sacrificed essential elements of human survival, like love, to the more expedient materialistic concerns of the moment.In conclusion, while the interplay between men and women in Death of a Salesman seems at surface level stylized almost to the point of cliche, penetrating and revealing themes emerge from a careful reading of the gender- found themes of the play.Primary among these is the idea of corruption of male authority and male energy by the unplug from erotic love and finally a misogynistic bearing toward women in general. To put it in simplistic terms, the play is trying to show that turning away from the nurturing energy and experience of what is usually called feminine in American society has corrupted American societys sense of manhood and allowed the disintegration of the family to follow.The key to retrieving the oddment of family lies not in riches or material success but in finding harmony between the masculine and feminine natures which are the focal energies of all families.Phelps article, while eschewing lengthy examinations of gender-based, or socially based explications, does manage to uncover, according purely to the characterizations of the play itself, a continuity of expression which inverts the commonl y associated emotional resonance of the plays close and offers and incisive and very ably expressed interpretation of the plays climax which seems to me much more faithful to the overall tone of the play as Miller intended it to be experienced.Works CitedMiller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman. Penguin Books, 1976.Ardolino, Frank. Like Father, like Sons Millers Negative Use of Sports Imagery in Death of aSalesman. Journal of Evolutionary Psychology 25.1-2 (2004) 32+.Phelps, H. C. Millers Death of a Salesman. Explicator 53.4 (1995) 239-240.Rosefeldt, Paul. The Absent Father in Modern Drama. New York Peter Lang, 1996.