Miller Flashcards
(42 cards)
Willy’s illusions
“be liked and you will never want”
“I’ve got to get some seeds, right away”
“you can’t eat the orange and throw away the peel - a man is not a piece of fruit”
Wily’s mental instability
“the woods are burning”
“it’s alright, I came back”
“suddenly realising he is alone”
Willy’s legacy
“when he died, hundreds of salesmen were at his funeral”
“there’s more of him in that front stoop than in all the sales he ever made”
“He had the wrong dreams, all wrong”
Willy and the American Dream
“Thank almighty god you’re both built like Adonises”
“He’s liked but he’s not well liked”
“I don’t need it anymore”
“no,no, some people - some people accomplish something”
“the trouble is he’s lazy goddamit” –> “He’s not lazy”
Pathos for Willy
"worth more dead than alive" "kind of temporary about myself" "(exhaustion is apparent)" "tired to death" "I got nobody to talk to" "finally paid for them, they're used up"
Willy resistant to change
“what do you do with it?”
“the way they boxed us in here” “windows and bricks”
“I don’t want change! I want swiss cheese”
Willy’s violent tendencies
“(strikes Biff)”
“I’ll whip him! I’ll whip him!”
“Goddam you, put up your hands”
“cracked him right across the face”
Linda is a pushover
“(has developed an iron repression of her exceptions to Willy’s behaviour)”
“the woman has waited and the woman has suffered”
“WILLY (Going right through her speech)”
“I’m not your maid anymore”
Linda’s femininity
“just mending my stockings. They’re so expensive”
“they’ve got the biggest ads of any of them”
Linda loves Willy
“attention, attention must finally paid to such a person”
“he’s a human being and something terrible is happening to him”
“I won’t have anyone making him feel unwanted and low and blue”
Linda enables the tragedy
“the handsomest man in the world”
“few men are idolised by their children”
“You’re my foundation and my support Linda”
Linda at the funeral (pathos)
"he was so wonderful with his hands" "we're free... we're free" "Help me" "Willy dear, I can't cry" "but where are all the people he knew" "I made the last payment on the house today... there'll be nobody home"
Linda and reality
“I put it back where it was. How could I insult him that way?”
“He’s so handsome in that suit”
“why are you fighting?”
“why must everyone conquer the world? You’re well liked, and the boys love you”
The woman’s character
“I picked you”
“No! Come on in! (He pulls her)”
“will you stop laughing?” “(Linda’s laughing blends in)”
“you are the saddest, self-centredest soul I ever did see-saw”
The woman’s plot relevance
“why didn’t you answer?”
“you - you gave her mama’s stockings!”
Uncle Ben is Willy’s idol
“(utterly certain of his destiny)”
“you can fight for a fortune up there!”
“with a moustache”
Wily’s end speech
“that funeral will be massive!”
“that boy will be thunderstruck”
“I see it like a diamond, shining in the dark”
Uncle ben is a bad influence
“never fight fair with a stranger boy”
“the jungle is dark but full of Diamonds”
“a diamond is rough and hard to the touch”
“Do you think I’m right? I value your advice”
“time, William, time”
Adult Bernard
“our second” son (masculine)
“the supreme court! And he didn’t even mention it!”
“I value your advice”
“(small and alone) what- what’s the secret?”
Child Bernard
“don’t be a pest Bernard”
“(earnest and loyal)”
“he’s gotta study”
Miss Forsythe
“(a little archly) I have been”
“oh, a lot of them”
letta
“Isn’t he cute?”
“I think it’s sweet you bring your daddy along”
Stanley
“I coulda been dead by now”
“because a family business… that’s the best”
Howard Wagner
“this is no time for false pride, Willy”
“so you tell your maid to turn the radio on”
“(barely interested)”
“your father cam to see me the day you were born and asked me what I thought of the name Bernard”
