Willy DOAS Flashcards
(21 cards)
‘the woods are burning boys…
…there’s a big blaze going on all around’
‘the woman has waited…
…and the woman has suffered’
W: ‘I didn’t flunk…
math, you did!’
Willy to Biff after Oliver: ‘you’re no good…
…for anything’
To biff in the bar: ‘Are you…
…spiting me? [strikes him]
How does Willy try and excuse her presence?
- He says they were ‘painting her room’, an insult to Biff’s intelligence that only makes things worse.
- ‘I was lonely, I was terribly lonely’
What is significant about Willy’s choice to try and tip Stanley?
‘Here- here’s a dollar’
Desperate to provide, one last attempt
‘I don’t have…
…a thing in the ground’
what seems to be Willy’s final motivation to kill himself?
‘the woman has suffered’
How does Ben describe Willy’s proposition of suicide?
‘It’s a cowardly thing, William’
He then yields when Willy says ‘Does it take more guts to stand here the rest of my life ringing up a zero?’
How does Willy describe his life insurance pay out?
‘I see it like a diamond, shining in the dark, hard and rough’
‘Ben that funeral will…
…be massive’
In the garden with Ben: ‘that boy will be…
…thunderstruck, Ben’
Ben about Willy’s suicide: ‘He’ll call you a…
…coward and a damned fool’
How is Willy described at the end of the play, just before he kills himself?
[frozen, immobile, with guilt in his voice]
What juxtaposition does Willy show in his speech when Biff is leaving?
[won’t shake his hand] ‘this is the way you’re going’
‘May you rot in hell if you leave this house!
How does the audience know Willy has finally lost any last vestige of his sanity?
He keeps fighting with Biff to avoid blame, despite Biff showing no interest in blaming him. He is beyond saving.
- After their huge argument he concludes ‘[Biff] likes me’, which Happy and Linda corroborate, purporting that he ‘loves’ Willy.
What stage direction at the end best reflects Willy’s condition?
[caged, wanting to escape]
How does Willy believe Biff will see him after his suicide?
‘He’ll worship me, Ben’
