At the beginning of the lesson we were asked to mind map all the qualities of a mother, for example:
-Supportive
-Understanding
-Protective
-Worrying
-Loving
-Empathetic and so on.
We then gave examples of Mother's who had these qualities such as:
-Bambi's Mum
-Will's Mum (Inbetweeners)
-Peggy Mitchell etc.
We then read from pg. 35 to pg. 49 of Death of a salesman and found out that Willy had on many occasions tried to commit suicide. Linda also found a pipe that Willy had hide from Linda behind the gas heater, but she took it in the morning and placed it back there before he returned home, which begs the answer of why she would do this if she knew he was suicidal? We had a discussion on this and came to the conclusion that she didn't want to expose him as she knew his reputation meant everything to him.
We were then asked to answer the question "Is this unalloyed support ultimately a help or a hindrance to Willy?". The class decided it was more of a help to Willy because she tries to stop arguments from occurring and to please Willy by praising him constantly.
Further to this point, we had to explain Linda Loman's significance to the Loman family with quotations from the book. For example, " If you don't have feeling for him, then you can't have any feeling for me". This suggests Linda's loyalty to willy, it's seen as emotional blackmail so the boy's will understand that they have to love both her and Willy equally, and it shows Linda as, metaphorically, compared to glue as she holds the family together.
Another quotation relating to the one above is "He's dying Biff. He's dying". This can also be seen as emotional blackmail again in order for the boys to change their attitude towards their father and to give him the respect he once had from them when the boys were little.
Overall,Linda's significance to the Loman family is to act as an foundation in order to keep them together, because Linda knows Willy really needs Biff's respect and assurance as Willy is becoming insanely confused.
We then had to relate Mobile Concurrency to the book and why Miller used it, and we came to the conclusion that he wanted to show the audience how confused Willy is.
Towards the end of the lesson we were asked to write a short essay on Willy's relationship with Linda.
If you weren't in the lesson you need to catch up on the book, and to also look at the W: drive, Mr.Chatterley, Atheism tapes as they help you understand the play and to hear about Millers Religious views.
Lucy
Willy and Linda's relationship is very similar to Homer and Marge Simpson.. =]
ReplyDeleteNice post Lucy
| Sonny
Has anyone ever seen Malcolm in the Middle? Linda and Willy's relationship is sorta a stark opposite to thr relationship of Louis and Hal, with the woman in said relationship being the dominant one.
ReplyDeleteGreat post by the way, if I hadn't been in the lesson it sure would've been helpful.
~Dylan H.
How is it the same Sonny?
ReplyDeleteYou need to say how their relationship is di/similar.
Mr C
I think Willy and Linda's relationship is like Peter and Lois Griffins (Family Guy) - sometimes Lois is the calming influence on Peter but most of th time Peter looks down on Lois and disagrees with her, which is like the couple in Death of a Salesman.
ReplyDeleteDaniel.
I think Willy and Linda's relationship is very similar to Stan and Francine's marriage in (American Dad.) Willy (like Stan)goes to work everyday trying to do his best for the family (despite the jobs between Stan and Willy being significantly different,) but the element of providing for your family still applies. Willy believes he is doing a good job (Like Stan) but they actually cause them more grief as time passes. Linda on the other hand is similar to Francine because she makes sure her husband sees the situation how it is and they both always make sure that their husbands are in the right frame of mind about every situation which occurs.
ReplyDeleteChris
In some episodes Marge is sometimes portrayed as more of a wife than mother (Helping Homer out with different things instead of engaging with Bart, Lisa & Maggie more).In other episodes she is sometimes portrayed as the peace keeper between Homer and the kids just like the relationship between Linda and Willy in Death Of A Salesman
ReplyDelete\Sonny.
Good work Lucy this really helped me as i was away on the history trip but now know what to do and i agree with the class Linda does care for Willy even if she doesn`t always make the best choices such as putting the pipe back when she knows Willy could harm himself but decides to not expose him which is not good as life is more important than pride.
ReplyDeleteTamsin
Excellent job Lucy even though i wasnt there in the lesson i quite understand the loyal relationship between Willy and Linda. i get a clear understanding of Linda role in the family as being the strengh and keeping the family together.
ReplyDeleteRosie
willy and linda's relationship is strange, it is almost like linda is the only bond keeping the two together, their is no effort on willy's behalf.
ReplyDeleteWell done on your blog post Lucy, I found it really helpful as I was not in the lesson.
ReplyDeleteI think that a couple similar to Linda and Willy are Paul and Kate Hennessy from '8 simple rules' as Kate is seen as the person who will calm Paul down when a situation (mainly involving their teenage daughters) gets out of hand and is his voice of reason through out the series.
Aleksandra...
Willy & Linda's Relationship Together is one of "male dominance," and linda's "role as a woman."
ReplyDeletePop Culture: Reminds me a bit of Sam (Linda) and Frodo's (Willy) relationship in Lord of the rings. As Sam desperately tries to pull Frodo back together (Linda's encouragement concern etc.), as Frodo succumbs to the ring of power (Willy giving in to his condition) and turns against his friend.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteWell done on your blog post Lucy, I found it really helpful eventhough i was in the lesson.
ReplyDeleteI think that a couple similar to Linda and Willy are Paul JD and Turk from Scrubs,as JD is seen as the partner who will calm Turk down when a situation (involving their patients) gets out of hand.
saways
I agree with Sonny and think that Willys and Lindas relationship is a lot like Marge and Homer, as Marge is Homers rock in a kind of way as he knows what ever happens in his life she will always be there for.
ReplyDeleteEsmeralda ;)
Lucy the post is excellent.Peggy mitchell's and Frank's relation is similar to that of Willy and Linda because Frank was away from home like Willy and Peggy was as loving,understanding etc like Linda.
ReplyDeletePersonally i think that Willy and Linda's relashionship is similar to that of King Leonides and his queen.
ReplyDeleteNow i don't neccesarily mean that Willy is a brave warrior, far from it. However it is the way in which Linda supports Willy no matter what, even if the decison may hurt her e.g. her telling the boys they can't see her if they don't come to see their father.
This personal sacrifice is similar to the way the queen allows herself to be violated in order to support her husband by revealing the traitor and finally killing him.
Roman.
well, i persoanlly think their relationship to be like how most relationships were portrayed at the time as the woman being the typical housewife and being her husbands "helper". Also i can't believe i missed this lesson. thank you lucy, very clear explanation.
ReplyDelete