The Power of Love in Death of a Salesman

The Power of Love in Death of a Salesman

Love is one of the most confusing emotions that one can experience. It is simple yet complicated, unconditional but demanding, overused and unique. It is hard to explain what its means to feel love, to feel loved, or to be in love, however, there are aspects of love that are easily expressed. For example, ones unquestionable affection to the one they love, or the hardships and sacrifice that is endured for loved ones, and the underlying fact that once it is experienced it is not easily dismissed. The play Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller describes love in just these ways, and, most of all, as the ultimate moral value that is the eternal bond that keeps people together. One can see this in the love that Linda has for her husband Willy, the unmistakable devotion that Willy has to his family, and the masked love that Biff has for his father, Willy.

Before experiencing the play Death of a Salesman the reader or viewer must understand the family standards that were in place during the time period that the play was set. It was a time where the man of the house had the final word in everything. The woman of the house was the follower of the man through any hardships, and never overstepped her role. Linda is that woman, always putting her needs second to Willy's. She is the eternal wife and mother, the point of affection both given and received, the woman who suffers and endures for her family. Linda's love for Willy is unquestionably pure and unconditional:

No. You can't just come to see me, because I love him. He's the dearest man in the world to me, and I wont have anyone making him feel unwanted and low and blue. You've got to make up your ...

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... that love makes is extremely strong, and can withstand the strongest and longest tests that humankind could put it through. It is everlasting, and beautiful to experience.

Sources

Field, B.S. "Death of a Salesman" Twentieth Century Literature. January, 1972. 19-24. Rpt. in World Literary Criticism. Ed. Frank Magill. "Arthur Miller" Detroit: Gale Research, 1992. 2366-2368.

Hoeveler, D. J. "Redefining Love" Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman: Modern Critical Interpretations. Ed. Harold Blum. Philadelphia: Chelsea House, 1988. 72-81.

Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman. Gerald Weales, ed. New York: Penguin, 1996

Parker, Brian. "Point of View in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman." Arthur Miller: A Collection of Critical Essays. Ed. Robert Corrigan. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall, 1969. 98-107.