Write 9 pages with APA style on Importance of Gender in Millers Death of a Salesman. Miller’s portrayal of men is convincing. It has been one of the flaws of Miller’s works that his portrayal of women is far from the individuality of their own, as they see themselves only in their relationship to the men. According to the literary critic, Christopher Bigsby, “women, in Miller’s plays, tend to be conservative forces and thereby … compound the distorting forces of social life,” (qt. in Yao 31). Actually, Miller has successfully presented the frustration and bitterness of the conservative gender world by showing women as oppressed and oppressor in the man-dominated society. Miller’s Linda Loman is courageous enough to show her opposition to the patriarchal social structure and come out to feel the freedom of her awareness. Miller has been criticized for representing the society from his own perspective. Women characters are not given their due by not giving them enough action and importance by Miller. Stanton, in his famous article “Women and the American Dream of Death of a Salesman”, stresses the significance of Linda Loman in “more than she is credited to be.” A second reading of the play from a feminist outlook by Balakian is arguing, “…it cries out for a renewed image of the American woman.” It reaches the conclusion that “Death of a Salesman does not condone the locker-room treatment of women. Instead, the play asks us to question whether the dichotomized image of woman as either mother or whore is a desirable cultural value” (qt. in Yao 32). According to critics, Miller’s women characters, particularly Linda Loman, are relatively complicated than many critics proclaim. Otten further figures out that the female characters like Linda actually add to the tragic components of the play. A sort of counter-attack has been seen in literary circles for wrongly blaming Miller in portraying unconvincingly. actually it “has helped establish a new appreciation of Miller’s ability to create strong female characters despite occasional attacks in feminist criticism” (qt. in Yao 32). Otten’s thinking actually provides new light on Miller’s females, particularly the wife and mother characters in his plays. Women the like of Linda Loman are realistic portrayals. they are complicated, strong, and at the same time tragic. Like their male characters, females are stated in the historical peculiarity of the social importance of their sex-based identity, as they go through relatively more hardships by living both characters — housewives and mothers (Yao 32).
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