11.2.3

Act One: Key Events 7-9 Quotes

Test yourself

Act One: Key Events 7-9

Here are three quotations showing key events in Act One:

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Key quotation 7

  • One memory now merges into another as Willy reacts to Linda’s attempts to comfort him.
    • “WILLY [angrily, taking them from her]: I won’t have you mending stockings in this house! Now throw them out!”
      • Willy’s anger springs from two sources: his wounded pride at not being able to provide for his wife and his guilt about his affair.
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Key quotation 8

  • Charley, Willy’s friend and neighbour calls by, despite the late hour, worried about the noise he has heard. Charley can't put up a ceiling.
    • “A man who can’t handle tools is not a man. You’re disgusting.”
      • Willy dismisses Charley as a “man”, perhaps because Charley does not share the Loman men’s ability to work with their hands but perhaps also because Willy is resentful of Charley.
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Key quotation 9

  • Willy seems to be remembering a visit Ben made to Willy and his family years earlier.
    • “Great inventor, Father. With one gadget he made more in a week than a man like you could make in a lifetime.”
      • Willy can never live up to his father’s example. His father was self-reliant, a craftsman as well as businessman, while Willy is a failing salesman, dependent on the charity of others.

Jump to other topics

1Introduction

2Act One

3Act Two

4Extended Passage Analysis

5Character Profiles

6Key Themes

7Writing Techniques

8Historical Context

9Literary Context

10Critical Debates

11Recap: Main Quotes

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