Act Two: The Requiem Quotes
English Lit: AQA A Level Death of a Salesman, topic 11.2.13
The Requiem - Quotations
Here are a few key quotations from the Requiem:
Charley's insights
- “It was a very nice funeral”.
- “A salesman is got to dream, boy”.
- Justifies Willy's life as a salesman.
- “Nobody dast blame this man”.
- Uses biblical-like language to protect Willy’s reputation in death.
- The archaic term “dast” may have been intended to provide Willy’s life and death with a sense of grandeur and dignity.
Biff's analysis
- “He had the wrong dreams. All, all wrong.”
- Here, the use of monosyllables and repetition lend Biff’s judgement an air of forcefulness and finality which help to give this final scene its power.
- “I know who I am, kid”.
- Biff says this to Happy, almost his final words of the play.
- Shows Biff's self-realisation in the face of his father's failure.
Linda's ironic final words
- “We’re free… We’re free…”
- Linda speaks the final lines of the play. There is bitter irony in these lines. This “freedom” is hollow: the mortgage may have finally been paid on the house, but it has only been bought through a tragically high price – Willy’s life.
Test yourself on Act Two: The Requiem Quotes
What are the final words of the play?