Willy Loman
| William "Willy" Loman | |
|---|---|
| Death of a Salesman character | |
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| First appearance | Death of a Salesman |
| Created by | Arthur Miller |
| Portrayed by | Broadway: Lee J. Cobb, Albert Dekker and Gene Lockhart (1949), George C. Scott (1975), Dustin Hoffman (1984), Brian Dennehy (1999), Philip Seymour Hoffman (2012) Film: Fredric March (1951), Cobb (1966), Rod Steiger (1966), D. Hoffman (1985), Warren Mitchell (1978-1996), Dennehy (2000) |
| Information | |
| Gender | Male |
| Occupation | Traveling Salesman |
| Family | Ben Loman (brother) |
| Spouse(s) | Linda Loman |
| Children | Biff & Harold "Happy" Loman (sons) |
William "Willy" Loman is a fictional character and the protagonist of Arthur Miller's classic play Death of a Salesman, which debuted on Broadway with Lee J. Cobb playing Loman at the Morosco Theatre on February 10, 1949. Loman is a 63-year-old travelling salesman from Brooklyn with 34 years of experience with the same company who endures a pay cut and a firing during the play. He has difficulty dealing with his current state and has created a fantasy world to cope with his situation. This does not keep him from multiple suicide attempts.
Willy Loman is an aging suburban Brooklyn, New York salesman whose less than spectacular career is on the decline. He has lost the youthful verve of his past and his camaraderie has faded away. His business knowledge is still at its peak, but without his youth and heartiness, he is no longer able to leverage his personality to get by. Time has caught up with him. The play presents Loman's struggle "to maintain a foothold in the upward-striving American middle class" while combating his own self-doubt that plagues him in reminders from the past that his life rests on unsolid ground. According to Charles Isherwood, Loman is the play's dominant character because "It is his losing battle against spiritual and economic defeat that provides the narrative spine of the play." Loman is a symbolic representation of millions of white collar employees who outlived their corporate usefulness. He lives in a world with delusions about how popular, famous, influential and successful he is and about the prospects for the success of his sons. His wife not only allows these delusions, but also she buys into them, somewhat. His misplaced values of importance and popularity were shaken to the core by his declining ability to leverage those self-perceived traits successfully as he grew older.
"And they know me boys, they know me up and down New England. The finest people. And when I bring you fellas up, there'll be open sesame for all of us, 'cause one thing boys: I have friends."
Loman's world crumbles around him during the play. According to Associated Press correspondent Cynthia Lowry's review of the drama, "we watched an aging, defeated traveling salesman move inexorably toward self-destruction, clinging desperately to fantasies". The play begins with the 63-year-old Loman dealing with a recent paycut after 34 years on the job at a time when he is having difficulty meeting his financial responsibilities. In the second act, he deals with being fired. The firing was at the hands of the son of the person who had hired him 36 years prior. In the play, Loman reveals his past in scenes from his memory that the audience is challenged to judge for accuracy. Loman had succeeded in large part due to popularity, which is a value he attempted to instill in his sons.
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