Willy's wife. She remains devoted to him even as he betrays her at two major points during the play: committing adultery with The Woman as a younger man, and committing suicide with the deluded belief that he will solve the family's problems by doing so. As the person closest to Willy, she realizes that he is trying to kill himself, and exhorts her sons to show him more love. However, she is as responsible for his death as any of the other characters, as her encouragement fuels Willy in his doomed pursuit of glory.
Linda Loman Quotes in Death of a Salesman
The Death of a Salesman quotes below are all either spoken by Linda Loman or refer to Linda Loman. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Note: all page numbers and citation info for the quotes below refer to the Penguin Classics edition of Death of a Salesman published in 2011.
Act 1
Quotes
Linda: Willy, darling, you're the handsomest man in the world—
Willy: Oh, no, Linda.
Linda: To me you are. The handsomest.
Willy: Oh, no, Linda.
Linda: To me you are. The handsomest.
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Get LitCharts A+I don't say he's a great man. Willy Loman never made a lot of money. His name was never in the paper... But he's a human being, and a terrible thing is happening to him. So attention must be paid. He's not to be allowed to fall into his grave like an old dog. Attention, attention must be finally paid to such a person.
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Act 2
Quotes
She's nothing to me, Biff. I was lonely, I was terribly lonely.
You - you gave her Mama's stockings!
You - you gave her Mama's stockings!
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Requiem
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I made the last payment on the house today. Today, dear. And there'll be nobody home.
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Linda Loman Character Timeline in Death of a Salesman
The timeline below shows where the character Linda Loman appears in Death of a Salesman. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Act 1
...suitcases of merchandise. He is exhausted, or as he puts it, "tired to the death." Linda Loman, who is in bed, comes out to see him. She wonders why he is...
(full context)
Willy tries to avoid talking about the reason for his early return. When Linda presses him, he admits that he lost his concentration while driving and nearly drove off...
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Linda brings up what is clearly an old argument between them: she wants him to work...
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The conversation turns to Willy and Linda's grown sons, Happy and Biff, who are upstairs sleeping after a double date. Biff has...
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Linda convinces Willy to go downstairs to the kitchen so that he won't wake the boys....
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A younger version of Linda enters. She asks Willy how much he sold on his trip. At first, he claims...
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Sobered by the tiny amount that he has earned, Willy now worries to Linda that people don't seem to like him, which is stopping him from getting ahead. He...
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As Willy says these words to Linda, The Woman's laughter is heard from the darkness of another part of the stage The...
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Willy returns to his conversation with Linda, who is mending her stockings. Willy becomes upset, and orders her to throw the old...
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...to just give Biff the answers. Bernard refuses, then advises Biff to return the football. Linda complains that she has heard that Biff is too rough with the girls from school,...
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...visited the house. In the memory, the two of them discuss their family history with Linda. Ben left home when Willy was nearly four years old to look for their father,...
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...fight fair with a stranger. Willy, still anxious to impress Ben even though by now Linda is afraid of Ben, tells him that the family hunts snakes and rabbits in Brooklyn.
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Linda, who has heard Willy talking to himself, comes to the door to the backyard and...
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...to go on a walk, though he is in his slippers. Biff and Happy join Linda downstairs and the three of them have a worried conversation about Willy's mental health. Linda...
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Linda says that Biff and Happy have been ungrateful to their father. She says that Happy...
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Finally, Linda tells the boys that she found a rubber hose behind the fuse box in the...
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...might fall off Oliver's desk, because that's a job for an office boy. But when Linda tries to offer advice, Willy keeps shushing her. Biff gets angry at his father, and...
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In bed that night, Linda asks Willy what Biff has against him, and reminds him to ask Howard Wagner for...
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Act 2
When Willy wakes the next morning, Biff and Happy have already gone, and Linda tells Willy that Biff is on his way to see Bill Oliver. Excited by the...
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Linda then reminds Willy to ask Howard Wagner for a salaried non-traveling position in New York....
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Before Willy leaves, Linda tells him that the boys want to take him to a fancy dinner at Frank's...
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Right after Willy leaves, Linda answers a phone call from Biff. She tells him what she thinks is good news:...
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...opportunity to come to Alaska to manage a tract of timberland. Before Willy can accept, Linda appears and tells Ben that Willy is on track to become a member of the...
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Willy remembers a young Bernard knocking on Linda's door, telling her that Biff has flunked math. Distracted by this memory, Willy ignores Biff's...
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...and Happy return home later that night. Happy has brought a bouquet of roses for Linda, but she angrily throws them to the floor. She asks Biff if he cares whether...
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...spirits, comments that Biff must really like him to cry over him as he did. Linda and Happy assure Willy that Biff has always loved him.
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Happy goes upstairs. Linda follows soon after. Willy promises to also come upstairs soon. Alone, now, Ben appears to...
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Requiem
The only people at Willy's funeral are his family, Charley and Bernard. Linda is bewildered by the absence of all Willy's business associates, and wonders if everyone else...
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Happy, upset, says that Willy's death was unnecessary. Linda wonders why Willy would kill himself now, when they had nearly paid off all their...
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Linda asks for some privacy to say goodbye to Willy, and she is left alone at...
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Biff enters, and supporting Linda, leads her away. All the characters exit the stage as flute music plays, and the...
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