Linda Loman Character Analysis in Death of a Salesman

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.

Linda: Willy, darling, you're the handsomest man in the world—

Willy: Oh, no, Linda.

Linda: To me you are. The handsomest.

Related Characters: (speaker), (speaker)

Page Number and Citation: 24

Explanation and Analysis:

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.

Related Characters: (speaker),

Page Number and Citation: 40

Explanation and Analysis:

She's nothing to me, Biff. I was lonely, I was terribly lonely.

You - you gave her Mama's stockings!

Related Characters: (speaker), (speaker), ,

Related Symbols:

Page Number and Citation: 95

Explanation and Analysis:

I made the last payment on the house today. Today, dear. And there'll be nobody home.

Related Characters: (speaker),

Page Number and Citation: 112

Explanation and Analysis:

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.

...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... (full context)

Linda brings up what is clearly an old argument between them: she wants him to work... (full context)

The conversation turns to Willy and Linda's grown sons, Happy and Biff, who are upstairs sleeping after a double date. Biff has... (full context)

Linda convinces Willy to go downstairs to the kitchen so that he won't wake the boys.... (full context)

A younger version of Linda enters. She asks Willy how much he sold on his trip. At first, he claims... (full context)

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... (full context)

As Willy says these words to Linda, The Woman's laughter is heard from the darkness of another part of the stage The... (full context)

Willy returns to his conversation with Linda, who is mending her stockings. Willy becomes upset, and orders her to throw the old... (full context)

...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,... (full context)

...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,... (full context)

...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. (full context)

Linda, who has heard Willy talking to himself, comes to the door to the backyard and... (full context)

...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... (full context)

Linda says that Biff and Happy have been ungrateful to their father. She says that Happy... (full context)

Finally, Linda tells the boys that she found a rubber hose behind the fuse box in the... (full context)

...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... (full context)

In bed that night, Linda asks Willy what Biff has against him, and reminds him to ask Howard Wagner for... (full context)

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... (full context)

Linda then reminds Willy to ask Howard Wagner for a salaried non-traveling position in New York.... (full context)

Before Willy leaves, Linda tells him that the boys want to take him to a fancy dinner at Frank's... (full context)

Right after Willy leaves, Linda answers a phone call from Biff. She tells him what she thinks is good news:... (full context)

...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... (full context)

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... (full context)

...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... (full context)

...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. (full context)

Happy goes upstairs. Linda follows soon after. Willy promises to also come upstairs soon. Alone, now, Ben appears to... (full context)

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... (full context)

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... (full context)

Linda asks for some privacy to say goodbye to Willy, and she is left alone at... (full context)

Biff enters, and supporting Linda, leads her away. All the characters exit the stage as flute music plays, and the... (full context)