1) This question involves the women in the play--that is, the women mentioned in the play. Mamet has been accused of being anti-feminist at best and misogynist at worst. Yet certainly we can't say that he wants us to admire the "world of men" in this real estate office, or to agree with the characters' attitude toward women (or toward anyone outside their white male world). So what are we to make of the influence of women in the play? What of Mrs. Lingk, who ruins Roma's deal and indirectly brings about Levene's final fall? What of the "ex" Levene mentions early in the play, the one who "kicked out" of another deal? What of Levene's "daughter? And what of Harriet Nyborg, even, who serves Levene store-bought crumb cake and, along with her husband, agrees to sign a contract for land she has no intention or means of purchasing?
My question is, quite simply, how are we to deal with the presence/absence of women in Glengarry Glen Ross? How might you construct an interpretation of the play that takes these women into account?
I don't think Mamet meant this play to empower women. If he meant it to empower them, I think he would have put women in the office place, and not along the background.
The mentioned women in the play do seem to have a little power over some of the male characters because they break up a crucial deals. However, there is never a deal mentioned where a woman uses her influence to help the salesmen. There isn't a place in the play where women are mentioned with a positive note. I think if Mamet wanted to portray a powerful female figure he would have played both sides- maybe a wife who convinces her husband to buy a plot of land instead of the two who kick out the other deals.
I think what went against the idea of feminism the most is the mention of Levene's daughter. I think she was the most mentioned female in the play, and we don't even know her name. She is a weak woman (she is sick) who needs her dad to pay her medical bills. How is that empowering? She is also his downfall- without her, Levene didn't need to steal. She brings in this idea of women needing to be cared for and women being a constant weight to men.
If Dr. Watson wouldn't have posed this question on feminism, then I probably wouldn't have seen the play either way.
Sorry, Mamet, you may be a good writer, but not a budding feminist.
Taylor
