Glengarry Glen Ross

In Glengarry Glen Ross, women are mentioned in passing at best. They often times serves as the character’s motivations for what they are doing. I think the absence of the women in the play, symbolizes the harshness of the man’s world without the fairer sex, and when the men seem to be doing something amicable, and they are being driven by a woman behind the scenes. I don’t believe Mamet intended to be anti-feminist at all. However, the characters use suggestive derogatory terms in reference to woman, insulting their colleagues, for example, on pg. 95 Roma insults Williamson by calling him a “stupid fucking cunt,” but, in Mamet’s defense the sales men seem to have foul mouths, and this insult blends well with the numerous offenses made towards fellow colleagues that damage almost every race.

To me it seems the women are the only ones who can sniff out the crap that these real estate agents are feeding to their customers. For example, Mrs. Lingk, who forces Mr. Lingk to cancel the deal and in turn unintentionally cause Mr. Levene’s downfall. She saw through what Roma was trying to sell. Mr. Lingk seemed to be dazzled by his words and was in general caught up in the hype of Glengarry Glen Ross. It could be that she was not present at the time of the closing, and looks at it from an unbiased perspective or she knew it was a scam. She also had the foresight to know Roma would not easily back down and threatened to employ the services of the State Attorney if he decided to be difficult. She was just looking out for the best interest of her and her husband, which Mr. Lingk did not seem to take into account. It shows that Mrs. Lingk has a powerful role in Mr. Lingk’s decision making process, in turn affecting the success of Roma.

I felt bad for Mr. Levene at the beginning of the play, because Williamson was screwing him over and he had his daughter to provide for. She was his driving force and his motivation, but he was being brash and stupid when he decides to take matters into his own hands and rob the office. Now he is going to jail and there is no one to provide for his daughter. It is honorable that he was trying to help her, but now she is worse off than she was before. Harriet Nyborg, in my opinion, is giving Levene a taste of his own medicine. He is conning her and she knows it and by signing a contract for land she had no intention of purchasing, she is conning him in return. For example, her crumb cake, which is store bought signifies her insincerity, much like Grace the fake secretary, who just seems to make Levene seem more legit.

The woman in Glengarry Glen Ross seem to be holding all the real power, and while the men seem to be running around like chickens with their heads cut off, the women are making definitive decisions in their best interest.