Glengarry Glen Ross and its Portrayal of What it Means to be a Man

ThroughoutGlengarry Glen Ross, women are only discreetly mentioned and are never fully involved in an act.  I perceived this as a way to further strengthen the theme of manhood and masculinity. Although the absence of women could just be the lack of respect for women in the time period the play was released in, but my initial first thought was that without women the play is directly correlated to men.  This is not the only way the play justifies a man’s world, in fact throughout there are many instances in which manhood and masculinity is a crucial part of success.  I found that when we discovered the prizes linked to the contest, I also discovered they could in fact have hidden meanings regarding manhood.  The first-place prize being a car is obvious.  Men love cars, so the stereotype tells us. Second-place is steak-knives. These knives could portray a sense of violence that society says all men contain.  The contest’s last prize is the loss of something that should have morphed them into the men they have become presently: their jobs.  This contest shows off the true definition of manhood according to this play, which is of course making sure you come out on top to be the best man you can be. 

The play, in my opinion, represents a common theme in which in order to be successful one must “Suck it up and be a man.” However, is this the true definition of what it means to be a man? In this play, I think that the point they are trying to portray the messed-up way it means to be a man in our society.  During the duration of Glengarry Glen Ross we, as readers and viewers, are introduced to numerous men working at a Chicago real estate business competing to keep their jobs.  Every character within the play has a different personality and is depicted in a certain stereotypical way.  

We are eventually introduced to Roma, Levene, and Williamson, which I found to fit the definition of manhood the most out of all of the characters. Roma is known as the “good man”. The classic man that never does anything wrong and succeeds at everything he does.  This is especially true with his sales where he can easily close sales, and although this may be because he gets the best leads he is still looked at as the best salesman and man of the office.  Levene shows off how much he needs to fill society’s needs as a man. This is of course meaning that he will do literally anything to succeed, regardless of the consequences.  This eventually leads to his demise. Williamson is the classic big boss of a business.  He makes almost all of the decisions and does them in an uncaring manner. 

A character a believe is not fitting the standard of being a man is Roma’s costumer Lingk. Lingk has no control over his relationship with his wife and is instead controlled by her.  He has to take back his offer from Roma in order for his relationship to remain in the clear and ok.  This almost makes it seem like he is afraid of his own wife which is very possible, but does not accurately display society’s norms when discussing what it means to be a man.