A Comparison Of Infidelity In Fences And Death Of A Salesman

Infidelity is a sickness that can ruin relationships and tear families apart since it is a betrayal of the love that a husband entrusts in his wife and vice versa. In both fictional plays, Fences by August Wilson and Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, infidelity is a clearly evident theme as both of the protagonists, Willy and Troy, betray their wives and have relations with other woman. Both men have a sense that what they are doing is wrong, but both continue to do so anyway. The major difference between the two men is the manner in which they conduct themselves while being unfaithful. Willy Loman is discreet and tries to hide his affair from his wife, Linda. While Troy, on the other hand, is much more open about the idea, even telling his wife he was going to be bringing home a new baby from the other woman. In both plays, infidelity affects not only the two men, but their family, as well; as it breaks the already fragile bonds they have with their family and ultimately
contributes to their fall. In Death of a Salesman, Willy Loman visits and has relations with another woman who throughout the play is only known as, “the woman”.
Willy is careful to never let his two opposite lives cross and hopes that his family will never find out. When Biff finally does discover the infidelity at the hotel room in Boston, he is devastated. Biff’s long-standing image of his father as a hero and a morally sound man, is shattered. In his shock and anger Biff screams, “You fake! You phony little fake! You fake!” (Miller 121). This illustrates that Willy Loman was much more covert in his handling of the affair. Since it came as a surprise to Biff, no one ever suspected Willy was seeing another woman. Furthermore, Willy is devastated to the point that he kills himself. He realizes that he has nothing anymore without his family saying, “Nothing’s planted. I don’t have a thing in the ground” (Miller 122). His infidelity has destroyed his family and through this metaphor he realizes he is
nothing. Troy Maxson, the protagonist of Fences, is a well-known womanizer who is notorious for visiting other woman. Unlike Willy, Troy Maxson’s wife, Rose, is well aware that he sees other women and buys them drinks. In fact, at the beginning of the play Bono says, “You been doing more than eyeing her. You done bought her a drink or two” (Wilson 3). Rose who was also present knows that while Troy may treat her poorly and talk to other women, he will always come back to her and she will always run back to him since she needs him. Despite this strength, it is evident that the infidelity of Troy is slowly corroding the familial ties in the Maxson family. Rose becomes more fed up with the unfaithfulness and Troy become hostile towards Rose stating that he has been in the same place for eighteen years and he finally saw a way to move on. In the end, the infidelity ultimately destroys the family. When Troy brings the baby to Rose, she says, “this child got a mother. But you a womanless man” (Wilson 79). This is the end of Troy’s relationship with his family and it is mainly due to the infidelity. Despite the differences regarding how both men carry out infidelity, the theme is evident: infidelity destroys not only the lives of the person who embodies it but also the lives of their family. Willy’s infidelity led to the destruction of the bonds he had with his sons and wife as they no longer saw him as a strong, moral father and Troy’s infidelity slowly destroyed his relationship with Rose until he found himself single without any woman in his family. Furthermore, infidelity leads to the downfall of the character as each was once a respected member of the community until they were unfaithful. By the end of each play, both Willy and Troy are dead either by their own hand or a heart attack brought on by the sufferings in their life. Infidelity is a disease that is hard to remove once it has taken hold in a person. In Fences, Troy could not stop his unfaithful ways even when it threatened to destroy his family. In Death of a Salesman, Willy thought he could keep his infidelity a secret, but when it was ultimately revealed, he was devastated. Not only were the lives of Willy and Troy destroyed when they could no longer deal with what they have done, but also the lives of the people who loved them are destroyed. Infidelity affects more than just one person and in both plays infidelity ultimately led to the downfall of both protagonists.