Glengarry Glen Ross, a play written by David Mamet, involves exclusively male characters. The salesmen in the story are pressured by their real estate company to make more sales in order to keep their jobs, and most of them are struggling to do so with the leads they have been given. Under this kind of stress in this male-dominated environment, these men exhibit numerous toxic traits related to their masculinity, or at least their definition of it.
In this play, a man’s language, demeanor, and success defines his level of manhood. With these being the primary values of the characters, they find themselves regularly degrading each other with profanity and reminders of their failure. The very first conversation in the play between Levene and Williamson set the mood of stress and competition between the men and represented the way they viewed themselves. Levene was clearly concerned about losing his job and was under enormous pressure from the beginning, but the way he aggressively spoke to Williamson, the company’s secretary, with profanity revealed that he was accustomed to speaking to his coworkers in that way. Furthermore, Roma’s first scene showed that not only do these men use this kind of language in stressful situations, but they also use it in normal conversations, even if they are speaking with a stranger.
In this Rio Rancho real estate setting, a salesman’s success is measured by the number, value, and recency of his sales. Levene has not had a successful sale in a while and is seen as less successful than his coworkers like Roma, who has had lots of recent success. With this being part of their definition of masculinity, Levene and his coworkers risk being less of a man if they are not consistently closing deals. This mindset takes such a toll on these men’s egos that they are willing to do whatever it takes to make a sale or just make money in general. They are all willing to take shortcuts and manipulate others to find success and prove themselves worthy of respect.
This willingness to cut corners in their business causes some of the salesmen to plot crime against their own company. If these men had felt respected or encouraged, no one would have felt the need to do so. Had Levene not been so mistreated and belittled, he would have not committed the robbery. There is something to be said about the fact that David Mamet only needed two acts in this play to highlight some of the many consequences of toxic masculinity. In all honesty, he could have left the play as it was after the first act, and it would’ve served that purpose just as effectively.
Brianna Mobley 