Use of Dialogue to Portray Characters

            In Glengarry Glen Ross, Mamet uses dialogue and nuances of written language as a way of conveying characters' personalities, relying minimally on actions and stage directions.

            Through the way each character speaks, readers are able to discern his characteristics. For instance, we can tell from the very beginning that Levene is rather desperate and bad at trying to convince Williamson of something, which we can assume carries over into his personal work. His first lines are, "John...John...John. Okay. John. John" (15). The ellipses convey Levene's emphasis and way of speaking while the repetition of Williamson's name indicates that Levene is trying to convince him of something. The repetition of Williamson's first name is meant to make him feel closer to Levene, as though they are personal friends. However, this much repetition in actual dialogue tends to irritate rather than soothe the person being addressed, suggesting that Levene might not be very good at persuading others. Through his continuing dialogue, readers are able to see more of these characteristics of Levene, as well as his way of thinking: he's stuck in the past, always talking about how he was an amazing salesman and "Those guys lived on the business I brought in" (22). He isn't able to keep up in today's cutthroat business, and it shows in the way he fails at persuasion, evident through the way he talks.

            Roma, on the other hand, is shown through dialogue to be a smooth talker and fast thinker. When Lingk comes into the office, Roma knows immediately that it's to cancel their contract and so devises a last second plan with Levene in order to get away and avoid Lingk's request for a refund. He starts talking to Leven about Lingk's property, describing it as "Beautiful. Beautiful rolling land" (79). Here, Roma enunciates "beautiful" and repeats it in a far more effective and enticing manner than Levene earlier tried with Williamson. By describing the land Lingk has already signed for to another seemingly interested customer, he is trying to make the land seem all the more popular and appealing. Roma is subtle about persuasion, making him a more effective salesman than Levene. When he originally started the deal with Lingk, he started talking about philosophy and drew Lingk's interest slowly, disarmingly. His dialogue shows his cunning and how he is able to think on his feet.

            If Lingk were more assertive, he might've fallen for Roma's trap to make him change his mind about cancelling the contract, but, as shown through dialogue, he is submissive to his wife's orders. He says, "She wants her money back" and "She told me I have to" (90). Lingk doesn't say "We want our money back," but rather that it is his wife's money. In his mind, he doesn't have a say in the matter or the money itself. He also takes his wife's word as absolute, putting emphasis on having to do what she says. For him, there is no choice but to listen to what she says.

            There are minimal stage directions, and those present are mostly used for showing people leaving or entering the scene. Generally, a playwright would use actions to convey what a character is feeling or thinking, whether through something subtle like body language or something more obvious such as pacing or throwing a prop. However, Mamet's expert use of dialogue handles this on its own. The reader is hardly, if ever, left in question about a character's state of mind, emotions, or characteristics.