Death of a Salesman

Death of a Salesman

Death of a Salesman
By Arthur Miller
An Exploration of Themes, Concepts and Characters
Higher English

Death of a Salesman is play by Arthur Miller, which was written in late 1940s, the years following the American Depression. The play focuses upon Willy Loman, an ageing travelling salesman who has come to view himself as being a failure in all aspects of his life. The drama revolves around Willy’s battle with deluding himself that he is, and has been, a successful businessman, father and husband.

Miller explores a number of themes in this play:

·  The American Dream

·  Self Worth and Self Perception

·  Societal Pressure

·  Familial Relationships

·  Abandonment

Drama questions which you could be asked about in your Higher exam are likely to focus upon:

·  A Personal Struggle

·  Interesting Relationships

·  Inner Conflict

·  Insecurity

·  Obsession

·  Key Scenes

The key characters in the play are:

·  Willy Loman - The protagonist

·  Biff Loman - Willy’s son

·  Happy Loman - Willy’s second son

·  Linda Loman - Willy’s adoring wife

·  The Woman - An un-named woman with whom Willy has an affair

·  Charley - Willy’s best friend

·  Ben - Willy’s recently deceased brother, who appears as a vision

Miller utilises a number of symbols and motifs throughout the play:

·  The concept of being ‘not just liked, but well liked’

·  A rubber hose to represent Willy’s suicidal tendencies

·  Stockings to represent both domesticity and infidelity

·  The sound of a flute to represent Willy’s past

·  Seeds to represent Willy’s ideas of growth and legacy

The Context of the Playwright

·  Arthur Miller was born in New York on October 1915 into a Jewish Polish family.

·  In 1929, during the Depression, his father’s business was ruined and the family moved to a house in Brooklyn, which is thought to be the model for the Loman’s house in Death of a Salesman

·  After a youth spent playing football and working in a car warehouse to raise the funds, Miller attended the University of Michigan, graduating in English in 1938. During his time at university, he was awarded a prize for playwriting, along with Tennessee Williams.

·  He returned to New York and began a career writing for radio.

·  He married his college sweetheart in 1940 and they had two children.

·  He was exempt from being drafted into the US Army because of an injury.

·  He married Marilyn Monroe in 1956, but they were divorced in 1961

·  In 1957, he was brought up before the House Committee on un-American activities and called upon to explain his Communist tendencies. He was convicted of contempt, for refusing to name names.

·  In 1962 he remarried.

·  Arthur Miller died in February 2005

The Major Plays

All My Sons (1947)

About a family coping with having a son listed as missing in action during WWII

Death of a Salesman (1949)

An examination of American life and consumerism

The Crucible (1953)

About witch hunts in colonial Salem, it implied a parallel with the McCarthy Trials

A View from the Bridge (1955)

The self discovery and fall of a Brooklyn dock worker questioning US immigration laws

After the Fall (1964)

About an unhappy marriage

The Context of the American Dream

·  The idea of the American Dream is that, through a combination of hard work, courage and determination, prosperity can be achieved. These values came to America with the early settlers and were passed on to later generations.

·  In the latter half of the 19th Century, there was a distinct possibility of coming across a fortune through relatively little effort, as long as you were able to invest in land. Many early prospectors bough cheap land west of the Rockies in the hope of finding deposits of gold. The American Dream was a driving force in the Gold Rush of the mid to late 1800s, as well as encouraging the immigration that followed.

·  The Irish Potato Famine and other problems in Europe encouraged mass immigration to America. People fled the problems at home in order to prosper from the freedom and financial security that they heard existed in America.

·  As the 20th Century drew closer, the Dream became that of industry and capitalism, with men such as John D Rockefeller beginning life in humble conditions, but going on to control vast corporations and the fortunes that resulted.

·  Successes such as these suggested that talent, intelligence and a willingness to work hard were all that was needed to achieve the dream.

·  America has always been perceived as a place where the streets are paved with gold; consequently, there are more legal immigrants to the US per annum than any other country in the world. They were (and are) drawn to work in the major cities such as New York, Chicago and Detroit.

·  During the 1920s and 1930s, the Depression was a cause of major hardship and seemed to be a reverse of the Dream which people had held dear for so long.

·  The end of WWII drew young American families to live in comfort and stability in the suburbs, living the life of a ‘perfect family’. However, the rise of the hippy values of the 1960s rejected this ideal – but did not kill it off entirely

·  Some say that the American Dream is misleading. It is impossible for everyone to gain prosperity simply through hard work and determination. The consequence of this is that those who do not achieve success believe that it is entirely their fault.

Points for Discussion

·  What is significant about the word ‘dream’?

·  What commentary does Miller make on the American Dream via Death of a Salesman?

·  What is ironic about the character of Happy in relation to this theme?

·  Had Willy achieved this ‘dream’, would his tale have ended differently?

·  Is there a vital component missing from both Willy and Happy’s lives?

The Context of Theatre

Miller draws upon two distinct styles of presentation within his play; Realism and Expressionism.

Realism

·  An artistic movement which began in France in the 19th Century

·  It sought to accurately portray everyday characters, situations and problems

·  The language used was as close as possible to natural conversation

·  Costumes were contemporary and sets were three dimension and lifelike

·  The plays were usually about social problems

Expressionism

·  Was a reaction to Realism and began in the 1900s

·  It sought to portray the inner psychological life of a character, concentrating on a subjective view of the world rather than an objective one

·  Plot, structure and characterisation were less important than poetic dialogue

·  Lighting was used to create atmosphere

Miller was fascinated by Expressionism but did not want to give up the conventions of Realism. In Death of a Salesman, he incorporates the two so that we see the reality of the events as well as the turmoil that Willy is undergoing.

Sometimes this takes the form of Willy’s past experiences being acted out; at other times, it is the appearance of characters from the past in Willy’s present.

Some people call these events ‘flashbacks’. Miller did not. He said that it is ‘literally that terrible moment when the voice of the past is no longer distant but quite as loud as the voice of the present...There are no flashbacks in this play but only a mobile concurrency of past and present…because in his desperation to justify his life Willy Loman has destroyed the boundaries between now and then.’

The Context of Tragedy

·  A ‘tragedy’, in the theatrical context, is a play which details the disastrous downfall of the protagonist.

·  Aristotle (4th Century) defined a tragedy as an action which is serious and complete, with the protagonist achieving catharsis (purification) through incidents which arouse pity and terror. The protagonist is led to this point through hamartia (a tragic character flaw) which often takes the form of hubris (excessive pride)

·  Death of a Salesman may be considered to be a ‘domestic’ tragedy

Act I – Character Analysis

Look at these lines and stage directions from the first act of the play. How do they impact upon our understanding of (analysis), and feelings towards (evaluation) the characters?

Willy Loman

WILLY: And they know me, boys, they know me up and down New England. The finest people. And when I bring you fellas up, there’ll be open sesame for all of us, ‘cause one thing, boys: I have friends.

WILLY: The man who makes an appearance in the business world, the man who creates personal interest, is the man who gets ahead. Be liked and you will never want.

WILLY: I'm very well liked in Hartford. You know, the trouble is, Linda, people don't seem to take to me.

Linda Loman

...she more than loves him; she admires him, as though his mercurial nature, his temper, his massive dreams and little cruelties, served her only as sharp reminders of the turbulent longings within him...

LINDA: I don't say he's a great man. Willy Loman never made a lot of money. His name was never in the paper. He's not the finest character that ever lived. But he's a human being, and a terrible thing is happening to him. So attention must be paid. He's not to be allowed to fall into his grave like an old dog. Attention, attention must be finally paid to such a person.

LINDA: Willy, darling, you’re the handsomest man in the world...

Biff Loman

BIFF: It’s a measly manner of existence...To suffer fifty weeks a year for the sake of a two-week vacation, when all you really desire is to be outdoors, with your shirt off. And always to have to get ahead of the next fella. And still – that’s how you build a future.

BIFF (about Bernard): He's liked, but not well-liked.

BIFF: Are you content Hap? You’re a success, aren’t you? Are you content?

Happy Loman

HAPPY: ...it’s what I always wanted. My own apartment, a car, and plenty of women. And still, goddammit, I’m lonely.

HAPPY: See Biff, everybody around me is so fake that I’m constantly lowering my ideals...

HAPPY: Pop, I told you I’m gonna retire you for life.

Act I – Relationships

We are introduced to several complex relationships in the first act of the play. We see these develop and change throughout as the drama unfolds. Consider the following questions in the context of the entire first act, not just your initial impression. Justify and explain your answers with relation to the text.

1.  How would you describe the relationship Willy and Linda have? Who do you consider to be the dominant person in the relationship?

2.  Biff and Willy’s relationship is interesting. How would you describe it? What reasons are we given for its complexity?

3.  How would you describe Biff and Happy’s relationship? Who is the favourite son? Does anything strike you as strange about this, given Willy’s own personal ideals?

4.  Linda’s character develops significantly from the opening the climax of the first act. How does our perception of her change?

5.  Important details are also revealed about Willy’s character as the act progresses. How does our perception of him change?

Willy’s ‘Visions’

We are given an interesting insight into Willy’s thoughts via the scenes in which he ‘sees’ figures from has past. These are frequently fantastical – it is difficult to comprehend which memories are real and which are skewed. Consider the following questions. Justify and explain your answers in relation to the text.

1.  What do you think Willy’s recollections of his children as young boys reveal about his perception of himself as a father?

2.  Which elements of Willy’s visions about his boys do you think are true? What makes you think this?

3.  Linda always seems to be performing domestic chores in Willy’s visions. What do you think this says about Willy’s perception of her?

4.  How does Willy feel towards his brother Ben? What does he imagine Ben’s perception of him to be? What makes you think this?

5.  We are given some insight into Willy’s past and his upbringing in an imagined conversation with Ben;

WILLY: ‘...Dad left when I was such a baby and I never had a chance to talk to him and I still feel – kind of temporary about myself.’ (Act I, P35)

What might it mean to feel ‘temporary’?

Does this help shed any light on Willy’s difficult relationship with his sons?

Act I – The Role of The Woman

The Woman is an almost anonymous character to whom we are introduced via another of Willy’s visions. She plays an important role in both our understanding of (analysis), and our feelings towards (evaluation) Willy. Consider the following questions. Explain and justify with relation to the text.

1.  Why do you think The Woman remains nameless?

2.  What is the significance of the following lines;

‘From the darkness is heard the laughter of a woman. WILLY doesn’t turn to it, but it continues through LINDA’S lines.’

‘THE WOMAN bursts out laughing, and LINDA’S laughter blends in.’ (Act I, P25)

What do you think they reveal about Willy’s attitude to both The Woman and Linda?