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• Background– Author • Arthur Miller
• Born in New York City in 1915
• Best known for his tragedy Death of a Salesman
• Salesman won the Pulitzer Prize
• It also made Miller a powerful literary influence throughout the country
YES! That’s Miller with Marilyn Monroe!
• Background – Author
• Outspoken in his beliefs regarding the inequalities in America in both labor and race
• Also known for his work, The Crucible. This worked served as an allegory for the anti-Communist hysteria of the 1950’s
The movie version of The Crucible was met with critical success
• Background Information– Death of a Salesman • Takes place during the
cold war• Families had become
overly concerned with both social and economic status
• An artistic movement arose called existentialism
• Existentialism challenged the idea that financial success and social standing had to be intertwined
• Background Information– Death of a Salesman
• The play delivers a sharp social commentary about the folly of trying to “keep up with the Joneses”, a line of thought where families centered their lives around materialistic possessions
• The play is inspired by family and relationships from Miller’s own life
• Death of the Salesman has been described as the first great American tragedy
• Overview • The play opens in Willy Loman’s house in Brooklyn
• Willy, a traveling salesman of 63, is exhausted after years of making his trips
• Through flashbacks the audience becomes familiar with the salesman’s philosophy of success that has guided him to his current less-than-successful state
• Overview • Willy’s life is filled with disappointment: – his boss fires him – his children are failures – he has nothing of
substance to show for his years of toil and work
• Desperate and delusional Willy searches for a way in his final days to make his children, life and legacy one of success versus bitter failure
• Literary Focus
– Publication
– Genre
– Setting (time)
– Setting (place)
– Flashback
– 1949
– Play; Tragedy
– 1940’s; the play takes place during a twenty-four hour period with flashbacks mixed in throughout
– Brooklyn, New York and Boston
– The reminiscences and imaginary sequences allow the audience to understand the characters' inner thoughts and provide insight into their behavior during the present-day scenes.
• Literary Focus– Symbol
• Seeds
• The American Dream
• Seeds are representative of Willy’s attempt to leave something behind of lasting value; to grow something that is positive and will last beyond his life
• In the case of Willie the American dream is symbolic of something that should come easily through materialistic possessions and people liking you; this contrasts with his neighbor Charley’s more authentic representation of the American Dream where hard work is needed in order to achieve success
• Literary Focus– Themes and Conflicts • The American Dream
• Man’s Superficial Nature• Man’s Desire to be
likeable and have attractive things
• The value of hard work vs. the dream of money
• Betrayal and Anger• Individual vs. Self and vs.
Society• Appearance vs. Reality
• Willy Loman • Traveling Salesman• Insecure about the
worth of himself and family
• Strong believer in the American Dream, but he never achieves the wealth and success of his dreams
• Lives through his sons, hoping they will achieve where he has failed
• Biff Loman • A star athlete in high school and Willy’s pride for his friends and female companions during this time
• Has since become a failure and a kleptomaniac
• Happy Loman • Overcompensates because he has always played second-fiddle to his brother
• Aggressive sexually and in business
• Lacks a strong moral foundation within his job and his relationships
• Charley • Willy’s next-door neighbor
• Charley’s success contrasts with Willy’s failures
• Willy spurns Charley’s offers for a job and is jealous of his success
• Despite this, Charley is Willy’s only friend
• Bernard• Charley’s son• Successful lawyer• Ironically was thought
of as a youth as being a nerd; mocked for his study habits
• Bernard has a close relationship with Willy’s children
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