• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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

Characters

• 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

• Other Characters– Linda Loman

– The Woman

– Howard Wagner

• Wife of Willy

• The woman with whom Willy has an extramarital affair

• Willy’s boss• Younger than Willy• Howard’s father had

been Willy’s boss until his death.