qwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmrtyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqw

Death of a Salesman

By Arthur Miller

An Exploration of Themes, Concepts and Characters

Higher English

Death of a Salesman

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

2 | P a g e

Death of a Salesman

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

3 | P a g e

Death of a Salesman

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?

4 | P a g e

Death of a Salesman

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

5 | P a g e

Death of a Salesman

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.

6 | P a g e

Death of a Salesman

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?

7 | P a g e

Death of a Salesman

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?

3. Another comparison is drawn between the two;

The Woman: And thanks for the stockings. I love a lot of stockings.

‘LINDA is sitting where she was at the kitchen table, but now is mending a pair of her silk stockings.’

WILLY (angrily, taking them from her): I won’t have you mending stockings in this house! Now throw them out! (Act 1, P25)

What can the stockings be seen to represent? Why do you think Willy has such an emotional reaction to seeing Linda mend her stockings?

4. How does the reader/viewer reaction to Willy change following this revelation?5. Look at the following lines;

LINDA: It seems there’s a woman... (She takes a breath as)

BIFF (sharply but contained): What woman?

LINDA (simultaneously): ...and this woman...

LINDA: What?

BIFF: Nothing. Go ahead.

Do you think they provide any insight into Biff and Willy’s strained relationship?

(Act I, P41)

8 | P a g e

Death of a Salesman

Act II – We Begin to See the Truth

Look at the extracts listed below. What truths do we begin to learn as the second act unfolds?

1. What is the existential idea present here? What makes Willy feels this way?

WILLY: I’m always in a race with the junkyard! (Act II, P52)

2. What do we begin to realise about Linda? Is there more depth to her character than we first assume?

LINDA: Be loving to him. Because he’s only a little boat looking for a harbour. (Act II, P54)

3. Do you think this shows Willy’s vulnerability? Does it encourage the viewer to alter their feelings towards him?

WILLY: Speaking frankly between the two of us, y’know – I’m just a little tired. (Act II, P57)

4. How does these lines help explain the title of the play? Is there a deeper meaning behind the simple fact presented in the title?

WILLY: …he died the death of a salesman…hundreds of salesmen and buyers were at his funeral. (Act II, P59)

5. What does Willy mean by this comparison? Is there logic behind it, or is it a confused paradoxical statement?

WILLY: You can’t eat the orange and throw the peel away – a man is not a piece of fruit. (Act II, P59)

The Idea of Heroism

Can Willy be considered ‘heroic’ in any way? Given that the play could be considered a ‘tragedy’, is there an argument that Willy represents heroic ideal in a difficult situation?

1. What are Willy’s ideals in terms of success? Does he set out to accomplish a noble feat?

2. Willy’s relationship with his sons is troubled, but at the heart of it, does he have good intentions?

3. We undoubtedly see Willy’s demise, but is it important that he does not fall from a great height? We normally expect heroes to fall from grace – clearly Willy has not achieved his ‘grace’, but he has still fallen – does this make him any less ‘heroic’?

4. Conversely, could Willy be considered an ‘anti-hero’? Can he be seen to represent failure against the context of promise and prosperity?

9 | P a g e

Death of a Salesman

Act II – The Realisations

As act two progresses, the characters begin to realise their flaws more readily. What do the following extracts reveal about the characters?

1. Can these lines be seen to summate one of the key concepts of the play?

HOWARD: Where are your sons? Why don’t your sons give you a hand?

WILLY: They’re working on a very big deal.

HOWARD: This is no time for false pride, Willy. (Act II, P61)

2. What vital element of Biff and Willy’s relationship is revealed in these lines?

BERNARD: What happened in Boston, Willy?

WILLY looks at him as at an intruder…

WILLY: What are you trying to do, blame it on me? If a boy lays down is that my fault? (Act II, P70)

3. We see Willy’s first real admission of defeat in the restaurant scene. Explain this image in the context of Willy’s struggle throughout the play. Can it be seen as a key turning point in his demise?

WILLY: I’m not interested in stories about the past or any crap of that kind because the woods are burning, boys, you understand? There’s a big blaze going on all around. I was fired today. (Act II, P80)

4. We see Biff begin to realise his kleptomaniacal tendencies during this scene also. Why do you think he steals compulsively?

BIFF: Listen, kid, I took those balls years ago, now I walk in with his fountain pen? That clinches it, don’t you see? (Act II, P85)

5. Happy appears to be the consistent character in the play, apart from this one fatal slip. What does it reveal about him?

LETTA: Don’t you want to tell your father –

HAPPY: No that’s not my father. He’s just a guy. Come on. We’ll catch Biff, and, honey, we’re going to paint this town! (Act II, P87)

10 | P a g e

Death of a Salesman

6. Can this be seen as the crushing realisation which provokes Willy to take his life? Why is this so important to Willy?

BIFF: Pop! I'm a dime a dozen, and so are you!WILLY: I am not a dime a dozen! I am Willy Loman, and you are Biff Loman!

(Act II, P102)

7. What is hidden in this metaphor in Ben’s dialogue at the end of Act II? What is actually being referred to?

BEN: The jungle is dark, but full of diamonds, Willy. (Act II, P103)

The Requiem

The final scene of Miller’s play contains a great deal of irony in relation to both Willy’s expectations and the theme of the American Dream. Consider the following;

1. Does Willy die his idealistic ‘Death of a Salesman’?2. Does Willy’s funeral live up to the ideal of Dave Singleman’s?3. What happens to the fraternal bond between Happy and Biff at Willy’s graveside?4. What commentary upon the American Dream do we see in the final conversation

between Linda and Charley?

LINDA: I can’t understand it. At this time especially. First time in thirty-five years we were just about free and clear. He only needed a little salary. He was even finished with the dentist.

CHARLEY: No man only needs a little salary. (Requiem, P106)

5. Does this resonant statement by Biff sum up the reason for Willy’s inner conflict? Can he be seen to be the wrong man for his time?

BIFF: He had the wrong dreams. All, all, wrong.

HAPPY: Don’t say that!

BIFF: He never knew who he was. (Requiem, P107)

6. What is the final irony in Linda’s closing lines? What is the only freedom that Willy felt he could experience?

LINDA: Willy, I made the last payment on the house today. Today, dear. And there’ll be nobody home. We’re free and clear. We’re free. We’re free…We’re free. (Requiem, P108)

11 | P a g e

Death of a Salesman

Symbolism

The three most prominent symbols in the play are all evident in and around the restaurant scene. Comment on their significance within the context of the play, and within the context of the key themes.

The Rubber Hose

1. What does it represent?2. Why doesn’t Linda remove it from the basement?3. Why does Biff carry it with him?4. Can it be seen as a ‘cry for help’?

The Stockings

1. What two contrasting ideas do they represent?2. Why is there a link via these between Linda and The Woman?3. Why do you think Miller has chosen these as a symbol?

Seeds and Nature

WILLY: I’ve got to get some seeds, right away. Nothing’s planted. I don’t have a thing in the ground. (Act II, P96)

1. What does Willy mean by this statement? Why has he suddenly become concerned with gardening after the confrontational scene with his sons?

2. How does the idea of nature contrast the capitalist ideas of the American Dream?

3. Willy can be seen to have traditional masculine ideas which also contrast his obsession with monetary gain and success. What do the following extracts reveal about this side of his psyche?

WILLY: A man who cannot handle tools is not a man. You’re disgusting. (Act I, P29)

……

BIFF: You know something, Charley, there’s more of him in that front stoop than in all the sales he ever made.’ (Requiem, P106)

12 | P a g e

Death of a Salesman

Additional Key Quotes

A list of additional key quotes is provided below which can also be used for analysis, dependant upon the demands of the essay question.

LINDA: A small man can be just as exhausted as a great man. (Act I, P39)

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. (Act 1, P20)

BEN: Why, boys, when I was seventeen I walked into the jungle, and when I was twenty-one I walked out. And by God I was rich! (Act I, P32)

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 in his grave like an old dog. Attention, attention must finally be paid to such a person. (Act I, P39)

WILLY: Funny, y’know? After all the highways, and the trains, and the appointment, and the years, you end up worth more dead than alive. (Act II, P73)

BIFF: Miss Forsythe, you’ve just seen a prince walk by. A fine, troubled prince. A hardworking, unappreciated prince. A pal, you understand? A good companion. Always for his boys.

BIFF: I realised what a ridiculous lie my whole life has been. (Act II, P78)

13 | P a g e

Death of a Salesman

Drama: Higher Essay Questions

The questions below are taken from previous English exams and could be answered in relation to Death of a Salesman.

1. Choose a play in which a character feels insecure about his or her position within thesociety or social group to which he or she belongs.Show how the dramatist makes you aware of the character’s insecurity and discusshow it influences your appreciation of character and/or theme in the play as a whole.

2. Choose a play in which a central concern is clarified by the contrast between twocharacters.Discuss how the dramatist’s presentation of the contrast between the two characters adds to your understanding of this central concern.

3. Choose a play in which a central character experiences not only inner conflict but also conflict with one (or more than one) other character.Explain the nature of both conflicts and discuss which one you consider to be moreimportant in terms of character development and/or dramatic impact.

4. Choose a play in which a central character behaves in an obsessive manner.Describe the nature of the character’s obsessive behaviour and discuss the influencethis behaviour has on your understanding of the character in the play as a whole.

5. Choose from a play a scene which significantly changes your view of a character.Explain how the scene prompts this reappraisal and discuss how important it is toyour understanding of the character in the play as a whole.

6. Choose a play in which a character makes a crucial error.Explain what the error is and discuss to what extent it is important to yourunderstanding of the character’s situation in the play as a whole.

7. Choose from a play an important scene which you found particularly entertaining orparticularly shocking.Explain briefly why the scene is important to the play as a whole and discuss in detailhow the dramatist makes the scene so entertaining or shocking.

14 | P a g e

Death of a Salesman

Theatrical Review

By FRANK RICH Published: March 30, 1984, Friday

As Willy Loman in Arthur Miller's ''Death of a Salesman,'' Dustin Hoffman doesn't trudge heavily to the grave - he sprints. His fist is raised and his face is cocked defiantly upwards, so that his rimless spectacles glint in the Brooklyn moonlight. But how does one square that feisty image with what will come after his final exit - and with what has come before? Earlier, Mr. Hoffman's Willy has collapsed to the floor of a Broadway steakhouse, mewling and shrieking like an abandoned baby. That moment had led to the spectacle of the actor sitting in the straight-back chair of his kitchen, crying out in rage to his elder son, Biff. ''I'm not a dime a dozen!,'' Mr. Hoffman rants, looking and sounding so small that we fear the price quoted by Biff may, if anything, be too high.

To reconcile these sides of Willy - the brave fighter and the whipped child - you really have no choice but to see what Mr. Hoffman is up to at the Broadhurst. In undertaking one of our theatre's classic roles, this daring actor has pursued his own brilliant conception of the character. Mr. Hoffman is not playing a larger-than-life protagonist but the small man described in the script - the ''little boat looking for a harbour,'' the eternally adolescent American male who goes to the grave without ever learning who he is. And by staking no claim to the stature of a tragic hero, Mr. Hoffman's Willy becomes a harrowing American everyman. His bouncy final exit is the death of a salesman, all right. Willy rides to suicide, as he rode through life, on the foolish, empty pride of ''a smile and a shoeshine.''

Even when Mr. Hoffman's follow- through falls short of his characterization - it takes a good while to accept him as 63 years old - we're riveted by the wasted vitality of his small Willy, a man full of fight for all the wrong battles. What's more, the star has not turned ''Death of a Salesman'' into a vehicle. Under the balanced direction of Michael Rudman, this revival is an exceptional ensemble effort, strongly cast throughout. John Malkovich, who plays the lost Biff, gives a performance of such spellbinding effect that he becomes the evening's anchor. When Biff finally forgives Willy and nestles his head lovingly on his father's chest, the whole audience leans forward to be folded into the embrace: we know we're watching the salesman arrive, however temporarily, at the only safe harbour he'll ever know.

But as much as we marvel at the acting in this ''Death of a Salesman,'' we also marvel at the play. Mr. Miller's masterwork has been picked to death by critics over the last 35 years, and its reputation has been clouded by the author's subsequent career. We know its flaws by heart - the big secret withheld from the audience until Act II, and the symbolic old brother Ben (Louis Zorich), forever championing the American dream in literary prose. Yet how small and academic these quibbles look when set against the fact of the thunderous thing itself.

In ''Death of Salesman,'' Mr. Miller wrote with a fierce, liberating urgency. Even as his play marches steadily onward to its preordained conclusion, it roams about through time and space, connecting present miseries with past traumas and drawing blood almost everywhere it goes. Though the author's condemnation of the American success ethic is stated baldly, it is also woven, at times humorously, into the action. When Willy proudly

15 | P a g e

Death of a Salesman

speaks of owning a refrigerator that's promoted with the ''biggest ads,'' we see that the pathological credo of being ''well liked'' requires that he consume products that have the aura of popularity, too.

Still, Mr. Rudman and his cast don't make the mistake of presenting the play as a monument of social thought: the author's themes can take care of themselves. Like most of Mr. Miller's work, ''Death of a Salesman'' is most of all about fathers and sons. There are many father-son relationships in the play - not just those of the Loman household, but those enmeshing Willy's neighbours and employer. The drama's tidal pull comes from the sons' tortured attempts to reconcile themselves to their fathers' dreams. It's not Willy's pointless death that moves us; it's Biff's decision to go on living. Biff, the princely high school football hero turned drifter, must find the courage both to love his father and leave him forever behind.

Mr. Hoffman's Willy takes flight late in Act I, when he first alludes to his relationship with his own father. Recalling how his father left when he was still a child, Willy says, ''I never had a chance to talk to him, and I still feel - kind of temporary about myself.'' As Mr. Hoffman's voice breaks on the word ''temporary,'' his spirit cracks into aged defeat. From then on, it's a merciless drop to the bottom of his ''strange thoughts'' - the hallucinatory memory sequences that send him careening in and out of a lifetime of anxiety. Mr. Rudman stages these apparitional flashbacks with bruising force; we see why Biff says that Willy is spewing out ''vomit from his mind.'' As Mr. Hoffman stumbles through the shadowy recollections of his past, trying both to deny and transmute the awful truth of an impoverished existence, he lurches and bobs like a strand of broken straw tossed by a mean wind.

As we expect from this star, he has affected a new physical and vocal presence for Willy: a baldish, silver-maned head; a shuffling walk; a brash, Brooklyn-tinged voice that well serves the character's comic penchant for contradicting himself in nearly every sentence. But what's most poignant about the getup may be the costume (designed by Ruth Morley). Mr. Hoffman's Willy is a total break with the mountainous Lee J. Cobb image. He's a trim, immaculately outfitted go-getter in a three- piece suit - replete with bright matching tie and handkerchief. Is there anything sadder than a nobody dressed for success, or an old man masquerading as his younger self? The star seems to wilt within the self- parodistic costume throughout the evening. ''You can't eat the orange and throw away the peel!,'' Willy pleads to the callow young boss (Jon Polito) who fires him - and, looking at the wizened and spent Mr. Hoffman, we realize that he is indeed the peel, tossed into the gutter. Mr. Malkovich, hulking and unsmiling, is an inversion of Mr. Hoffman's father; he's what Willy might be if he'd ever stopped lying to himself. Anyone who saw this remarkable young actor as the rambunctious rascal of ''True West'' may find his transformation here as astonishing as the star's. His Biff is soft and tentative, with sullen eyes and a slow, distant voice that seems entombed with his aborted teen-age promise; his big hands flop around diffidently as he tries to convey his anguish to his roguish brother Happy (Stephen Lang). Once Biff accepts who he is - and who his father is - the cathartic recognition seems to break through Mr. Malkovich (and the theatre) like a raging fever. ''Help him!'' he yells as his father collapses at the restaurant - only to melt instantly into a blurry, tearful plea of ''Help me! Help me!''

In the problematic role of the mother, Kate Reid is miraculously convincing: Whether she's professing her love for Willy or damning Happy as a ''philandering bum,'' she somehow

16 | P a g e

Death of a Salesman

melds affection with pure steel. Mr. Lang captures the vulgarity and desperate narcissism of the younger brother, and David Chandler takes the goo out of the model boy next door. As Mr. Chandler's father - and Willy's only friend - David Huddleston radiates a quiet benevolence as expansive as his considerable girth. One must also applaud Thomas Skelton, whose lighting imaginatively meets every shift in time and mood, and the set designer Ben Edwards, who surrounds the shabby Loman house with malevolent apartment towers poised to swallow Willy up.

But it's Mr. Hoffman and Mr. Malkovich who demand that our attention be paid anew to ''Death of a Salesman.'' When their performances meet in a great, binding passion, we see the transcendent sum of two of the American theatre's most lowly, yet enduring, parts.

Source: http://theater.nytimes.com/ (Slightly Adapted)

17 | P a g e

Death of a Salesman

Critical Reviews

Motifs in Death of a Salesman - Amanda Ligi

In Death of Salesman, there are recurring themes or motifs that unify the play and blend

together in the last act to give a paradoxical or ironic comment on the drama. The first

dominant motif is the false importance placed on personal attractiveness and popularity. To

the protagonist Willy Loman, being handsome and well liked is all-important. Willy naively

believes that if a person is attractive and popular, the entire world opens up for him,

guaranteeing success and answering the American Dream. Willy sees the personification of

this in the salesman, David Singleman, whom he describes in the play as the man who has

obtained the American Dream through being a salesman. Unfortunately, Willy confers his

philosophies about attractiveness and popularity to his sons. As a result, the handsome Biff,

a star football player in high school, feels like he can get by in life on his looks and

personality. He finds out, however, that these traits do not bring the American Dream to

him; he flunks math and cannot go to college, starts stealing, and amounts to nothing in life.

Happy is also deluded; he encourages Biff in his illusions, telling him he should be able to

borrow any amount of money from Bill Oliver because Biff is "so well liked." Additionally,

Happy tries to make himself well liked, especially by surrounding himself with women, but

he finds his existence to be very empty and lonely. The final touch of pathos in the play

centres on the being liked motif. Willy has imagined that his funeral will be well attended,

just like the one for Singleman. As he plans his suicide, he pictures customers and fellow

salesmen from all over New England coming to his burial; the image pleases Willy, for he

feels it will cause his sons to feel respect from their dead father. In truth, no one outside of

family attends the funeral, except for Charley.

It is a sad statement on a sad life. The theft motif is also developed in the play; it is Miller's

sad comment on the degeneration of American middle class values. Willy constantly turns

his head on or actually encourages theft by his sons, especially Biff. When Biff steals a

football from the locker room, Willy excuses the behaviour and even says the coach will

"probably congratulate you on your initiative." When Biff admits that he fails math, in spite

of cheating on the exam, Willy has no comment on the cheating, which he a theft of

knowledge. In fact, at one point in his flashbacks, Willy actually sends Biff and Happy out to

18 | P a g e

Death of a Salesman

steal lumber to prove their fearlessness to Ben. Willy also steals his sons' dignity. He fills

them with so many lies and so much hot air, that neither boy can recognize the truth or take

orders from anyone. The tragedy of Willy Loman is not just the tragedy of a single individual.

Miller implies that Willy's distorted illusions and values are all too frequently those forced

upon people in a capitalist society, especially in America. It is Linda who points out the tragic

predicament of Willy Loman: "he is not the finest character that ever lived. But he is human

being and a terrible thing is happening to him." Willy is a thoroughly human character

whose limitations and errors are combined with a noble parental passion and a heroic effort

to maintain his self-esteem and dreams in the midst of a competitive capitalist society.

Source: http://www.shvoong.com/books/59095-death-salesman/#ixzz1p8NVdirD

19 | P a g e

Death of a Salesman

Death of a Salesman: The Legacy of Arthur Miller - Bert Cardullo

The immense international success of Death of a Salesman comes from the intellectual force

of the play’s central idea. The relevance of this central idea, however, connected with door-

to-door salesmen and the Darwinian nature of rampant capitalism, has withered with time

and changing technology.

Let's begin with some of the reasons why the play continues to occupy the place it does in

American drama and our national imagination. The very title Death of a Salesman both

declares the significance of a salesman’s death and finds value in its ordinary anonymity.

This evocation is amplified by the opening sight of Willy Loman coming in the door. It’s a

superb image, an entrance which is unforgettable and instantly iconic. The salesman Willy is

home. He is “tired to the death,” lugging his two heavy sample cases, after having been

rejected by the milk-filled bosom of the nation from which he had expected so much

nourishment. The commodity he expected to sell is never identified because Willy is in a

sense selling himself. He’s a survivor of the early tradition of drummers in this country: men

who viewed not their product but their personality as their chief ware, and still claimed they

could sell anything.

Beyond the title and the entrance sequence, Miller’s organizing idea keeps a fitful hold. It’s

the idea of the mid-century man, who has sold things without making them and paid for

things without owning them. He represents a figure of commercial society battling for some

sliver of authenticity before he slips into the great dark. And remarkably, he is battling

without a real villain.

To his credit, Miller was one of the first writers to comprehend a seismic change in the

American economy of the late 1940s that saw corporations expand into large, confusing

bureaucracies. He depicts late capitalism in his play as having become impersonal and

hierarchical.

Willy is shown to be at least as much a victim of mental instability as of the false-goddess

Success. Indeed, Willy’s self-contradictions go beyond normal human inconsistency into the

realm of severe internal division. He yells at Biff: “Not finding yourself at the age of thirty-

four is a disgrace!” But later adds: “Greatest thing in the world for him was to bum around.”

20 | P a g e

Death of a Salesman

And again: “Biff is a lazy bum!” says Willy. Then almost immediately thereafter: “And such a

hard worker. There’s one thing about Biff—he’s not lazy.”

Willy’s memories of past conversations produce similar inconsistencies. One minute

“Chevrolet . . . is the greatest car ever built;” the next, “That goddamn Chevrolet, they ought

to prohibit the manufacture of that car.” And, in consecutive sentences, Willy can declare

the following without blinking: “I’m very well liked in Hartford. You know, the trouble is,

people don’t seem to take to me.”

Naturally, for someone like Willy, the past and the present duel with each other as well as

with themselves. For example, he remembers saying that “the man who makes an

appearance in the business world, the man who creates personal interest, is the man who

gets ahead;” yet he perceives no inconsistency between that statement and this one in the

present action of the play: “A man who can’t handle tools is not a man.”

He remembers telling Linda that “[People] seem to laugh at me.” But he can tell his grown

sons, “They laugh at me, huh? Go to Filene’s, go to the Hub, go to Slattery’s, Boston. Call out

the name Willy Loman and see what happens!” And all of this from a man who has the

unwitting nerve to wonder aloud, “Why am I always being contradicted?”

But putting this mountain of evidence aside, let’s assume for the sake of argument that

Willy is not a psychopath. Instead, he was a relatively whole or normal man crushed by the

American juggernaut. If we also consider Salesman from that angle, what is its attitude

toward that juggernaut and its business ideals? Such a question is crucial because there is

no realisation for Willy, nothing that suggests the play’s attitude. There is no moment of

recognition for him, let alone a great downfall: he dies believing in money.

In fact, he kills himself for money. Because he confuses materialistic success with a

worthiness for love, he commits suicide to give his son Biff the insurance benefit as a stake

for more business. Willy’s other son, Happy, is himself wedded to money values and says

over his father’s coffin that he’s going to stick to them for his father’s sake. Similarly, Biff

was so lauded by his father that he became kleptomaniacal as a boy and even now, after his

21 | P a g e

Death of a Salesman

father-as-idol has collapsed, he can’t resist stealing a successful businessman’s fountain pen

as a niggling revenge against that man’s success and his own lack of it.

The only alternatives to the business ethos ever produced in Salesman are Willy’s love of

tools and seeds, building and planting, and Biff’s love of the outdoor life. Miller confuses

thematic matters even further by highlighting the successes of not only Dave Singleman, the

gentlemanly eighty-four-year-old salesman who was Willy’s inspiration (and who, according

to Willy, died the regal “death of a salesman”), but also of young Bernard next door, a

lawyer in the Establishment world with a wife and two sons. Bernard’s is a deserved success

for which Willy feels envy, as he does for the success of Bernard’s father, Charley, who is

also a good businessman with his own office and secretary.

Charley himself contributes to the confusion in Death of a Salesman. He can be heard

endorsing Willy’s view of himself when, during the play’s Requiem, he says to Biff:

You don’t understand: Willy was a salesman. And . . . a salesman . . . don’t put a bolt to a

nut, he don’t tell you the law or give you medicine. He’s a man way out there in the blue,

riding on a smile and a shoeshine. And when they start not smiling back—that’s an

earthquake. . . . A salesman is got to dream, boy. It comes with the territory.

However, in an Act II an attempt to puncture Willy’s losing self-image, Charley had said

almost the exact opposite to his next-door neighbour:

CHARLEY: . . . The only thing you got in this world is what you can sell. And the funny thing is

that you’re a salesman, and you don’t know that.

WILLY: I’ve always tried to think otherwise, I guess. I always felt that if a man was

impressive, and well liked, that nothing—

CHARLEY: Why must everybody like you? . . .

What we see in this play is neither a critique of the business world nor an adult vision of

something different and better. Rather, it’s the story of a man who failed as a salesman and

father, and made matters worse by refusing to admit those failures, which he knew to be

true.

Source: http://www.columbia.edu/cu/cjas/june_miller.html (Adapted)

22 | P a g e