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Major themes and dramatic techniques in the death of a salesman
Death of a salesman critical perspective
The plot in the play Death of a salesman
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When the realities of life become too harsh, humankind has a natural tendency to choose the most convenient solution to his problem: illusion. They build dreams and fantasies to conceal the more difficult truths of their lives. In his play Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller portrays the hold of such illusions on individuals and its horrible consequences. Through the overly average, overly typical Loman family, Miller shows how dreams of a better life become, as Choudhuri put it, “fantasies to the point that the difference between illusion and reality, the Loman’s dreams and the forces of society, becomes blurred” (Choudhuri 70). The Loman family created dreams and illusions that were far better than their reality.
In Death of a Salesman, these dreams overwhelm the two characters Willy, the father, and Biff, his favorite son, but the stark reality of life eventually overcomes these illusions and forces them to face the truth. As Willy and Biff are forced to realize that they have been living in a dream world, this disillusionment becomes a prevalent theme of the play, pointing out how illusions can only hide so much for so long before the truth is unveiled. Wilson explains that The Loman family has such exaggerated, grotesque fictions about each other that the truth is bitterly weak in contrast (Wilson 80). Their illusion are so grand and so full of fantasy that when reality is discovered, they are shocked, devastated. In Death of a Salesman, Willy and Biff Loman display the shocks and hardships that are experienced when one is forced to face reality and be disillusioned.
Of these two characters, Willy holds the most illusions, and therefore is the most devastated by the destruction of these fantasies. Miller uses several i...
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.... Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1991. 66-78.
Dusenbury, Winifred L. “Loneliness in Death of a Salesman.” The Theme of Loneliness in Modern American Drama. (1960):30-38. Rpt. in Readings on Arthur Miller.
…….Ed. Thomas Siebold. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, Inc., 1997. 116-24.
Foster, Richard. “Confusion and Tragedy: The Failure of Miller’s Salesman.” Two
……Modern American Tragedies: Reviews and Criticism of Death of a Salesman and
……A Streetcar Named Desire. (1961): 123-130. Rpt. in Readings on Arthur Miller.
……Ed. Thomas Siebold. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, Inc., 1997. 102-9.
Garrison, Craig M. “The System and the American Dream.” Playwrites. 17 April 2002. ………
Hadomi, Leah. “Fantasy and Reality: Dramatic Rhythm in Death of a Salesman.” Modern ……….Drama 31, Vol. 2. (1988):161-2. Rpt. in Blooms Reviews: Arthur Miller’s Death
Miller’s use of personification and symbolism in the book shows the situational irony that surrounds Willy. This highlights the overall message of blind faith towards the American Dream. The major case of irony in the book is Willy’s blind faith in the American Dream. This belief is that if one is well-liked, they will become successful. The truth is actually completely opposite. The real belief is that if one works hard, with no regard to how well liked they are, they will be successful. This relationship is shown between Willy and his neighbor Charley. While Willy believes likability is the only way to success, Charley works hard and does not care how people think of him. Through his hard work, Charley started his own business, and is now very successful. Willy, however, ends up getti...
A white picket fence surrounds the tangible icons of the American Dreams in the middle 1900's: a mortgage, an automobile, a kitchen appliance paid for on the monthly - installment - plan, and a silver trophy representative of high school football triumph. A pathetic tale examining the consequences of man's harmartias, Arthur Miller's "Death of A Salesman" satisfies many, but not all, of the essential elements of a tragedy. Reality peels away the thin layers of Willy Loman's American Dream; a dream built on a lifetime of poor choices and false values.
Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman. Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Seventh Edition. X.J. Kennedy, and Dana Gioia. New York: Addison Wesley Longman, Inc., 1999
He believes that he is well-liked and respected by everyone, which is not true. Willy's pride leads to his downfall, as he cannot accept that he is not successful and that his dream is unattainable. Finally, the illusion of Willy's life that resulted from him dreaming the wrong dream ends up in his tragic suicide and the destruction of his family. Willy's dream creates an illusion of a perfect life, which is not true.
In brief, it is apparent that Willy’s own actions led to not only his own demise, but his children’s as well. The salesman tragically misinterpreted the American Dream for only the superficial qualities of beauty, likeability and prosperity. Perhaps if Willy had been more focused on the truth of a person’s character, rather than purely physical aspects, his family’s struggles and his own suicide could have been avoided. On the whole, Arthur Miller’s play is evidence that the search for any dream or goal is not as easy and the end result may seem. The only way to realize the objective without any despair is the opposite of Willy Loman’s methods: genuineness, perseverance and humility.
Murray, Edward. “The Thematic Structure in Death of a Salesman.” Readings on Arthur Miller: Death of a Salesman. San Diego: Greenhaven Press Inc., 1999.
Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman. Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Seventh Edition. X.J. Kennedy, and Dana Gioia. New York: Addison Wesley Longman, Inc., 1999. 1636-1707.
Eisinger, Chester E. "Critical Readings: Focus on Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman: The Wrong Dreams." Critical Insights: Death of a Salesman (2010): 93-105.
Miller, Arthur. "Death of a Salesman." Compact Literature. Ed. Laurie Kirszner and Stephen Mandell. 8th ed. Boston: Wadsworth, 2013. 1262-331. Print.
In the play, The Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller,Willy Loman, an unsuccessful business man struggling to support his family is completely out of touch with reality throughout the plot line. Many characters throughout this play and their interactions with Willy have showed the audience his true colors and what he thinks is important in life. His constant lying and overwhelming ego certainly does not portray his life in factual terms, but rather in the false reality that he has convinced himself he lives in.
Willy Loman has surrendered the life of himself and his sons to a dream of success, while this dream is not particularly reprehensible, it is nevertheless unsuitable for him and can only be kept alive at the expense of his selfhood. Because Willy does not know himself, his ambitions ?are based on false conceptions of one?s talents and capacities? (Eisenger 331). He is incapable of viewing himself and the world as they truly are, and will sacrifice his existence rather than the ideal he has relied on. His dreams ?may provide a momentary respite from a harsh reality,? but are more devastating over time and result in disillusion (Abbotson 47). Willy desires to meet the demands he believes society dictates: American determination for wealth and renown??an almost virtuous pursuit? (Abbotson 48). He is torn between two contradictory lifestyles: the agrarian life that his father led and suburban city life. He genuinely cannot tolerate the latter, demonstrated in his constant dissatisfied grumbling: the apartments that restrict him??Bricks and windows, windows and bricks? (Miller 17). Not to mention the streets ?lined with cars,? the absence of fresh air, the grass that ?don?t grow any more,? and the demise of the ?two beautiful elm trees? that once grew in his back yard (Miller 17). Willy prefers to dr...
Lying is a string that ties together a great part of the plot in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman. The Lomans are all greatly self-deceptive, and in their particular fancies and delusions to reality, they fuel and nourish off of each other. Willy convinces himself that he is effective, overall loved, and that his children are bound for significance. Unable to adapt to reality, he totally forsakes it through his vivid dreams and eventually through suicide. Linda and Happy also accept that the Lomans are going to become showbiz royalty. Not at all like alternate parts of his family, has Biff developed to distinguish that he and his relatives reliably bamboozle themselves, and he battles to escape the cycle of lying.
Miller, Arthur “Death of a Salesman” Literature: Craft and Voice. Ed. Nicholas Delbanco and Alan Cheuse. 2nd ed. New York: McGraw Hill, 2012. 205-13. Print.
The line between reality and illusion is often blurred in Arthur Miller’s play, Death of a Salesman. Whether it is incorporated in the content or the actual structure, this struggle between recognizing reality from illusion turns into a strong theme; it eventually leads to the downfall of Willy and his family. Willy is incapable of recognizing who he is, and cannot realize that he, as well as his sons, is not capable of being successful in the business world. Happy and Biff both go through some battle between reality and illusion that cause a collapse in some part of their lives. The line between Willy’s flashbacks and current time also send him into turmoil when he cannot distinguish between the two.
Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman is a play that follows the troubles of a salesman named William “Willy” Loman, whose overzealous definition of true success inevitably leads to his suicide. I feel that a few of Willy’s unique characteristics contribute to his downfall, but that his unstable point of view and completely misconstrued concept of reality make the greatest contributions.