Many doubts and questions linger around the literary classic Death of a Salesman. Many critics plague the work with their overinterpretation of not only Miller’s ideas, but also the connection of Miller’s political stance between his personal life and the play. On one side there are critics praising Salesman for it’s fascinating commentary on the American Dream. And then there are those who question whether it is or is not even a tragedy. There is a fundamental lack of focus from the latter of these critics. Rather than looking deeper into what Miller is trying to actually convey with his story, they just seem as if they are trying to further their own careers in an almost cut-throat fashion, looking to define the work by what they presume are Miller’s politics. Barring a bias against this sort of …show more content…
While Miller’s plays are designed to draw questions and moral dilemma for their audience it seems as if some critics have taken Miller’s open invitation too literally.
One of the popularly presented arguments against Salesman is that there is no significant gain that is lost. They seem to feel that because the pedestal Willy sat on wasn’t that tall, he never reached a point where his death and failure could be considered that significant of a loss. “If the plot is not to be simply a mocking of the non-passive man, it must show a real chance of heroism and change. This Miller fails to do” (Mottram 33). There are some validities to be considered in this thought, however most of it could be disputed heavily by anyone not privileged by a high class upbringing. Mottram refers to Salesman as a ‘mocking of the non-passive man’ and that Willy never had a chance to control his destiny in Salesman. To counter, it is not the actions that did not happen that would define Miller’s work as a tragedy, but rather the regularly misplaced hope. While it was all delusional hope that Willy held in his heart, it was still hope. Hope that was trounced and destroyed
Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman exploits the notion of the American Dream and the promises made by the American Government towards its citizens. Throughout the play, Miller makes references to dreams that each character carries but the failure in the fulfilment of the same. He recaptures the disappointments and disillusionments that the American nation suffers from for the American Dream is as well as death. Miller was the first playwright of his time who sheds light on this fact that the dream that every American carries a torch for is dead and gone.
In ‘Death of a salesman,’ Miller uses Willy to depict the common man who “is as apt a subject for tragedy in its highest sense as kings were.” Willy is a character whom is referred to as a “tragic hero” because he has been suppressed by society from succeeding as a salesman, and has been forced to “put thirty-four years into this firm … and now I can’t pay my insurance!” This idea ...
Everybody knows in order to get a great job or anything good in life we all must be able to do certain things. Doing such things can result in success which in then leads to stability. In Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman, the main characters demonstrates this. Which portrayed contrast of those that reached great heights (Ben) and became successful and those who were stuck with one thing and kept at it (Willy). One moved on and lived life, while the other had a dream and was stuck in the same place trying to go after it.
Discuss the idea(s) developed by Arthur Miller, in the text Death of a Salesman about the role that self-preservation plays when individuals respond to competing demands.
Foster, Richard J.Confusion and Tragedy: The Failure of Miller's `Salesman', in Two Modern American Tragedies: Reviews and Criticism of Death of a Salesman and A Streetcar NamedDesire, Edited by John D. Hurrell, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1961, Pp. 828.
Arthur Miller’s play “Death of a Salesman”, primarily focuses on the flaws and failures of Willy Loman, Millers’ main character in this story. Willy’s distorted and backward views of the American Dream, paired with his inability to let go of the past lead him down a road of regret and in the end his biggest failure which was his wasted life.
In post-Depression America, the United States endured internal battles in political ideologies between capitalists and Marxists, which is the focus of Arthur Miller’s play Death of a Salesman. According to Helge Normann Nilsen, author of “From Honors At Dawn to Death of a Salesman: Marxism and the Early Plays of Arthur Miller,” the Great Depression had a profound impact in forming the political identity of Arthur Miller: “The Great Depression created in him a lasting and traumatic impression of the devastating power of economic forces in the shaping of peoples’ lives” (146). This lasting effect on Miller is embodied in the character of Willy Loman, an unsuccessful salesman whose life collapses from the strain of his competition for wealth, demonstrated by Nilsen as she claims the fault lies in the “Impairment of [Willy’s] conscience and sanity by intolerable economic pressures” (155). Because of his focus on material success, which Marxists view as a critical flaw in capitalism, Willy loses his sanity battling the corruption within himself and the American free market system. I believe, however, that while Miller embraced and promoted Marxist values and that the messages in Death of a Salesman are directed at capitalists, Miller was not condemning all aspects of capitalism. Although his portrayal of Willy may seem politically biased, Miller’s portrayal of Charley as a generous and kind man contradicts the notion that Death of a Salesman is purely Marxist propaganda. Miller, therefore, was not denouncing capitalism, but calling instead for reforms within the existing system.
Murray, Edward. “The Thematic Structure in Death of a Salesman.” Readings on Arthur Miller: Death of a Salesman. San Diego: Greenhaven Press Inc., 1999.
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.
The purpose of this brief essay is to examine Arthur Miller's play, Death of a Salesman, with respect to its reflection of the impact of American values and mores as to what constitutes "success" upon individual lives.
of the book. New York: Norton, 1994. Costello, Donald P. “Arthur Miller’s Circles of Responsibility: A View From a Bridge and Beyond.” Modern Drama. 36 (1993): 443-453.
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.
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.
Much of this play parallels the author’s own life, “He grew up white and Jewish in Harlem. Mr. Miller's comfortable childhood in the era of radio was transformed by his father's ruin in the Depression and the family's forced move from their Upper West Side apartment at the edge of Harlem to Brooklyn” (Shattuck 43). Death Of A Salesman heeds a well-deserved warning about the dangers of materialism and the risk of using capitalism as the sole backbone of prosperity.
In conclusion, Miller did an amazing job portraying these characters. “For anyone who’s ever felt inadequate or adrift, or who’s ever broken a family relationship in a way that feels like it can never be fixed, the story’s resonance is gut-wrenching.” (Hurwitt). I’d have to agree with this statement. He related this play to many struggles families face every day and how it affects their behaviors, hopefully not the killing yourself part though. He made sure every character was different and had different personalities and behaviors, all being motivated by one character: