Death of a Salesman

Standards and Learning Goals Students will be able to identify characters in Death of a Salesman Students will be able to analyze how socialism impacted Arthur Miller’s work Students will be able to explain the historical background of Death of a Salesman

Biography Characters Historical Background Discussion Question Socialism Exit Ticket

Death of a Salesman

Biography Characters Historical Background Discussion Question Socialism Exit Ticket

Biography Born October 17, 1915 Lived a comfortable middle class life until he was fourteen and the Great Depression hit and his family’s business failed. Was involved in sports more than academics in high school

Biography Admitted to University of Michigan in 1934 Studied journalism, economics and history Was attracted to the ideas of socialism In college, he discovered his love of playwriting Graduated in 1938 with a degree in English Initially supported himself by writing for the Federal Theater Project In 1944, his play The Man Who Had All the Luck transferred to Broadway.

Biography Spent the next two years writing All My Sons With Death of a Salesman, his reputation as an outstanding playwright was solidified Ran for 742 performances Won Drama Critics’ Circle Awards and the Pulitzer Prize Despite his fame and success, he continued to focus his writing on the struggles of the common person- social, economic, political and personal. Died on February 10, 2005

Biography Characters Historical Background Discussion Question Socialism Exit Ticket

Characters Principal Cast The Others The Woman Howard Wagner Stanley Willy Loman Biff Loman Linda Loman Happy Loman Charley Bernard Ben The Woman Howard Wagner Stanley Miss Forsythe Letta Jenny

Biography Characters Historical Background Discussion Question Socialism Exit Ticket

Historical Context World War Two ended in 1945, and the United States embarked upon an unforeseen period of economic prosperity.  Unlike during the Great Depression, Americans now had a surplus of goods and services to choose from, and money to burn. Despite all of this, the poorest Americans were still hurting, and were actually suffering even more from this economic boom. Because of the great economy, inflation rates raised and poorer citizens were unable to save their money like they used to be. It is reported that the lowest-paid workers in the United States were farm workers, and sales clerks and unskilled laborers in the same category. 

Biography Characters Historical Background Discussion Question Socialism Exit Ticket

Discussion Question What is socialism?

Biography Characters Historical Background Discussion Question Socialism Exit Ticket

Socialism Socialism is an economic concept that advocates public ownership of all resources In a socialist economy, workers contribute to society based on their ability and receive according to their needs, rather than being paid wages and using that money to purchase what they want.

Socialism The ideology of socialism developed from the notion that capitalism creates inequality in society. These elite capitalists can pay workers less than the value that they contribute, so the capitalists can keep larger profits for themselves to accumulate even greater wealth. The result, socialists say, is a society in which the wealthy are able to oppress the middle and lower classes.

Biography Characters Historical Background Discussion Question Socialism Exit Ticket

Exit Ticket: Making Connections Why do you think a socialist system would appeal to Arthur Miller?

Death of a Salesman

Standards and Learning Goals Students will be able to describe The American Dream Students will be able to recall the conventions of time and space in Death of a Salesman Students will be able to explain the themes of Death of a Salesman

Journal The American Dream The World of Theatre Themes Exit Ticket

Death of a Salesman

Journal The American Dream The World of Theatre Themes Exit Ticket

What is your idea of the American Dream? Journal What is your idea of the American Dream?

Journal The American Dream The World of Theatre Themes Exit Ticket

The American Dream The Depression of the 1930s seemed to break the promise of the “American Dream” And yet the myth of the American Dream was so potent in the national psyche that it may have faded did not really disappear

The American Dream It lingered on and continues to exercise a tremendous hold in American discourse as individuals evaluate the causes of their success or failure. The American Dream, sometimes in the phrase “Chasing the American Dream,” is widely considered a cornerstone of the national ethos of the United States

The American Dream The phrase American Dream was first expressed by James Truslow Adams life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement

The American Dream The idea of the American Dream is rooted in the second sentence of the United States Declaration of Independence …all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness

The American Dream In the play, Willy Loman, a sixty-three-year-old salesman, who is baffled by his own lack of success, goes back in his memory to the Depression Era, suggesting that personal and national fate were intertwined. He tells himself that he lives in “the greatest country of the world,” where the American Dream is destined to come true for everyone. But when he is faced with his own failure, he can blame no one for it and the very basis of his identity is threatened.

The American Dream Having failed to make success for his life himself, he looks desperately to the next generation, to his sons, to give him back his sense of achievement through their success. Thomas E. Porter writes that Death of a Salesman is an anti-myth, the reverse of a rags-to-riches story so that it becomes the story of failure rather than the story of success. It is a story of the failure of the American Dream to manifest. Willy Loman’s history begins at the end of the line

The American Dream The subsequent events show him failing to overcome each obstacle, thus failing to live up to the American Dream. In the collapse of the salesman, Miller attempted to illustrate the collapse of the myth of the American Dream. Through the tail of Willy Loman’s final day of life, Miller exposes the hold the collective myth of the American Dream has over the individual imagination

Journal The American Dream The World of Theatre Themes Exit Ticket

The World of Theatre Death of a Salesman can be a challenging play to follow as the flow of time and use of space is quite unconventional The playwright blends realistic images of modern American life with symbolism and expressionism. The play does not follow a linear timeflow pattern but moves in an expressionist fashion back and forth between the past and the present As a playwright, Miller suggests the use of several stage devices to distinguish between time and place.

The World of Theatre One such device is lighting. Another way that Miller suggests to the audience with time shifts is movement In addition to lighting and movement, Miller creates sound motifs to underscore some of the characters

Journal The American Dream The World of Theatre Themes Exit Ticket

Themes The American Dream Abandonment Betrayal

Journal The American Dream The World of Theatre Themes Exit Ticket

Do you think the American Dream is an attainable goal? Why or why not? Exit Ticket Do you think the American Dream is an attainable goal? Why or why not?

Death of a Salesman

Discussion Question Which characters in the play achieved success and which characters failed to do so? Why? Why not? What were some of the factors that impacted their success/failure?