Death of a Salesman By Arthur Miller

Arthur Miller-Background October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005 American playwright who combined in his works social awareness with deep insights into personal weaknesses of his characters.

Arthur Miller-Background Miller is best known for the play DEATH OF A SALESMAN which he wrote in The Broadway premiere was February 10, The play was published in 1949 by Viking Press.

Play Background It relates the tragic story of a salesman named Willy Loman, a common man who becomes a tragic figure. Loman is not the great success that he claims to be to his family and friends. He begins to hallucinate about significant events from his past. Miller demonstrates his hallucinations by mingling his past and present in expressionistic scenes.

Mood of the 1950s Post WWII economic boom Social conformity- strict gender roles

Mood of the 1950s “Keeping up with the Joneses” Credit Baby Boom Planned Obsolescence Automania

American Dream New American Dream (post-WWII): striking it rich in a white collar job, then moving to a big house in the suburbs. Old American Dream (19th-century): a family or a single adventurer went into America’s wilderness frontier and tried to make their fortune from the land itself. The country shifted economically from agriculture to urban industry, and then from manufacturing into service and sales.

Experimenting with form About the writing of the play, Miller says, “I wished to create a form which, in itself as a form, would literally be the process of Willy Loman’s way of mind.” To accomplish this Miller uses the sense of time on stage in an unconventional way to illustrate that, for Willy Loman, “...the voice of the past is no longer distant but quite as loud as the voice of the present.”

“Explodes the watch and the calendar” Unconventional use of flashbacks Interior dialogue Stage directions Music

Symbols The Salesman Seeds Jungle Refrigerator Cars Flute Music Stockings Tennis racquets

Thematic Concepts Ethical decision making The tragic hero Unrealistic expectations Identity crisis The nature of success Individual dignity Individual vs. Society Appearances vs. Reality The American Dream Family relationships Mortality vs. Immortality

Drama Terms Proscenium - Type of stage that is shaped like a picture frame Upstage - The part of the stage farthest from the audience Downstage - The part of the stage closest to the audience Center Stage - The centermost part of the stage Stage Right - Part of the stage to the actors’ right and the audience’s left Stage Left - Part of the stage to the actors’ left and the audience’s right

Stage Diagram

Drama Terms Prop - Anything the actor picks up with his hands and moves around the stage Set - The scenery, furniture, etc. that make up what the audience sees onstage; doesn’t move Stage Directions: part of the printed text in a play that is not actually spoken by actors on stage, but which instead indicates actions or activity for the actors to engage in

Drama Terms Protagonist - The hero of the show Antagonist - Whoever is against the hero Exposition - What we know about each character at the beginning of the action Climax - The highest point of the action – the turning point