"By common consent, this is one of the finest dramas in the whole range of the American theater." Brooks Atkinson, The New York Times
"So simple, central, and terrible that the run of playwrights would neither care nor dare to attempt it." Time
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"By common consent, this is one of the finest dramas in the whole range of the American theater." Brooks Atkinson, The New York Times
"So simple, central, and terrible that the run of playwrights would neither care nor dare to attempt it." Time
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~Salesman~ is about many things. It is a tragedy about the collapse of the notion that personal success is measured by one's financial prosperity. Willy Loman's tragedy is really two-fold: the need of most people to make a 'mark' in their lives either through financial success or merely being loved by one's friends and family. In the end, Loman comes to realize his son Biff loves him; however, ironically, this realization only propounds his material failure which consequently, leads to his final attempt at 'success', ending in his tragic suicide.
This superlative play is a dramatic lesson in the individual tragedy of a man pursuing materialistic success at the expense of the higher values of personal, emotional growth and fulfillment that can only be achieved by truly knowing oneself.
~Salesman~ is a moralistic play. It teaches us that Willy Loman is Everyman.
... Read more ›The story is about a broken-hearted salesman, Willy Loman. He is a man no longer living in the real world but is mostly trapped in his own delusional world. He can't let go of the past no matter how hard he tries, and it's eating him up inside. He wants to believe that his family is a shoe-in for greatness, no matter how lonely and sad his wife is, or how much of a player/swinger his youngest son is, or how confused and anti-business his oldest son is. You put all of this together and you get a glimpse of an American tragedy that is so powerful and sad that it makes you think these things happen all the time. From Page 1 you know it's not going to end on a happy note, but you decide to take the path anyways. And a path worth taking it is.
I admit that I was confused at certain points, because through the text alone it is very hard to separate Willy's reality from his imagination. There are places where Willy departs from reality and goes back to the past and it makes it very hard for us to figure out what is going on if we're only reading it. When I saw the movie version after reading this, I was able to appreciate the play more. I understood what confused me and I was able to figure out what was happening.
... Read more ›Miller employs various devices within the play. The most obvious are perhaps flashback and stream-of-consciousness dialogue, which the reader sees through Willy. These elements can make it difficult to distinguish Willy's reality from his imagination by the text alone, but both add to the reader's understanding of Willy's past and the gradual decline of his mental stability. Miller also employs multiple instances of foreshadowing, including his choice of title for this play. If the reader pays close attention to detail, the play's conclusion can be predicted long before the last few pages are read. One major theme is Willy's interpretation of the American Dream - that a "well-liked" and "personally attractive" businessman will indubitably and deservedly acquire material comforts, as opposed to becoming successful through one's on skill and hard work. This outlook drives his urge to "die well," another of the play's primary themes.
I must say that Death of a Salesman contains one of the best looks at human life. This play illustrates the death of the American Dream.
... Read more ›