Arthur Miller
Miller on Tragedy
- In his essay 'Tragedy and the Common Man', he states that 'tragedy' did not only have to be about kings or nobles (as Aristotle's did)
- "The common man is as apt a subject for tragedy in its highest sense as kings were"
- What mattered (in Miller's point of view) was the character's strength of principle and a 'sense of personal dignity' for which he is willing to sacrifice anything
- The protagonist will struggle and attempt to 'gain his 'rightful' position in society'
- It doesn't matter "whether the hero falls from a great height or a small one"
- What matters is the "intensity of the human passion"
- Miller invites the audience to reflect upon actions within the domestic because it is the "common man who knows this fear best" (deep words)
Intentions for writing 'Death of a Salesman'
- The play (or drama) is about a man disillusioned by the passage of time and is horrified at the realism that it has robbed him of his dreams, ambitions and success
- Basically, an attack on the newly developing American system (at the time), Capitalism
- Where wealth (assets and money) and social status were indicators of worth rather than old values of personality
- Miller says himself that "I set out not to write a tragedy but to show the truth as I saw it"
Context
- Based in post-war America, 1949
- American Dream and Great Depression
- Intent of dream to provide hope and ambitions for people to achieve wealth and status
- BUT, in reality, Capitalist society is ruthless and there is no room for sentiment
- It is all about taking risks and gaining profits
- American Salesmen
- Salesmen were the original self-made men who sold not their goods but their personality
- Willy served the system loyally but deluded by false/ obsolete values
- Values that once seemed important in society now carriers little weight
- Willy self-destructs due to inability to adjust to the changing and declining living standards
- Many salesman wooed secretaries and other intermediaries to get into the post-war competitive market (as seen with Willy and The Woman)
Genre
- Domestic Tragedy; rather than focusing on great rulers, looks at the lives of ordinary people
- Looks at issues of private discontent; shame, lack of fulfilment, infidelity
- Creates a form of tragedy which real lives are lived realistically, invites reflection on actions and the world
- American Tragedy; focus on family tensions and frustrations
Staging/ Structuring
- Miller believes the past is omnipresent, it is with us and influences our actions and choice
- Through flashbacks, Miller reveals how Willy degenerated and why he lost hope of a successful and popular life
- Willy Loman's past and present are enacted at the same time
- This is so that the audience can sympathise with him, so that we can understand the emotional burdens and formative influences which he carries from the past
- Act One reveals elements of Willy's delusions and his values, building to gradual demise
- Act Two builds up to the scene of Willy's 'anagnorisis' and self-destruction after gaining insight
- The Requiem, Miller exploits the tragic element of pathos with Linda crying at the graveside
Intertextuality
- Marxist critical perspective; based on Willy's social organisation at work, it has inevitably forced him to be a 'proletariat', someone who works and does repetitive work for the 'bourgeoisie'. His fate has already been determined by the establishment of the Capitalist society.
Summary
- Willy Loman is a deluded salesman who is clearly unable to work due to his inability to distinguish reality (real time) from his past (remembered time), interfering with his everyday life. He has attempted suicide several times.
- He thinks he is well-liked, that personality gets you far in the business world and that to succeed you need to cheat your way through
- His two children return to his household and Willy pushes Biff and Happy to live the dream he wasn't able to live
- Biff is unsuccessful and is a victim of Willy's vicariousness, goes on a quest to make his father happy only to recall the reason to why he doomed himself after discovering his father's affair with The Woman in Boston
- Linda is constantly supportive of Willy and sympathises with him, Charley also sympathises with Willy and tries to help him but Willy refuses (although he borrows money from Charley often), likewise Bernard tries to help Biff
- Willy finally recognises his son 'loves' him and 'likes' him, believes his life insurance will guarantee 20,000 dollars and therefore commits suicide.
- At his funeral, only Charley's family and his immediate family attend.
Willy Loman as a Tragic Hero
- Despite his low status, has traits of which we would associate with a classic tragic protagonist
- Has a 'tragic flaw' and never understands the inconsistency of his beliefs
- On one hand, wants to be 'well-liked', on the other, encourages competitive and unlawful behaviour
- Willy has 'myopia' or blindness
- He is self-deluded, believing in dreams which are destructive
- He makes mistakes and missteps
- Suffers acutely and causes terrible suffering in his family
Biff Loman as another Tragic Hero?
- Similarly troubled like his father, haunted by failure (both is own and Willy's)
- Biff never really recovers after discovering his father's affair
- To Willy and perhaps himself, he is a disappointment in the Capitalist world - he doesn't see himself fit for the urban life and would be seen better off in the countryside, desires to set up his own farm
- Wants to be free from pressures of the commercial world and work by hands
- Although Biff doesn't share the same fate as Willy's and has a greater understanding of who he is, could be said that his fate is linked to his father's as he is also broken
- "He had the wrong dreams. All, all, wrong", could also apply to himself
Villain? External Forces?
- Capitalism seen to be the 'villain' or external force that impacts the fate of the tragic protagonist Willy, as well as on his son, Biff
- Willy could be viewed to be a nemesis to Biff as by being vicarious and deluded, he has done nothing but cause harm to his son, leaving him 'lost' like himself
- House seems small, insignificant and vulnerable - symbolic of Willy
- Towering angular shapes surrounding the house suggests entrapment
- World beyond looms and engulfs the house like capitalist America consumes Willy
- Miller picks up realistic and expressionistic modes of the play as indicated by setting descriptions
- 'An air of dream clings to the place, a dream rising out of reality'
- Shows emotional states by distorting reality (combining dreams and reality)
- Return of Biff to the family household worsens the stresses on the family
- Willy and Biff come into regular conflict
- Relationship strained by:
- Willy's unrealistic expectations of Biff and Willy's myopic view of himself
- Biff's discovery of his father's affair
- Willy also confused about his own father
- Leaves him feeling 'kind of temporary'
Key Quotation
Act One
- "Work a lifetime to pay off a house. You finally own it, and there's nobody to live in it."
- "They massacred the neighbourhood"
- "There's more people! That's what's ruining this country! Population is getting out of control. The competition is maddening!"
- [Flashback] "Someday I'll have my own business, and I'll never have to leave home anymore"
- [Flashback] "I have friends. I can park my car in any street in New England, and the cops protect it like their own"
- "He's liked, but he's not well liked" - Biff
- "The man who creates personal interest, is the man who gets ahead"
- "I'm very well liked in Hartford. You know, the trouble is, Linda, people don't seem to take to me."
- "I get so lonely - especially when business is bad ... I get the feeling that I'll never sell anything again"
- "The world is an oyster, but you don't crack it open on a mattress"
- "I got a good job"
- "A man who can't handle tools is not a man"
- [Flashback] Never fight fair with a stranger, boy. You'll never get out of the jungle that way" - Ben
- "But he's a human being, and a terrible thing is happening to him" - Linda
- "A lot of people think he's lost his balance" - Linda
- "The man is exhausted" - Linda
- "A small man can be just as exhausted as a great man" - Linda
- "Because personality always wins the day"
Act Two
- "They time those things. They time them so when you finally paid for them, they're used up"
- "He's only a little boat looking for a harbour" - Linda
- "I'm just a little tired"
- "In those days there was personality in it, Howard. There was respect, and comradeship, and gratitude in it. Today, it's all out and dried, and there's no chance for bringing friendship to bear - or personality."
- "This is no time for false pride, Willy. You go to your sons and you tell them that you're tired" - Howard
- "I can't throw myself on my sons. I'm not a cripple!"
- "The only thing you got in this world is what you can sell. And the funny thing is that you're a saleman, and you don't know that." - Charley
- "I always felt that if a man was impressive, and well liked, that nothing..."
- "You end up worth more dead than alive"
- "I realized what a ridiculous lie my whole life has been" - Biff
- "A man has got to add up to something"
Requiem
- "I made the last payment on the house today" - Linda
- "And they'll be nobody home" - Linda
- "We're free and clear" - Linda
Exam Tips
- Since the third question is more generalised, you have to write about two of your studied texts (Death of a Salesman and John Keats' Poetry) and not necessarily compare the two but to see whether or not it supports or disputes the statement and perhaps make any links if there are.
- Ensure you have at least a minimum of 10 quotes remembered to back up your points and recite key episodes to show you know the text well.
Hope that has helped you understand Miller's Death of a Salesman in more depth! Now onto John Keats' Poetry!
dude ur literally a lifesaver i have a mock in like 2 hours and i only just started revising
ReplyDelete