Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman was first staged in New York City at the Morosco Theatre Feb.10, 1949. The tragedy, which Miller wrote in six weeks, was published during the literary period called Social Realism. Historically, the play premiered on the tails of the postwar boom. At the same time big corporations were taking over mom and pop businesses. The play was an immediate success, winning numerous awards, including the Tony for best play and the 1940 Pulitzer for drama. Death of a Salesman has been performed around 742 times.
Arthur Miller was born in October of 1915 to a Jewish middle-class family in New York City. When he was 14, the family was forced to move from Manhattan to Brooklyn after his father’s business failed. After attending the University of Michigan for journalism, he worked for the government’s Federal Theater Project until it closed because of fears of Communist infiltration. Miller’s first successful play was in 1947 with All My Sons. Miller also wrote The Crucible, which everyone is forced to read and perform in high school. Miller was married three times, once to Marilyn Monroe and died in 2005.
Questions:
1. From age to sexuality, this play hits on many of life’s issues. What would you consider the theme of the play?
2. Throughout the play Hap mentions that he has lost weight and that he is getting married several times. Why do you think this is?
3. Do you feel sorry for Willy? Why or why not?
4. Do you think Willy is suicidal or just senile?
5. Why do you think Biff never reveals Willy’s affair to the family?
6. Do you think it is Willy’s fault that Biff grew up to be a self-proclaimed bum? Why or why not?
7. Discuss some of the major ironies in the play (i.e. Bernard becoming a success)
See you in class!
2. Happy is more of an attention whore than Biff. He wants to be like Willy and have a "successful" job in the world of retail. They're both liars. Willy lies to Linda about his income (because he's really just borrowing money from Charley), and Happy lies about his position at his job (he says he's the assistant buyer, but really he's one of the assistants to the assistant buyer). Willy hides an affair from Linda, and for Happy "sexuality is like a visible color on him, or a scent many women have discovered."
ReplyDeleteHappy wants to join Willy's American Dream, but he doesn't have the integrity to work hard for higher positions at his job and he wouldn't be able to settle down for one women because he's too skanky. So instead of telling the truth, he lies. By lying he just adds to Willy's senile delusions.
3.I do feel bad for Willy because he wasn't a bad guy. I know he had a mistress and I do think that was wrong, but that was really his "only" flaw. This was a man who did what he was supposed to do because he had a dream; he had a goal that never was accomplished and I think society failed him more than he did himself. I know what he wanted was a little much, but I really think he could've achieved it with a little more outside help. I knew alot of guys like this when I was coming up and we all had a similar "problem". We thought we had the world all figured out. I'm not trying to make a sob story because I know this happens everywhere-there are thinkers and there are realists. Some try to make it, try to make a difference and break the status quo and others just accept their faith. It's sad and this isn't a play that I particuarlly like but I must say I feel bad for Willy because he could be anybody, including us in the near future. Probablly not though because we're all "well liked".
ReplyDelete6. Well he clearly has some issues with his dad, and he is trying to get back at him because of that. But if Biff is aware of why he is a bum, then that makes him the one at fault. It’s as if he has a case of teenage rebellion that’s followed him through his life. His dad tried to push his dream onto Biff, and because of that and the fact that Biff knows about the affair, he wants to hurt his father the only why he knows how. This makes Willy the reason Biff is a bum, but because Biff made the conscious decision the fault is all on him. (I hope that makes sense)
ReplyDeleteAnd on number 2. While I totally agree with Holly, I also think Happy might have a younger sibling complex. Like, no matter what he does he can't live up to Biff in his parents eyes. Willy and Linda tend to ignore and or brush him aside a lot. So yeah he's an attention whore, and I think that might be one of the reasons.
I do feel sorry for Willy because all the pressures in his life has deteriorated his mental health. From the beginning of the play, you can tell that Willy isn't purposefully disrespecting his wife or allowing his anger to get the best of him. The pressure of being "the bread winner" and "the man of the house" just became too much for Willy as he got older. Correct me if I'm mistaken, but I remember learning in my high school's American history class that, after WWII, many Americans started buying and consuming many products because of the success of the war and because Americans profited from all the jobs created while the war was occurring.
ReplyDeleteCompanies also provided consumers with a monthly credit/payment system so that everyone could have access to the materials for creating the "American dream," and, unfortunately, Willy got caught up in that trend.
Willy wasn't a bad person, and I agree with what Ben was saying earlier. We can all compare Willy to some type of male figure in our life. A man that wants the best for his family and works hard and long to provide that for him, even if, sometimes, it's to the detriment of his health. Willy, in my opinion, represents the majority of men during that time. I was totally able to picture him because he sounded like most working men you see portrayed on classic films.
And though most may consider Linda as a helper to Willy than a hinderance or annoyance, I think she did embody that at times, and I'm not just saying that from Willy's perspective. When I view women (and this can apply to now-a-days) during that time, they were the ones initiating or suggesting or nagging the man about having all the new types of appliances and other housing accessories. I guess because she had to stay at home, and that was her job, women wanted to make sure their workplace was equipped with the latest appliances and accessories of the day. (A male example would be Howard and his tape recorder.)
There is just so much that can be said about this play. I thought it was going to be boring because it's so well known, but it actually turned out to be one of my favorites because there is so much that can be said about the time period, the characters, the society and culture of the time, etc. Arthur Miller is a wonderful writer, and I think he portrayed the life of the working man nicely.