Death of a Salesman (copy)

When was the play written?

1949

How is expressionism demonstrated in the play?

Through Willy’s use of memories - “an air of the dream clings to the place”.

What did Miller say was the reason for ‘the common man’ for his play?

Miller said that ‘the common man is as apt a subject for tragedy as kings are’.

How do the stage directions create an ominous feeling?

The stage directions tell us of ‘an angry glow of orange’ - the anger of people in the city from deprived promises, and capitalist society. All the apartments around the house are in angular shapes.

How does Willy feel about the outside world?

Willy feels the outside competition is ‘maddening’. He also notes ‘the way they boxed us in here’ - feels trapped, can’t escape, blaming others - claustrophobic atmosphere.

How does the timescale affect the play?

The whole play occurs during a 24-hour period between Monday evening and Tuesday. The short time scale heightens the sense of claustrophobia and the monotonous nature of Willy’s life.

Fitting with Aristotle’s theory, what is Willy’s harmartia?

His obsession with the American Dream.

Does Willy have an anagnorisis?

No - he never realises his fatal flaw (‘I am not a dime a dozen.‘)

What quote from Miller shows that he thinks Willy was a tragic hero?

He said the tragedy of Willy was that ‘he gave his life, or sold it, in order to justify the waste of it’.

What does the flute represent?

The ethereal and distant presence of Willy’s father

What are we told about the American Dream in the stage directions?

We are told that “an air of the dream clings to the place” - it is an unwanted dream, that latches in a parasitic way

In what ways does Willy’s sudden obsession with seeds represent his concern for the future?

He notes “Nothing’s planted. I don’t have a thing in the ground” - preoccupied with leaving a legacy and providing for his children.

How does Ben persuade Willy that committing suicide is a good idea?

Ben persuades him that the compensation money he would receive would be ‘something one can feel with the hand’ - Willy wants something tangible to prove his success.

What theory would suggest that Biff may have caused Willy’s downfall?

Willy says near the start that you “gotta break your neck to see a star in this yard” (breaking his neck referring to suicide). At the end of Act 1, Willy calls Biff “a star” that “can never really fade away”.

What do the stage directions say about Linda’s attitude to Willy?

We are told at the start in the stage directions that she developed an “iron repression” of her objections to Willy’s behaviour

How does Linda encourage the idea that Willy’s downfall is not his own fault?

She notes that a “terrible thing is happening to him,” suggesting that it is external forces that cause his downfall.

What advice does Charley give to Willy, which is ignored?

Charley tells Willy that “nobody’s worth nothin dead”.

What does Biff say about falsity in the Loman household?

Biff tells Willy “we never told the truth for ten minutes in this house!” and “We’ve been talking in a dream for fifteen years!”

Willy: “a young man with such - person attractiveness, gets lost”

• Willy’s reflections suggest complete faith in the notion that in America, anyone who works hard and is personally compelling is destined to succeed.

• The fact that Biff’s life hasn’t amounted to much, despite him being so popular in high school is hard for Willy to understand

  • This exceptionalism is reflective of arrogance because it sees a subjective vision as truth and little else can be offered

Willy: “The world is an oyster, but you don’t crack it open on a mattress.”

Willy believes that there are many opportunities out there in the world which will only come with hard work however to get the really good opportunities one needs to be touch and not lazy and soft.

Willy: “he died the death of a salesman”

• Willy idolises Dave Singleman’s death because to Willy, being widely known and widely mourned is evidence of a successful life

• He’s ultimately more concerned about what people think of what he does than what he achieves himself

  • He’s terrified by the idea of being alone

Willy: “I see it like a diamond, shining the dark, hard and rough…”

• The diamonds are a form of tangible wealth

  • Willy is determined to go to the jungle (death) and fetch the diamonds (the people who a salesman meets) and show Biff that even a salesman has wealth

Willy: “You can’t eat the orange and throw the peel away - a man is not a peice of fruit.”

• Poor metaphor, Miller intentionally makes Willy look unintelligent and unimaginative

• This metaphor, however inept, is at the heart of Arthur Miller’s thesis

• Under capitalism, people are used up and discarded without any consideration for their humanity, welfare, or personal feelings

Linda: “He’s only a little boat looking for a harbour.”

• Reflects her husband’s search for something elusive but secure

  • Willy’s job was the last oar in his boat

Willy: “I don’t want change; I want Swiss cheese.”

• What led to his final tragic fate was how he fantasies and starts to live in this idyllic past to AVOID the change and harsh reality of the present

• THIS IS HIS TRAGIC FLAW: he endeavors to change his surroundings and rejects the thought of changing himself

• He cannot change himself either

• By changing himself he would have to completely discard the foundation of Willy’s purpose in life

• Serves as a symbol for change and Willy’s reluctance to it.

What quote from DOAS links to a quote from King Lear?

"He never knew who he was." - Biff

"he hath ever but slenderly know himself" 

Quote by Arthur Miller about tragic heroes.

"in the presence of a character who is ready to lay down his life, if need be, to secure one thing - his sense of personal dignity."

Act 2, Willy Loman, The American Dream

"you end up worth more dead than alive"

Requiem quote, Biff Loman, The american dream

"He had the wrong dreams. All, all wrong."

Act 2, Willy Loman, The American Dream, Fathers and Sons

"I've got to get some seeds, right away. Nothing's planted. I don't have a thing in the ground."

When asked what Willy sold, what did Miller answer?

'Himself'; sells his life for £20,000, and his whole life was him selling himself trying to be so "very well-liked" that the buyers would take his product for him. 

Act 2, Charley, The American Dream

"The only thing you got in this world is what you can sell. And the funny thing is that you're a salesman, and you didn't know that."

Act 1 quote, Willy Loman, The American Dream

"Work a lifetime to pay off a house. You finally own it, and there's nobody to live in it.”

What the element of self-sacrifice in his death indicate?

It can be said that Willy lacks the nobility of stature to be the hero of a true tragedy, but in his moment of triumph in death, he acts very much as if he were.

Act 2, Ben, The American Dream, Nature vs. City

"The jungle is dark but full of diamonds, Willy."

What quality in the play shakes us?

Derived from the underlying fear of being displaced, the disaster inherent in being torn away from our chosen image of what or who we are in this world.

What is the main relationship in the play?

Other relationships are subservient to the central relationship between father and son with its pattern of early love followed by betrayal by the father and a final reconciliation.

What quotes show that he sees his family as a chosen dynasty?

"like a young god. Hercules." Act 1

"a start like that, a magnificent, can never really fade away!"

Quote by Arthur Miller about tragic heroes.

"in the presence of a character who is ready to lay down his life, if need be, to secure one thing - his sense of personal dignity."

Critical interpretation by Bigsby

Willy is admirable as he questions his position

Willy contrasts traditional tragic heroes as he has a ‘false epiphany’

Critical interpretation by Brater

A common man can have just as much dramatic tension as a figure of higher status

Critical interpretation by Clarke

“It is of course the brutal capitalist society that has done Willy in.”

Critical interpretation by Huftel.

“Willy fell only from an imagined height.”

“massive dreams and little cruelties”

Shakespearean tragedy, hints of greatness and what could have beens

“Biff is a lazy bum!”

“There’s one thing about Biff - he’s not lazy”

Contradictory, complete 180 in attitude within 5 lines

“a small man can be just as exhausted as a great man”