Historical Context

When is DOAS set?

Death of a Salesman is set in late 1940s New York City, at a moment of rapid change in the USA.

What was the USA experiencing at the time?

The country was beginning to emerge from the suffering of the Great Depression and World War 2, on the verge of a sustained period of prosperity and growth in the 1950s and 1960s.

How did the Great Depression affect Miller?

• But the onset of the Great Depression after the Wall Street Crash in 1929 meant that Miller and his family faced a period of poverty and upheaval.

How many Americans were unemployed during the great depression?

• At the peak of the Depression in 1933, over 13 million Americans, a quarter of the labour force, were unemployed.

Tragedy and the common man

- Written by Miller 1949.
- The common man is set for tragedy as much as a rich one.
- It is the emotional situation that makes tragedy = man needs to restore this personal dignity/ restore his place in society.
- This is not a quality unique to the rich.