Death of a Salesman combined

We are aware of towering angular shapes behind (the house)

we see a solid vault of apartment houses surrounding the small, fragile-seeming home

These stage directions create a sense of entrapment by society and the American Dream, and the vulnerability and weakness of Willy compared to the brutal world that surrounds him.

On a shelf over the bed a single athletic trophy stands.

This is the trophy from the Ebbets field game and represents Willy clinging on to the fantasy of success the family had when Biff played football- it is also a reference to his error of judgement as it is arguable Willy who destroys this.

dressed quietly

his exhaustion is apparent

thankfully lets his burden down, feeling the soreness of his palms

This description of Willy encapsulates his vulnerability and lack of being noticeable, a huge contradiction to his view of himself and his family.

she has developed an iron repression of her exceptions to Willy’s behaviour

This description of Linda shows that she is complicit in Willy’s downfall as a result of his behaviour and delusion s- she never brings him back to reality.

‘Maybe its your glasses. You never went for your new glasses.

No, I see everything’

This demonstrates Willy’s pride and blindness, as he is unwilling to change and see his reality clearly because of his arrogance. It shows he has agency.

‘And then all of a sudden I’m going off the road!’

This foreshadows Willy’s death and shows the tragic cycle, which is juxtaposed by his description of the scenery illustrating his error in choosing the wrong career.

‘I’m the New England man. I’m vital in New England’

Blindness and self-delusion- Willy has deluded himself into believing that he is successful in his role as a salesman, even though the audience has been and will be shown that this is not the case.

‘That boy of his, that Howard, he don’t appreciate’

Willy’s idea of camaraderie and being ‘well-liked’ has faded in the harsh capitalist world, idea that Willy does not belong in the world of business anymore even if he would like to be.

‘Work a lifetime to pay off a house. You finally own it, and there’s nobody to live in it’

Willy’s death is inevitable- at the end of the play he is dead and only Linda is left in the house. She says ‘And there’ll be nobody home’, echoing his statement and demonstrating the tragic cycle.

‘Is that a life, a farmhand?’

Pride and irony- Willy sees Biff as too good to work on the farm, and sees it as a depletion in his ‘status’. It is ironic because he isn’t making any money himself.

‘Biff is a lazy bum’ to ‘There’s one thing about Biff—he’s not lazy’

Reference to his ‘mercurial nature’ and self-contradiction.

‘In the greatest country in the world a young man with such—personal attractiveness gets lost’

Error of judgement- Willy has placed all of his hopes onto Biff. He is also deluded about Biff’s greatness and unwilling to accept the reality of what he is happy doing.

‘He could be big in no time’

Quick shift to a hopeful future- demonstrates Willy’s delusional image of success, which is rooted in the past.

‘The way they boxed us in here.’

This acts as a metaphor for how he is trapped in his career, and by extension the tragic cycle

‘Remember those two beautiful elm trees out there?’

This will show his self-contradictory nature— ‘Biff can fell any one of these trees’— shows lack of integrity and need to impress people. This extends to the tragic flaw and idea f the ‘Loman’, and how Willy does not fit in in this harsh and brutal society.

‘There’s more people! That’s what’s ruining our country’

Willy shifts the blame of his lack of success onto everyone else— pride and blindness

[Biff] bears a worn air and is less self-assured

Biff is not successful according to Willy and does not encompase the dream that Willy envisioned. Biff is suffering clearly because of this

‘His eyes are going’

Biff- he says Willy is unable to see clearly, which represents his blindness

‘He stops at a green light and then it turns red and he goes’

Represents the poor timing and decisions in Willy’s life- career, Ben, The Woman

‘Yeah. Lotta dreams and plans’

Biff- this shows that hope has been lost, and the dreams and delusions Willy had installed in them have failed, adding to the sense of his lack of success and failure in this society. It also presents Biff as a character who has escaped the tragic process, as he no longer blindly follows Willy.

‘Why does Dad mock me all the time?’

Biff- he thinks Willy views him as unsuccessful. Also shows dysfunctional nature of the family and the ‘perfect’ father-son relationship that Willy destroys.

‘to suffer… when all you really desire is to be outdoors with your shirt off’

Biff- sets him up for anagnorisis, he cannot see clearly yet but doesn’t force himself into the wrong career like Willy. Also paralleled with Willy, who likes doing outdoor and craftsman work but is to blind to see that it’s the career he should have gone for.

‘and now he’s building another one’

Happy- idea of fast moving consumption and wealth that the Lomans are excluded from, and will never achieve.

‘I can outbox, outrun and outlift anybody in that store’

More of the values Willy installed in the boys- physical violence will get them places- clearly not working, thus shows another error of judgement.

‘I have to take orders from those common, petty sons-of-bitches’

Pride and blindness— ‘I am Willy Loman and you are Biff Loman’— sense of hubris and entitlement, setting them up for tragedy.

‘But when he walks into the store the waves part in front of him. That’s fifty-two thousand a year coming through the revolving door’

Represents the idea that it isn’t being well'-liked that gives you respect, it is money. Also biblical reference to convey that money makes you god-like.

‘I wonder if Oliver still thinks I stole that carton of basketballs’

Ironic- Biff wants a loan from Bill Oliver, however has demonstrated in the past that he is not trustworthy or reliable. Shows hubris and delusion similar to that of Willy.

‘You want to watch your schooling first’

Ironic- the audience will become aware that Willy does not care about Biff’s schooling (self contradictory nature)

‘we climb up there with a couple of saws and take her down’

Irony- Willy complained earlier that there were no trees anymore- self-destructive nature and blindness.

‘I’m losing weight, you notice, Pop?’ ‘Jumping rope is good too’

Willy clearly favours Biff over Happy. He provides no validation for him and only corrections, which could indicate Happy needing validation similar to Willy.

Laughing with him at the theft

Willy- bad parenting decisions- he encourages the boys to steal, which the audience has already seen has led to failure (‘I wonder if he still thinks I stole that carton of basketballs’)

‘If somebody else took that ball there’d be an uproar’

Willy— focus on his central idea of being well-liked, and how there is a sense of entitlement that has sprung from this

‘He’s liked but he’s not— well-liked’

Ironic- Charley is an image of success that Willy has failed to reach— his son is successful unlike Biff and Happy, and he is financially stable enough to be lending Willy money.

‘And then he had coffee with me’

Willy- talking about the Mayor of Providence- self-delusion as it is as if the Mayor wanted to have coffee with him, inflating Willy’s ego even further.

‘I can park my car on any street in New England, and the cops protect it like their own.’

Hubris, delusion— Willy’s inflated pride and sense of status, which all stem from his perception of being ‘well-liked’— ‘be liked and you will never want’

‘wait’ll I tell this in Boston!’

Willy sees success as something he can brag about, something that will elevate his status.

‘Oh, Pop, you didn’t see my sneakers!’

Key idea of sight- Willy is about to tell Biff to do the right thing when he is blinded by empty success- Biff must graduate to go to university, but Willy doesn’t encourage him to. Thus, we can argue that Willy caused not only Biff’s failure but his own.

‘the man who creates personal interest, is the man who gets ahead’

This demonstrates Willy’s view of himself, and his idea of being ‘well-liked’. However, unbeknownst to him (perhaps by ignorance and blindness), camaraderie doesn’t exist in the cruel, harsh modern world, thus Willy is doomed to fail.

‘I never have to wait in line to see a buyer. “Willy Loman is here!” That’s all they have to hear, and I go right through.’

Willy’s self-deluded nature— the audience is already and will become increasingly aware that Willy is not as well-liked as he thinks he is, and that how successful he is depends on how well he can do his job.

‘Be liked and you will never want’

Willy’s delusion — this no longer exists in the cutthroat business world Willy lives in

‘The trouble was that three of the stores were half closed’

Willy is shifting the blame for not making much money, shows lack of accountability and self-realisation that he is not good at his job

‘refrigerator’, ‘washing machine’, ‘vacuum cleaner’, ‘roof’

American Dream — materialism and domestic products are taking Willy’s money straight away, audience not only questions how successful Willy really is but also whether he is the agent of his downfall, as he seems pitiable

‘but they just pass me by. I’m not noticed’

The audience sees Willy’s image of himself as a successful and well-liked businessman crumble; we see the truth that Willy is not special or ‘noticed’, and is also therefore not validated which he needs.

From the darkness is heard the laugh of a woman

Introduction of the woman in a concurrence within a concurrence — as an audience we feel that we are in the depths of Willy’s mind, and see a potential source of guilt for him as well as a lack of integrity for his marriage

‘I picked you’

Willy’s need for validation is met (at least in his biased memory) by the woman, however this is only temporary

‘Couple of weeks ago we got a letter from his wife in Africa. He died.’

Willy has a very disconnected relationship with Ben — he is not in morning and has not had much communication with him

‘diamond mines’

Ben’s idea of his own success is embodied through the idea of diamond mines — there are hints of corruption and exploitation however

‘when I was seventeen I walked into the jungle, and when I was twenty-one, I came out. And by God I was rich’

Ben conveys being successful and wealthy as an easy process which is a potential cause for Willy’s delusion. The repetition of this reinforces it

‘never fight fair with a stranger boy. You’ll never get out of the jungle that way’

Idea of colonising and cheating — morally wrong, links to how violent Biff was and Willy’s encouragement of it

‘And good luck with your — what do you do?’

Ben is completely self-regarding and not interested in what Willy is doing — demeaning, shows that Willy has made the wrong choice in idolising Ben p39

‘Biff can fell any one of these trees’

Willy - he is the agent of his own destruction, as this is the opposite of what he says at the start of the play about there being no trees

‘Dad left when I was such a baby’

Willy - here is a moment of pity, as he never really new his family and is being neglected by Ben

‘It’s been grey since you were in high school’

Linda - her hair has been grey for so long because of stress, also another implication that she knew something was going on and Willy was having an affair

‘For over three months you had no address’

Linda - this is foreshadowing as we find out that this is because Biff was in prison - causality of Willy’s actions

‘Willy Loman never made a lot of money. His name was never in the paper’

Linda - here we can clearly see the truth about what has happened in Willy’s life and have confirmation of his unreliability

‘A small man can be just as exhausted as a great man’

Linda - links to Miller’s idea of tragedy and that the common man is as much a subject for tragedy as a great man

‘When he has to go to Charley and borrow fifty dollars a week and pretend to me that it’s his pay’

Linda - she is aware of what is going on but doesn’t do or say anything - complicity

‘I know he’s a fake’

Biff - foreshadowing of the flashback where he finds out about the affair

‘Biff, I swear to God! Biff, his life is in your hands!’

Linda - she is putting all of the weight on Biff, even though he and Happy are meant to leave home and move on. The fact that it depends so much on Biff is also to do with the mistake that Willy made

‘I don’t fit in business’

Biff - he knows that business and sales is not the right career for him, unlike Willy who blindly follows his delusion

‘You never tried to please people’

Happy - family ideology of being ‘well-liked’ is reflected here

‘Even your grandfather was better than a carpenter’

Willy - hubris, false sense of superiority - Willy’s elitist view of different jobs is arguably what is holding him back and preventing him from making any money

‘Loman Line’

Happy - they are getting caught up in the idea of success and a ‘million dollar idea’

‘don’t you pick it up. They have office boys for that’

Willy - ironic as it forehshadows Willy doing just that

‘A star like that, magnificent, can never really fade away!’

Willy - this symbolises inevitability, as stars eventually die, and also Willy’s delusion as Biff ‘fades’ because of his actions

‘Biff wraps the tubing around his hand and quickly runs upstairs’

Stage direction - this is ominous and foreshadows Willy’s fall, as even though there has been a euphoric sense of hope, there is still a sense of inevitability of Willy’s death

‘Music is heard, gay and bright’

Stage direction - this precedes Willy’s downfall, in an almost ‘calm before the storm way’, as the happy and idyllic setting makes it seem like Willy is blindly going into the last day of his life

'I slept like a dead one’

Willy - this heavily foreshadows Willy’s death as this is the last time he will ever sleep

‘He’s so handsome in that suit. He could be a—anything in that suit’

Linda - not only does the suit symbolise mistakes as Biff stole the suit, but the fact that there is no clear image reflects the reality of the situation and that the hope with Bill Oliver is largely fabricated

‘Seeds’

Willy - these are a symbol of growth and hope, showing tragic irony

‘But not enough sun gets back there. Nothing’ll grow anymore’

Linda - there is an image of decay and barrenness, which reflects the reality of the situation and contrasts the idea of ‘seeds’

‘He’ll just have to take me off the road’

Willy - false hope that Howard will help him, and also links to earlier attempted suicide

‘Charley bought a General Electric and it’s twenty years old and it’s still good’

Willy - Charley is making the right decisions, which implies Willy is at fault

‘Once in my life I would like to own something outright before it’s broken’

Willy - here the audience is inclined to pity him as he is a victim of the capitalist system that gives things away on loan

‘After this payment, Willy, the house belongs to us’

Linda - they are about to take ownership of their house, however Willy will never see this and they will finish paying using his insurance money. There is tragic irony here

‘I will never get behind a wheel the rest of my life’

Willy - this is ominous and foreshadowing as Willy does die behind the wheel

‘A silk stocking is seen hanging from her hand’

Stage direction - reminds the audience and Willy of the affair scene earlier in the play, demonstrating how it follows him everywhere

‘Because he’s only a little boat looking for a harbour’

Linda - this shows Willy from a more vulnerable perspective and makes the audience more inclined to pity him.

‘you’ll save his life’

Linda - her mistake is putting everything on Biff, which reflects how Willy has done the same and when the plan ultimately does not go through it means Willy commits suicide

‘It certainly is a—’, ‘That really is—’

Willy - he is constantly being cut off and interrupted, demonstrating that he is losing his identity

‘They’re only a hundred and a half’, ‘I’m definitely going to get one’

Howard and Willy - Willy is lying saying that he will get one when he is borrowing money from Charley, and is nowhere near as wealthy as Howard who has a maid

‘Willy has picked it up and gives it to him’

Stage direction - this shows that Willy has lowered his status, which is the opposite of what he told Biff to do - hypocrite

‘When he died, hundreds of salesmen and buyers were at his funeral’

Willy - here we see his idolisation of Dave Singleman, and where his idea of being well-liked and popular comes from. This is especially important as based on what Willy has told his family, they expect this at his funeral, but there is barely anyone there

‘A man is not a piece of fruit!’

Willy - he is saying that a man is not something that can be discarded, which is different to the capitalist ideology of Howard, where business is business

‘he accidentally switches on the recorder’

Willy - he is out of his depth with this unknown, new technology, which symbolises the intruding capitalist and industrial world as opposed to the ‘seeds’ and nature

‘I can’t throw myself on my sons. I’m not a cripple!’

Willy - again, this is contrasting how the audience views him, as he is clearly older and more vulnerable. We see Willy’s false sense of pride and blindness to his true condition

‘Why must everybody conquer the world?’

Linda - here she is questioning Willy’s constant desire for more, but this is different to reality as she is largely complacent and supportive of Willy’s dreams

‘It’s who you know and the smile on your face’, ‘There’s a man, eighty-four years old—’

Willy - he is repeating his idea of Dave Singleman and being well-liked, showing how much he is clinging to this idea

‘You're coming home this afternoon captain of the All-Scholastic Championship Team of the City of New York!’

Willy - he is focusing on this title and the idea of Biff’s success, and placing so much importance on the game (‘Don’t you realise what today is?’)

‘Bernard, now mature, sits whistling to himself’

Stage direction - shows that Willy’s perceptions of men in the business world is false, as Bernard turns out to be extremely successful

‘I can’t deal with him anymore’

Jenny (Charley’s assistant) - this shows how long Willy has been falling apart mentally

‘Working on a very big deal, Bernard’, ‘he wants Biff very badly’

Willy - pride and blindness - he is essentially lying to Bernard, probably to hide the reality of the situation which is that Biff is asking for a lot of money, and in the End Bill Oliver doesn’t remember who he is

‘From the age of seventeen nothing good ever happened to him’

Willy - at this point we are not sure if he genuinely does not know or does know but is in denial about what happened to Biff, which is obviously because he discovers the affair

‘was it my fault’

Willy - here the audience may think Willy is in severe denial and needs reassurance or he genuinely doesn’t know, either way exposes his mental suffering and turmoil

‘I got the idea that he’d gone up to New England to see you’ ‘Willy stares in silence’

Willy and stage direction - here, it is clear Willy has realised that it was the time that Biff found out about the affair that changed everything, making it all his fault

‘Sometimes, Willy, it’s better for a man to just walk away’

Bernard - this is conflicting with everything Willy knows, and shows how difficult it is for Willy to accept his reality

‘My salvation is that I never took any interest in anything’

Charley - he is the opposite to Willy, who was pushy and placed everything on events like Ebbets Field, which is one of his fatal flaws

‘You can make fifty dollars a week’ ‘I’ve got a job’

Charley and Willy - Willy has the option to make money and not have to borrow from Charley anymore, but he is stubborn and prideful, and does not want to work for his friend

‘The only thing you got in this world is what you can sell’ ‘you end up worth more dead than alive’

Charley and Willy - revealing the truth about the cruel business world, but also planting the idea that Willy has nothing but his life, which he can sell for money for his family

‘Charley, you’re the only friend I got’

Willy - here is reality; he is not well liked, which is reflected by the fact that Charley is the only friend at his funeral