Arthur Miller and His Theater of Mirrors. Reflections on the Persuasiveness of Miller’s Multiple Portrays of American Society

Arthur Miller has shown the influence of the beliefs perpetuated by society on the actions of women throughout the play. The play is set in Salem, Massachusetts, a Puritan community. Their society values the sense of community

Sometimes when a situation turns bad, many people begin to assume the worst. Arthur Miller uses Hasty Generalizations to show the panic and even fear of the

Since the beginning of its time, America has set a global standard for offering chances at prosperity and career opportunities for qualified adults. Its people have been implicating the idea of the “American Dream” into its culture for many years and has become widely recognized by individuals all across the world. People pack up their lives and families to travel to American soil to try at a chance of a better life, and in doing so, they too venture on a path to achieving this so commonly understood “American Dream.” Arthur Miller, a well-known literary writer in America, seems to disagree with this national phenomena, offering a different view in his play Death of a Salesman. In this play, he demonstrates through the life of an average

Miller writes the story in a very unique way. He gives his readers a chance to explore the words written on his pages, with the hope that the reader is able to draw their own conclusions from his work. His unparalleled approach to the essay forces the reader to use critical thinking in order to make since of the essay. Miller’s feelings about reading, writing and the

Social pressures change as time passes, therefore it is interesting to see how these three texts whom differ by almost four hundred years perceive society and the effect this has on the protagonists; Shakespeare’s King Lear which was first performed in 1606 during the Jacobean era, presents a patriarchal society. Whilst, Arthur Miller uses the characters in ‘Death of a salesman’ to show the failure of the ‘American dream’ during the “golden era” of America in the late 40’s. The ‘American Dream’ was a set of ideals which suggested that anyone in the US could be successful through hard work, and had the potential to live a happy life. The sense of the deterioration in the equality of opportunities links to the fall in power and hierarchy in

Miller uses the conventions of self-recognition and the common man to complete his tragedy in The Crucible. Miller defines recognition to be the “need of man to wholly realize himself is only fixed star” (Tragedy and the Common Man), clearly, miller believes a self-recognition to be the most important convention of a tragedy. The protagonist, John Proctor portrays a tragic hero in The Crucible, where his recognition is the

This traps even the brightest minds in the forever repeating cycle- history repeats itself. Throughout reading the play, the fishbowl discussions, and writing this essay, by analyzing each craft used by Miller helped me understand myself as a reader. It ultimately helped me service my heart truth that when laws and structure dissipate, and everything around is saturated with fear, the human mind will say and do anything to stay alive, even if it means to live a lie. For me this assignment came with waves of emotion.

There are numerous variations of the American Dream. In Ragged Dick: Street Life in New York, author Horatio Alger Jr. argues that the American Dream is to achieve success by being a respectable and hardworking person who is determined to succeed, despite one’s past or social condition. However, Edward Albee and Hunter S. Thompson do not share the same views as Horatio Alger. In the novel Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream, first published in Rolling Stone magazine, issue 95, in 1971, journalist, author, and founder of the gonzo journalism movement Hunter S. Thompson argues that the American Dream is represented by capitalism, excessive use, and freedom.

Thank you for tuning into Good Views, I have been invited here today to discuss and analyse Arthur Miller’s play, Death of a Salesman and Jenji Kohan’s television program, Weeds. We will examine the comparative nature of these two texts in regards to the American Dream, whilst considering a variety of literary and visual techniques amongst both the play and the television program. Weeds is a black comedy television show which follows the life of Nancy Botwin, a widow, who resides in a fictional suburb of Los Angeles named, Agrestic. In the series, pilot episode, it explains that Nancy’s husband, Judah died suddenly of a heart attack which leaves Nancy to provide for her two sons, Silas and Shane. To maintain her materialistic and privileged

During Millers lifespan he was effected by many important struggles and successes in America that shaped not only him but his legacy. One of the significant early struggles that shaped Miller was the Great Depression. During this time his father lost his small manufacturing business. This period created much doubt to a young Arthur Miller about his existence, security, and religion. He then began leaning “left”, politically. Around the early 1900s the arts, theater more specifically, was the most avant-garde way for left

Arthur Miller was an American playwright who wrote plays such as “The Crucible” and “Death of a Salesman” because he thought theatre could change the world. He wrote his works based on friends, his own life, and family. People believed he was a man of integrity and a hero because of the ways he portrayed himself.

Similar to Tocqueville before him, John Stuart Mill was critical about the American democracy and its resulting social pressures on the individual. The consequences of the tyranny of conformity sat at the forefront of his mind. Frank Prochaska in his review of Mill described the term as ‘a society in which scarcely any person had the courage to dissent.’ Arthur Miller draws on this idea in The Crucible by exploring the individual’s place in society as something firmly rooted and inescapable, as well as the individual’s place as capable of changing society through having the courage to deny society what it asks.

By providing the story with foils such as Ben and Howard being successful, Miller sheds a bit of hope on America then proceeds to thwart that same hope with the fact that they lose their moral integrity, which is a key component of the American Dream; therefore Miller clearly displays how society will continue to deny Americans the coveted dream they aspire to attain. Literary critic Thomas Porter states:

A life of fame, luxury, and well known plays. This was unquestionably the life of Arthur Miller, who is one of America’s well known playwrights of the twentieth century. His impact on American theater is still recognized today and will continue to be looked at for years to come. However, Miller will not only be recognized by his plays but by his high profile marriage, his work in politics and the list goes on. Arthur miller is viewed through American literature by his life, literary works, and impact on American theater.

In respect to the main themes, the major theme of the play is sociological. Miller wants to show the contradiction between American democracy which approves the infinite success and happiness of the individual, and the law as well as social conventions which frustrate him. He dramatizes the individual torn between the expected and the actual ( Choudhuri 94-106).