The Collapse of a Cherished Businessman Arthur Miller, a highly acclaimed and influential twentieth century dramatist, was born in New York City in 1915. Unlike normal Greek tragedies that focus on the aristocracy, Miller’s works often focus on the plight and tragedy of the common man. According to Rachel Galvin in an article for National Endowment for the Humanities, Miller generally illustrated characters that “wrestle with power conflicts, personal and social responsibility, the repercussions of past actions, and twin poles of guilt and hope” (Galvin). Some of his most famous modern tragedies include The Crucible, All My Sons, and Death of a Salesman. First staged in 1949, Death of a Salesman is considered Miller’s greatest and most …show more content…
He sees only a time when he was supremely successful and his boys had uncountable potential. The name often used to address him further signifies his inability to grow up, as Willy is commonly seen as a child’s name. Leonard Moss, a former professor of comparative literature at State University of New York College in Geneseo, intelligently points out, “He seeks escape from his problems by reliving a happier time” (32). Loman constantly alludes back to when he was considered a good salesman, denying his struggles in his later years. Because he always reverts to his former success, Loman cannot comprehend or deal with any failures and hardships in his present life. One aspect of his life where his flaw shines through is his regression to a time when he was able to “knock ‘em dead” in any town he was in (Miller 36). In Willy’s clouded eyes he is still able to sell as well as he did when he was young. When questioned by his wife Linda on the amount of money he made on his trip, he even coldly places the blame of his unsuccessfulness on the fact that “three of the stores were half closed for inventory in Boston” (35). He is not able to face the facts; Loman’s methods for selling are greatly outdated. Willy is no longer known in any town he enters because he has outlived most of his former customers. His new customers do not relate to his aged sense of humor and do not respond to his obsolete ways to sell. Regardless of the customers’ reactions, he still
Arthur J. Miller opened the eyes of the American people by using his stories to make a point about real world problems. “It is quite understandable that Miller should be regarded as a writer with a message, whether affirmative or negative, humane or socialistic. Arthur was trying to get the point across with his stories and plays, he was not a socialist or anything negative he is portrayed of being” (McCarthyism). Going against the odds, Arthur wrote about what he thought was important and he did not care what the consequences may have been, or whether other people liked it or not. Some of his most awakening works include; The Crucible and The Death of a Salesman. Although the theme of The Crucible was not directly
In Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller, Willy Loman’s life seems to be slowly deteriorating. It is clear that Willy’s predicament is of his own doing, and that his own foolish pride and ignorance lead to his downfall. Willy’s self-destruction involved the uniting of several aspects of his life and his lack of grasping reality in each, consisting of, his relationship with his wife, his relationship and manner in which he brought up his children, Biff and Happy, and lastly his inability to productively earn a living and in doing so, failure to achieve his “American Dream”.
Arthur Miller was born in Manhattan, New York and raised in Brooklyn during the depression. According to (Blackwood, 2004) he was profoundly influenced by The Great Depression also he would tap into the unrest within the American Psyche. From Plays like “The Crucible” and “Death of A Salesman”, Arthur Miller made a name for himself. Most of the plays he writes about his audience can imply that he tapped into what human nature really is about.
Many people know Arthur Miller as an author due to his many famous works such as Death of a Salesman and The Crucible. However, there’s much more history to Miller than what we know. Key events in Miller’s life were composed of three marriages, many of his workpieces making it to Broadway, and how he made it to the top. Although he had a very satisfying professional life, there were many political conflicts involving communism and much more.
Arthur Miller was a playwright who wrote plays such as “The Crucible” and “Death of a Salesman”. Miller was a kind man and wanted to keep his reputation to a high standard. He believed that theater would change the world. His works were based off of his life, friends, and family. The way he portrayed himself made people believe that he was a hero. Elia Kazan was Miller’s director on Broadway when “Death of a Salesman” came out in 1947. The play was about a New York family’s life in reality and what they wanted it to be.
Willy Loman is a senile salesman who lives a dull life with a depleting career. He has an estranged relationship with his family and believes in the American Dream of effortless success and affluence, but in no way accomplishes it. Feeling like the aim of life is to be favored by others and gaining a materialistic fortune, Willy lives in a world of delusion where
On October 17, 1915, more than two centuries later, Arthur Miller was born in New York, New York. Arthur Miller is considered to be one of the greatest American playwrights in the 20th century, writing over 20 plays in his career. Miller’s most famous plays are The Crucible, All my Sons, Death of a Salesman, and A View From the Bridge, The Crucible being the most defining
Arthur Miller was born in Harlem, New York on October 17,1915. His parents were of Polish and Jewish descent. He received his college education from the University of Michigan. Miller was a famous playwright. Perhaps some of his more known works were “The Crucible”, which was based on the Salem Witch Trials which took place from 1692 to 1693. He also wrote “A View from the Bridge”, and “Death of a Salesman” which won a Pulitzer Prize. Miller was married to sex symbol Marilyn Monroe. Their marriage was referred to as the “Great American Brain” and the “Great American Body”.
Willy is offered help by his friend Charley, a successful Business man, Willies all time friend and only friends he has left, when Charley offers Willy a job, yet willy full of pride and envious of Charley rejects it yet does not rejects it but continues to borrow money from him. This is due to Willies flaw in his desire of being higher in society than anyone else.Willy cannot let go of the past and continuously refers to 1928, when his career was at its peak. His withdrawal into the past is a defense mechanism as he refuses to come to terms with his failure as a salesman. His illusions of grandeur lead to fierce exaggerations of himself. He tells Biff to "Go to Filene's go to the Hub, go to Slattery's, Boston. Call out the name Willy Loman and see what happens! Big shot!" (Miller, 62). He refuses to realize his personal failures and falsely believes that he is successful. Memories of a happier past Willy losing a grip on reality and on time escapes into the past. Despite his desperate searching through his past, The deep probing of dreams and memories in Death of A Salesman where quite important in illustrating Miller's point. Willy is a man stuck in the past reminiscing about times when things where good fabrication of those times really were as good as he imagines them to be? Like his inflated dreams of the future, the past may well be embellished by Willy's wild imagination. It seems
“Never fight fair with a stranger, boy. You'll never get out of the jungle that way." This was a quote from the prominent American playwright Arthur Miller. This quote summed up Millers approach towards life and how others should live. Arthur Miller, by mirroring the issues of their time in a new light through his plays, sought to better America as he tackled political issues of his time in a way that his vast audiences would understand. Arthur Miller could be considered one of the most radical thinkers of the twentieth century through his bold messages. Arthur Miller exposed the flaws in the pursuit of the American dream and more specifically how society’s evil nature would lead to the corruption of the average American and lead to an unjust America. This was shown in his plays and most commonly known in his works Death of a Salesman and the Crucible. Being alive from 1915 to 2005 Miller experienced both important high and low points in American history.
Arthur Miller wrote many plays in his time, but one in particular, written in 1947 and directed in Beijing in 1983, was the “play that established him as a great American playwright” called “Death of a Salesman”. This play was about the difference between a New York family’s life in reality and what they dreamed it would be. An old man, by the name of Willy valued popularity and his friends way more than skills or even a real personality. His goal was to die a man that had all of these things, and he ends up killing himself in the end. Miller’s goal was to “take the audience on an internal journey through the mind, memories, fears, anxieties of his central character.” “Death of A Salesman” has been very popular for over a decade, performed internationally, and was even produced into movies (Kristofoletti). Many people remember this play because of how inspiring it was, also because it did not compare to any other of the ones he had ever written.
Published in 1949, “Death of a Salesman” follows the story of an unsuccessful businessman who eventually ends up committing suicide so that his son will receive money from the insurance company. The success of this play led to Miller’s ownership of the 1949 Tony Award for Best Play and Pulitzer Prize for Drama. “The Crucible,” published in 1953, also brought Miller great fame. This play, which expresses the events and devastation of the Salem Witch Trials that took place during the 1690s, is read by most American high school students. Overall, Miller’s work earned many honors, including seven Tony Awards, two Drama Critics Circle Awards, the Pulitzer Prize, the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize, and the John F. Kennedy Lifetime Achievement
On February 10, 1949, Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman premiered for the first time at the Morosco Theatre in New York, NY. Initial reviews were positive, and the play was described as a “notable piece of stagecraft”. Ever since, there have been thousands of productions of Miller’s famous play, including a recent production at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre in 2012. However, this production did not garner the same successes as its predecessors, despite the production was intended to become a revival of the play, with a fresh interpretation. In his article, Erik Haagensen analyzes Mike Nichols’ 2012 production of Death of a Salesman, particularly how it fails to revive the play due to poor casting.
Arthur Miller was a twentieth century playwright. During the time Miller was writing these plays and during his childhood, he was going through a hard time. As a young man, he was directly affected by the Wall Street Crash of 1929, The Great Depression and the fear of communism that spread after the second World War. By living through all of these events, his work was greatly influenced by them and took what he had learned in his life and turned them into successful plays. In his time, he wrote about everyday people with everyday problems. In his works of Death of a Salesman, The Crucible and All My Sons, the common theme of lies and deceit are present. The Depression and the aftereffects of WWII,
With the Death of a Salesman during the winter of 1949 on Broadway, Arthur Miller began to live as a playwright who has since been called one of this century's three great American dramatists. He has also written other powerful, often mind-altering plays: The Crucible, A View from the Bridge, A Memory of Two Mondays, After the Fall, Incident at Vichy, and The Price. And who could forget the film The Misfits and the dramatic special Playing for Time. Death of a Salesman was not Arthur Miller's first success on Broadway. Two years before, when All My Sons opened at the Coronet Theater, Brooks Atkinson of the New York Times wrote: "The theater has acquired a genuine new talent." The play also won the New York Drama Critics Circle