Question 1 (a)
Death of a Salesman is a playwright authored by Arthur Miller in 1949. It is highly regarded
as the playwright's masterwork and a foundation of contemporary American drama. The
Pulitzer Prize and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award were among the accolades and
prizes bestowed upon this play. The protagonist of this play works as a salesperson. He was
driven by a strong desire to succeed. However, the protagonist's high ambitions were never
realised, and his dream remained unattainable no matter how hard he tried. As a result, he
became unwell and depressed over time. He became mentally unstable. The author intends to
highlight the play's central theme, which is how the American dream has a negative impact on
middle-class people who believe that material prosperity is the only way to happiness.
William or "Willy" Loman is a fictitious character who appears in Arthur Miller's
classic play Death of a Salesman as the protagonist. He is a 63-year-old travelling salesman
from Brooklyn with 34 years of experience with the same company, loses his job and is fired.
To cope with his current condition, he has developed a fantasy world as he cannot accept
reality. Willy is an insecure and deluded character, an obsessed believer of the American
Dream of easy success and money, but he never realises his dream. Even his sons refuse to live
up to his expectations of succeeding where he has failed. Willy does not attain the selfrealisation or self-knowledge expected of the tragic hero, despite his desperate journey through
his past. His suicide provides him with a pseudo, but it is just a partial revelation of reality.
“A melody is heard, played upon a flute. It is small and fine, telling of grass and trees
and the horizon. The curtain rises. Before us is the Salesman’s house. We are aware of
towering, angular shapes behind it, surrounding it on all sides. Only the blue light of the sky
falls upon the house and forestage; the surrounding area shows an angry glow of orange.”
ACT ONE, Pg. 2 (Opening Scene narrating the lush views of an American dream
come true.)
According to the protagonist of "Death of a Salesman," the American Dream is the
potential to get wealthy by sheer charisma. Willy is a man who believes in what he sees as the
American Dream's promise: that the key to success is a pleasant personality rather than hard
work and creativity. He repeatedly expresses his desire for his sons to be well-liked and
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popular. This can be seen in where Willy is proud of his sons as they are well-liked and more
popular than Bernard.
“[BERNARD goes off. The LOMANS laugh.]
WILLY: Bernard is not well liked, is he?
BIFF: He’s liked, but he’s not well liked.
HAPPY: That’s right, Pop.
WILLY: That’s just what I mean, Bernard can get the best marks in school, y’understand, but
when he gets out in the business world, y’understand, you are going to be five times ahead of
him. That’s why I thank Almighty God you’re both built like Adonises. Because the man who
makes an appearance in the business world, the man who creates personal interest, is the
man who gets ahead. Be liked and you will never want. You take me, for instance. I never
have to wait in line to see a buyer. ‘‘Willy Loman is here!’’ That’s all they have to know, and
I go right through.”
ACT ONE, Pg. 21 (The Lomans belittling Bernard)
Yet, he did not realise that his warped personality and obsession with his dream had
Willy failed to recognise his failure and betrayal of his soul and family through the
painstakingly created illusion of his existence while gaining a professional awareness of
himself and the fundamental nature of the sales business. He is unable to comprehend his
genuine personal, emotional, and spiritual awareness as a literal "loman" or "low man." Willy
is too preoccupied with being someone else and paying off his mortgage, which is not
necessarily wrong objectives in and of themselves. He is tragic because he fails to see the love
and dedication that surrounds him and instead values the goals set by society.
“[BEN is gone, but WILLY is still speaking to him as LINDA, in nightgown and robe, enters
the kitchen, glances around for WILLY, then goes to the door of the house, looks out and sees
him. Comes down to his left. He looks at her.]
LINDA: Willy, dear? Willy?
WILLY: I was right!
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LINDA: Did you have some cheese? [He can’t answer.] It’s very late, darling. Come to bed,
heh?
WILLY [looking straight up]: Gotta break your neck to see a star in this yard.
LINDA: You coming in?
WILLY: Whatever happened to that diamond watch fob? Remember? When Ben came from
Africa that time? Didn’t he give me a watch fob with a diamond in it?
LINDA: You pawned it, dear. Twelve, thirteen years ago. For Biff’s radio correspondence
course.”
ACT ONE, Pg. 37 (Linda persuading Willy to rest)
Willy is too preoccupied and stuck within his own "willy" -ness, or distorted
"willfulness," to notice the distorted world that his frantic mind has created. He drowned
himself in a swamp of lies, delusions, and self-deceptions. This further strengthens Willy's
inability to acknowledge his family's agonised love is critical to the play's climax, and it is this
incapacity that the play portrays as the true tragedy. Despite his failure, Willy makes the
ultimate sacrifice to leave Biff a legacy that will allow him to live out his American Dream.
“BEN [yielding]: That’s a point, William. [He moves, thinking, turns.] And twenty
thousand—that is something one can feel with the hand, it is there.
WILLY [now assured, with rising power]: Oh, Ben, that’s the whole beauty of it! I see
it like a diamond, shining in the dark, hard and rough, that I can pick up and touch in my
hand. Not like—like an appointment! This would not be another damned-fool appointment,
Ben, and it changes all the aspects. Because he thinks I’m nothing, see, and so he spites me.
But the funeral—[Straightening up] Ben, that funeral will be massive! They’ll come from
Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire! All the old-timers with the strange license
plates—that boy will be thunderstruck, Ben, because he never realized—I am known! Rhode
Island, New York, New Jersey—I am known, Ben, and he’ll see it with his eyes once and for
all. He’ll see what I am, Ben! He’s in for a shock, that boy!”
ACT TWO, Pg. 100 (Willy talking to Ben)
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In the end, his dream of the American dream kills him, and this becomes a symbolic
moral battle, a final misguided ambition to reach his full commercial and material potential as
a salesman, according to Ben's last catchphrase, "The jungle is dark, but full of diamonds."
Although imperfect, Willy is able to attain a practical result despite the lack of any actual selfawareness or reality. Willy does have a discovery in that he finally realises that the thing he
sells is himself to achieve that dream of his.
Question 1 (b)
Based on my experience, the only two ways for me to achieve my dream would be to
work hard and not give up. My dream is to have financial and career stability in the future. I
come from a below-average family, and my 70 years old father is still working now so that he
could feed us. He is my number one supporter, and it is his wish to see me successful one day.
Seeing my parents' faces everyday had made me strong to face any challenge in the future. Of
course, like other human beings, I can get tired and worn out too sometimes. Somedays, I would
wonder and worry about my future. I am afraid that I would not be able to take care of them,
and I am anxious to fail their wishes. I am full of anxiousness and worries these few days, but
my fire is still burning. As long as it is still burning, I would never give up and continue to
work hard as well. Those are the only ways that I know to achieve my goal one day.
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Question 2 (a)
Shakespeare wrote Macbeth between 1603 and 1606, between Caesar and Hamlet. It is a play
that tells a story of a murderer and usurper, such as Richard III or Claudius (Hamlet), who
moves from crime to crime in order to gain stability. In comparison to Richard III, Macbeth is
a more likeable villain. Macbeth is a noble and talented individual. He chooses betrayal and
crime, recognises them for what they are, and is well aware that he is doing a crime. Although
he is a villain, I personally feel sorry for him and deem him as a reluctant villain.
“CAPTAIN: For brave Macbeth (well he deserves that name), Disdaining Fortune, with his
brandished steel, Which smoked with bloody execution, Like Valor’s minion, carved out his
passage Till he faced the slave; Which ne’er shook hands, nor bade farewell to him, Till he
unseamed him from the nave to th’ chops, And fixed his head upon our battlements.
DUNCAN: O valiant cousin, worthy gentleman!”
ACT 1, Scene 2
At the beginning of the play, my first impression of Macbeth is that of a valiant and
capable warrior, as we first learn of him from the wounded captain's narrative of his battlefield
courage. However, after he began engaging with the Three Witches, this perspective becomes
more difficult to rule out as it can be seen that his physical bravery is matched by a devouring
ambition and a tendency for self-doubt—the prophecy that he will be king provides him joy,
but it also causes him internal anguish.
“First Witch: Lesser than Macbeth, and greater.
Second Witch: Not so happy, yet much happier.
Third Witch: Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none: So all hail, Macbeth and Banquo!
First Witch: Banquo and Macbeth, all hail!
MACBETH: Stay, you imperfect speakers, tell me more: By Sinel's death I know I am thane
of Glamis; But how of Cawdor? the thane of Cawdor lives, A prosperous gentleman; and to
be king Stands not within the prospect of belief, No more than to be Cawdor. Say from
whence You owe this strange intelligence? or why Upon this blasted heath you stop our way
With such prophetic greeting? Speak, I charge you.”
ACT 1, Scene 3
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From then on, the Weird Sisters have affected Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, making
them evil and hungry for power. But even then, Macbeth still has his three major traits—
bravery, ambition, and self-doubt—fighting over control of Macbeth. His character represents
the devastating consequences of ambition and guilt on a man lacking in moral strength.
Macbeth may be irreversibly bad, but he is weak compared to Shakespeare's great villains, as
he is not capable of overcoming remorse and self-doubt.
“MACBETH: [Aside] Two truths are told,
As happy prologues to the swelling act
Of the imperial theme.--I thank you, gentlemen.
Aside
Cannot be ill, cannot be good: if ill,
Why hath it given me earnest of success,
Commencing in a truth? I am thane of Cawdor:
If good, why do I yield to that suggestion
Whose horrid image doth unfix my hair
And make my seated heart knock at my ribs,
Against the use of nature? Present fears
Are less than horrible imaginings:
My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical,
Shakes so my single state of man that function
Is smother'd in surmise, and nothing is
But what is not.”
ACT 1, Scene 3
Even though Macbeth is a brilliant fighter, he is unprepared for the psychological
effects of crime. In my opinion, this fact of him being weak mentally is a good sign that
showing Macbeth is not pure evil. Instead, he is more of a pitiful man who had fallen into the
witches' trap. He shows signs of regret of guilt several times, depicting that he still has his traits
of conscience and feelings. Even at the end of his life, he appears almost relieved even if things
go apart for him—with the English army at his gates; he can finally return to a life he knows.
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He stood like a warrior and died as a warrior when he demonstrates a reckless swagger as his
foes encircle him and pull him down.
“MACBETH: Hath he ask'd for me?
LADY MACBETH: Know you not he has?
MACBETH: We will proceed no further in this business:
He hath honour'd me of late; and I have bought
Golden opinions from all sorts of people,
Which would be worn now in their newest gloss,
Not cast aside so soon.
LADY MACBETH: Was the hope drunk
Wherein you dress'd yourself? hath it slept since?”
ACT 1, Scene 7
“MACBETH
Accursed be that tongue that tells me so,
For it hath cow'd my better part of man!
And be these juggling fiends no more believed,
That palter with us in a double sense;
That keep the word of promise to our ear,
And break it to our hope. I'll not fight with thee.”
ACT 5, Scene 8
To conclude, based on my perspective, Macbeth is just an ordinary warrior and a
nobleman who had been tricked by evil. Of course, he fell too deep into disgrace and
wickedness to turn back around, but he still has a tiny spark in him that had protected his pride
as a warrior. Although he had killed too many people and all in vain, at least he could die as a
warrior. He had fallen as himself and not anyone else.
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Question 2 (b)
In my opinion, Lady Macbeth’s prodding is the major contribution to Macbeth’s
downfall. It can be seen that although the Three Witches were the ones who tricked them, it is
not until after Lady Macbeth pushed him to kill King Duncan that this couple had gone into
total madness for power. It is also from here on that both Macbeth and his wife continuing to
commit crimes just so they can feel secure and safe in their stolen thrones. Macbeth was
troubled by terror before he killed his cousin, King Duncan, and this cowardness of him almost
made him aborts the act. But, it is Lady Macbeth’s steely sense of purpose that drives him to
commit the crime. Ironically, her formidable personality also begins to crumble after the
murder, leaving Macbeth constantly lonely.
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