Arthur Miller (1915-2005)
BACKGROUND:
 American dramatist
 Works concerned with the responsibility of each individual to other
members of society.
WRITING STYLE:
 simple and colloquially written (uses everyday language)
 plays spring from his social conscience and compassion for those who
are vulnerable to the false values imposed on them by society.
 Miller’s concerns & techniques are similar to those of social realism
 Realism – a literary technique that attempts to create the appearance of
life as it is actually experienced
 Characters/issues are not larger than life – rather, representative of it
 Characters face challenges/situations that ordinary people might
experience
 Work/love/marriage/children/death – often the focus of Realistic dramas
 Middle and lower-class individuals take center stage as primary
characters
 Was a 19th century movement – parallels the rise of a middle class
seeking representation of its concerns in theater
 ‘Problem Plays’ – drama that represents a social issue in order to
awaken the audience to it
 Realists attempted to open the audience’s eyes – many plays focus on
controversial issues of the day and on people who fall prey to indifferent
societal institutions
 Naturalism – an extreme form of Realism – characters are victims
overwhelmed by internal and external forces; works include the
commonplace AND the sordid, destructive, chaotic aspects of life
 Miller places his characters in a social context so their behavior within
the family suggests larger implications – the life/death of a salesman
raises issues concerning the significance and value of the American
Dream of success
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Writing resembles some of the techniques and concerns of realistic
drama as well as other techniques to express Willy’s thoughts (allows
audience/readers to observe what goes on inside Willy’s head)
Miller presents Willy as an ordinary human being – neither brilliant or
heroic – his life full of unfulfilled dreams and self-deceptions
Still Miller manages to create a character whose human dignity (or the
struggle to achieve/preserve it) evokes tragic feelings
CRITICS:
 Some critics regard Miller’s work as the most serious attempt in recent
American drama to achieve the tragic force of ancient Greek plays.
 Major achievement was the play Death of a Salesman (1949). It won the
1949 Pulitzer Prize for drama, the 1949 Tony Award for best play, and
the 1949 New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for best play of the
year. It is considered a milestone in America drama.
 Although Miller generally wrote in a realistic style, much of Death of a
Salesman is conveyed expressionistically through Willy Loman’s mind
and memory. As Loman becomes more and more absorbed by scenes
from his past, the action progressively takes place in his mind. The play
becomes a collage of memories with rapid, surreal shifts in setting and
time. Its expressionistic setting is ideally suited to the dialogue, which,
though recognizably colloquial, is eloquent and lyrical.
PURPOSE OF (Miller’s) THEATER
 In Miller’s plays, the past exerts an inescapable influence on the present.
 Embattled fathers and sons and competitive brothers, all guilt-ridden,
must make amends for their betrayals.
 Often features protagonist’s suicide, which thereby completes the
disfiguring role model he has bequeathed to his sons.
 Individual guilt often unfolds in Miller’s plays against momentous
backdrops: for example, the Depression, the Holocaust, and the House
Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) investigations of the
1950s.
 For Miller, theater served as a forum for social and political
enlightenment. His play The Crucible (1953), although concerned with
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the Salem witchcraft trials, was actually aimed at then widespread
congressional investigation of subversive activities in the United States
during the late 1940s and early 1950s. Miller himself appeared before
the HUAC in 1956. He was convicted of contempt for refusing to name
“leftist” associates, but the conviction was later appealed and reversed.
Questions of guilt and individual responsibility persist in Miller’s later
dramas, including Incident at Vichy (1964), about French Jews sent to
death camps during the German occupation of France in World War II;
The Price (1968), in which two brothers confront memories of the Great
Depression; and The Archbishop’s Ceiling (1977), on the Soviet
treatment of dissident writers.
KEY FACTS – Death of a Salesman
Genre · Tragedy, social commentary, family drama
Language · English (with emphasis on middle-class American lingo)
Time and place written · Six weeks in 1948, in a shed in Connecticut
First published · 1949
Protagonists · Willy Loman, Biff Loman
Antagonists · Biff Loman, Willy Loman, the American Dream
Setting (time) · “Today,” that is, the present; either the late 1940s or the time period in
which the play is being produced, with “daydreams” into Willy's past; all of the action
takes place during a twenty-four-hour period between Monday night and Tuesday night,
except the “Requiem,” which takes place, presumably, a few days after Willy's funeral
Setting (place) · According to the stage directions, “Willy Loman's house and yard [in
Brooklyn] and . . . various places he visits in . . . New York and Boston”
Tense · Present
Foreshadowing · Willy's flute theme foreshadows the revelation of his father's occupation
and abandonment; Willy's preoccupation with Linda's stockings foreshadows his guilt
about his affair with The Woman; Willy's automobile accident before the start of Act I
foreshadows his suicide at the end of Act II
Tone · The tone of Miller's stage directions and dialogue ranges from sincere to
parodying, but, in general, the treatment is tender, though at times brutally honest, toward
Willy's plight
Themes · The American Dream (success); Abandonment; Betrayal
Motifs · Mythic figures; the American West; Alaska; the African jungle
Symbols · Seeds; diamonds; women's stockings; the rubber hose