All My Sons
An Introduction
Arthur Miller - Biography
• Arthur Asher Miller (October
17, 1915 – February 10, 2005).
• Miller was an extremely
important American playwright,
writing a wide variety of plays,
such as The Crucible, A View
from the Bridge, All My Sons,
and Death of a Salesman, which
are still studied and performed
worldwide.
• He was also well-known for
receiving the Pulitzer Prize for
Drama and for being married to
Marilyn Monroe.
All My Sons - Overview
• All My Sons is a 1947 play by Arthur Miller.
• The play opened on Broadway at the Coronet
Theatre in New York City on January 29, 1947 and
ran for 328 performances. It won the New York
Drama Critics' Circle Award, and Tony Awards for
Best Author and Best Direction of a Play.
• All My Sons is based upon a true story, which
Arthur Miller's then mother-in-law pointed out in
an Ohio newspaper. The story described how a
woman informed on her father, who had sold faulty
parts to the U.S. military during World War II.
• The play takes place over a weekend in August
1947, on the outskirts of an American town, in the
back yard of the Keller family home.
• The events of the play centre on the fortunes of Joe
Keller and his family. Keller sold faulty machine
parts to the US Air Force during the Second World
War, and the play shows how this decision comes
back to haunt him.
All My Sons – Major Themes
• “All My Sons” is generally considered to focus on the
following themes:
– War Profiteering
– Social Responsibility
– The American Dream
• As you watch the performance of the play, consider
the ways in which these themes are explored.
The American Dream
• The American Dream is a national ethos of the United States in which freedom
includes the opportunity for prosperity and success.
• The term was first used in 1931 by James Truslow Adams, an American writer and
historian, who declared that “life should be better and richer and fuller for
everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement […]
regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position”.
• The idea of the American Dream is rooted in the United States Declaration of
Independence which proclaims that “all men are created equal” and that they are
“endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights” including “Life, Liberty
and the pursuit of Happiness.”
• The American Dream is a popular theme of 20th Century American fiction, many
writers criticising the American Dream and their society’s inability to live up to its
ideals. Notable works include:
– Mark Twain's novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
– F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby
– Toni Morrison's novel Song of Solomon
– Hunter S. Thompson’s novel Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
– Edward Albee’s play Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolfe
– John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men
• The American Dream is a theme that Miller was fond of. He explores it in All My
Sons, as well as Death of a Salesman, one of his best known plays.
Studying a Drama Text
• Drama texts are considerably different from the other literary genres that we study
in English, as they are not complete works of art. A play is only complete when it is
performed by actors.
• The information contained in a drama text is like a series of instructions that can be
used by directors, actors, designers etc. when they decide how to go about
performing the play.
• The information in a drama text consists of two main types:
1. The dialogue – specific words that actors performing the characters in the
play should speak.
2. The stage directions – instructions about a range of things, such as
– General notes on the way the set should look.
– General notes on the appearance and personality of characters.
– Specific actions that actors should perform when representing the characters in
the play.
– Instructions about the way in which specific lines of dialogue should be
delivered.
• Given that this is the case it is important to remember this when reading a play. It
is also vital that you try to visualise how the play might be performed.
Homework
For next Monday (2nd of April), you should have done the
following:
1. Read the entire play.
2. If your name is listed below, completed a summary of the
section of the play indicated:
a)
Declan Service: Act 1 – from start, until Ann’s entrance at
bottom of page 23.
b) Charlie Stenskie: Act 1 – from Ann’s entrance at bottom of
page 23, until end.
c) Colette Tierney: Act 2 – from start, until Kate’s entrance at
middle of page 55.
d) Chloe Welsh: Act 2 – from Kate’s entrance at middle of page
55, until end.
e) Shannon Young: Act 3
General Understanding
Questions
• Now that you have watched a performance of the
play and have a general idea of its storyline,
consider the following questions:
1. What questions do you have about the play that
remain unanswered?
2. How are the following themes explored in the
play:
a) War Profiteering
b) Social Responsibility
c) The American Dream
Timeline of Events
• Autumn, 1943:
– Joe Keller allows his business partner Steve to supply the USAAF with
faulty cylinder heads for their planes.
– Twenty-one planes crash as a direct result of the faulty cylinder heads
having been fitted. Joe and Steve are both arrested.
• November 25th, 1943
– Larry, Joe’s son and a pilot in the air force, reads about his father in a
newspaper, then deliberately crashes his plane off the coast of China,
killing himself.
• 1944(ish):
– Joe makes a successful appeal against the charges relating to the
cylinder-heads; however, Steve remains in prison.
• 1945
– Chris Keller starts writing to Ann Deever.
• August, 1947
– The events of the play take place over the course of a weekend.