Death of a Salesman

1. Death of a Salesman Key Areas

2. Key areas/ideas to consider • Miller’s opening – description of set (Realism) • Characterisation of Willy – description, actions, speech. Flaws and Conflict. • Use of memory – expressionism. Allows for greater depth of character. We see everything. • Montage or double exposure – blending of past/Willy’s imaginings with the present. Develops confusion/regret (key scene: card game with Charley/Ben). • Biff’s role – hope/ promise for Willy (classical references) Symbolic of fact that Willy’s view of the A.D is based on falsities (Well liked). • Happy’s role – senseless competition. Evidence for fact that material success does not equate to happiness.

3. Symbolism – stockings, woman’s laugh, woods are burning (death of a dream). • Natural imagery – reminds us that Willy, and indeed his sons, would be better working the land (elm trees). However, symbolism of seeds attempting to grow in an environment where they would be choked shows futility of Loman’s situation. The savage society in which they live destroys families like theirs. • Scene with Howard – the true face of capitalism.

4. Key Scene • Key scene in restaurant – starts with ‘raucous music’ and ‘red light’. Arguably foreshadows tension, confusion and anger that will soon pass. Happy is a liar. Biff tries to admit the truth. Use of dramatic irony – we pity Willy as we have knowledge of Biff’s failure. • Scene’s importance: Damage to the family is irreversible; Biff’s failure to agree a deal with Oliver prompts Willy to revisit previous failures of Biff in past (sees reality); we see the scene with Woman in its entirety – Willy’s failures as a husband and a father; Willy seeks seeds at end of scene – link to rural America of the past, yet also reminds of fact that Willy has nothing for the future (sons). We know that seeds will fail just as his suicide will fail to achieve what it set out to do (Biff still rejects Willy’s ideal in Requiem).

5. Climax • Biff forces truth – ‘I’m a dime a dozen…’ • Willy remains immovable – we perhaps celebrate his defiant individuality. • Ironically, it is Biff’s emotions and desire to save his dad (‘take that phony dream and burn it’) that encourages Willy’s suicide.

6. Requiem • Contrast funeral with that of Dave Singleman (‘hundreds of salesmen and buyers were at his funeral’). Willy has failed. Confirms his lies. • Happy remains blind • Biff is still lost and lacking direction. • Charley’s poetic line, ‘ he’s a man out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoeshine’, serves as a reminder that appearance is not the most important quality. Charley is a man of substance = success. • Immense pathos at end – Linda. We truly feel for her. • Buildings at end – circular nature of Loman’s struggle brought to mind. Happy will continue making the mistakes made by Willy. The world in which they live is still one of threat. They will never achieve the American Dream as they can never truly admit who they are.

7. Choose a play which underlines how one person’s flaw(s) can have a significant impact on other people as well as on him or her self. Explain briefly the nature of the flaws and then, in detail, assess how much the character and others are affected.

8. Flaws • Poor parent – damages Biff. • Adultery – damage to self and Biff. • Fails to see capitalism and consumerist society for what it really is – (A.D will be unattainable – Howard). • Fails to use true talents – his flaws have been placed on sons. Requiem. • Self and others are irreversibly affected.

9. Choose a play which deals with one of the following themes: appearance versus reality; good versus evil; dreams versus reality; youth versus age. Show how the dramatist develops one of these themes and discuss how it enhances your appreciation of the play.

10. Dreams versus reality • Dreams for Biff (classical references) against reality (‘dime a dozen’) • Dream to achieve the A.D – ‘Well liked’ vs. cut throat ‘business is business’. Howard scene – Willy fails to comprehend the reality. • Dreams of his own greatness vs. reality – contrast Singleman’s funeral with requiem. • We pity Willy for his dellusion and the cruelty of the society he lives in. Yet we also despise him for his blindness. Therefore, play toys with a variety of emotions, illustrating the multifaceted nature of Miller’s art.

11. Choose a play in which the dramatist creates tension at the beginning or at the end. Explain how the tension is created and discuss how it contributes to an effective introduction or conclusion to the play

12. Must link this type of question to play as a whole • Opening is tense as there is a feeling of impending danger coupled with the idea of a man at odds with all around him. • Miller’s description of set – link with cruel and savage nature of American society. • Contradictions in Willy’s speech (volatile) – troubled nature of mind – use of memory/montage etc later on. • Willy’s inability to understand Biff (‘personal attractiveness, gets lost’) lays foundations for breakdown of family relations (climax) • Opening links with end of play – angular, aggressive buildings. The cycle will go on. Emphasised by Happy’s blind desire to continue Willy’s dream.

13. Choose a play in which a character has to live in a hostile environment. Briefly describe the environment and discuss the extent to which it influences your response to the character’s behaviour and to the outcome of the play.

14. Society – play as social drama • Opening of the play and feeling of threat. Link to seeds at end and the futility of Willy’s situation. • Consumerism – society aggressively requires that one put on a front of success. Miller warns against this. Link to way that Willy thinks that appearance is all important. Contrast Biff and Bernard. • Howard as the epitome of capitalist society. • Requiem – cycle will continue. Linda’s line of ‘We’re free’ carries a certain irony to it.

15. Mind • Sees faults in memory – Biff stealing • Haunted by the past – montage shows missed opportunity (hamartia). • The Woman – symbolism of laugh throughout. Key scene shows us exactly what went on and again the hostility of his own mind as he struggles to deal with his own/Biff’s failure. • Pity him as there is no redemption from his own damaged mind.