A* Notes on Death of a Salesman
Themes
Fallacy of the American dream
Binary between leading a life born from personal desire + leading a life that conforms to the capital mould of the American Dream
The myopia of pride and delusion that skewers Willy’s vision
An everyday proletarian man as opposed to the orthodox noble, virtuous hero in tragedies
Is Willy a victim of his own self-delusion and pride/ or/ and is he a victim of the cruel capitalist society he exists in.
Context
In the 1940’s America had won the war and become the number 1 commercial, industrial and capitalist economy of world + therefore, one might expect art coming out of America following WW2 to assume a patriotic tone, yet instead, Miller probes at the sadness of the heart of the American Dream
The American dream = America was perceived as the place to make a fortune from nothing (based upon Lincoln who rose from nothing to presidency in 19th century) + it is the recognition that the American Dream has a powerful and ubiquitous attraction that allows the play to take effect within a broad societal context
Sub-title is ‘Certain Private Conversations in Two Acts and a Requiem’ -> audience invited to overhear conversations (internal and interpersonal)
Diverges from traditional, Greek and Aristotelian ideas of tragedy, whereby the central protagonist was expected to be noble born with status (Macbeth, Othello, etc.)
Aristotle’s unity of time, place and plot, which Miller does not conform to -> multiple timeslips whereby the past infiltrates the present
Miller’s essay, ‘Tragedy and the Common Man’, implicitly justifies his decision to use an everyday proletarian man as the tragic hero
During the McCarthy era of political intolerance, Miller was suspected of having socialist or communist sympathies and was forced to testify. He was subsequently imprisoned because he refused to reveal his socialist associates.
Miller likened the structure of DOAS to geological strata, in which different times are present in the same instant + also likened it to a CAT scan, as it simultaneously reveals the outside and the inside
The flute has arcadian Greek origins in tragedy. It was played by the gods on Mount Olympus + Marcus took the flute and played it. He was punished by Apollo for aspiring to play an instrument that belonged to the gods, and was flayed alive for his ‘misplaced aspiration’ -> parallel to Loman’s story and his misplaced aspirations, thus the recurrent flute acts as a harbinger of his tragic fate
The Leeman brother = one of the largest global financers in the US -> Miller using the parallel Loman name to highlight the extent if Happy and Biff’s aspirations as well as how they fall dramatically short of them
‘The sins of the father are to be laid upon the sons’ (Shakespeare) –> Willy’s vices will come to fruition in Biff and Happy too
Structure, language, form... + analysis
Internal analepsis/ time slips -> creates effect of past infiltrating the present + highlights the stark degeneration, from the families past unity and present tense dysfunctionality + evokes a sense of Willy’s mental instability
Motif of car, the ‘Chevy’ -> represents the capitalist dream + obsession with appearances and materialism + tragically ironic, as it is the vehicle responsible for Willy’s death
Indefinite article ‘A’ in title, ‘A Salesman’ -> implies what has happened to Willy could befall any salesman, and thus becomes more universal and relatable to the American working-class masses
Elaborate and detailed set design -> its fragility mirrors the vulnerable construction Willy has created in which he practises self-deceit to survive
Juxtaposition in opening set descriptions -> the rural, idyllic evocations from the ‘melody of the flute’ jarring against the oppressive, encaged descriptions of the houses ‘towering, angular shapes’
Willy’s dialogue -> contradicts himself jumping from one side of the spectrum to another, which divulges his mental instability
Biff recognises the dreary monotony of capitalist work: ‘To devote your whole life to keeping stock, or making phone calls, or selling, or buying’ -> list-like structure accentuates the drab, tedious and never-ending reality of capitalist work
Willy’s descriptions of his sons in the past-> hyperbolically elevates his sons to delusional proportions, + to deific levels
Recurring stage directions of the ‘Woman’s laugh’ -> suggests Willy’s previous affair is affecting his present marital relationship in the form of guilt + haunting and mocking aura in its constant intrusions
Juxtaposition between Howard’s tape recorder and Willy -> modern technology against Willy’s obsolescence
Ben (Willy’s brother) symbolism -> represents fantasy wealth + speaks for the capitalist ideology that produces images of fabulous wealth, but never really explains the material processes by which they are achieved
Biff burning his University of Virginia sneakers -> allegory to depict him giving up the reverence he held for his Father and adopting a rather fatalistic attitude
Moments before Willy commits suicide -> Willy’s hubris still prevails + no real sense of anagnorises?
Linda’s repetition of ‘We’re free’ in the requiem -> tragically ironic, as house is paid but there is no one to live in it
Final stage directions -> leaves us with an overarching sense of fatalism and doom
Language of play is not elevated, complex or diverse, as that of a typical Greek tragedy -> Miller constructs it in a way that evokes tragic traditions in a recognisable twentieth century form. For instance, the stockings -> whilst a rather banal object, stands as a recurring motif and symbol for Willy’s infidelity, American consumerism and false expectations
Critical interpretations... to engage with, argue for, argue against
Willy is a ‘bleeding mass of contradictions’ (Miller)
‘His problem is that he has so completely internalised the values of society that he judges himself by standards rooted in social myths rather than human necessities’ (Bigsby, C)
Linda is a ‘dumb and useful doormat’ (Koenig, R)
Willy is ‘flayed alive by the capitalist system he is enslaved of’ (McRae, J)