Death of a Salesman

‘Write a critical appreciation of the following scene, commenting in detail on its dramatic
significance both here and within the play as a whole. Discuss the effects of language, set,
tone and dramatic action in your answer’

The American Dream is an intangible aspect we all long for, and for the antihero, Willy, in
‘Death of a Salesman’, is what defines his value of life. This extract shows his stubbornness
and unwillingness to let his lack of success deter him away from his ‘phony dream’. Through
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The relationship between Willy and Linda is interesting, in the fact that Linda acts as an enabler
towards Willy dreams and fantasies. We see Linda exclaim “few men are idolized by their
children the way you are,” and “You are Willy. The handsomest man”. There is such devotion
and love for her husband, that she is seemingly feeding him his excuses for his lack of
success. Her deep love comes from her ability to see the fine line between Willy as a salesman
and Willy as her husband, while Willy is not able to reciprocate this idea. Miller develops on
this fatal flaw and is “Linda's facility for prodding Willy to his doom is what gives the play its
direction” as seen by critic ‘G Bliquez’. Her constant support for Willy, never critical or
judgemental for even the brashest of his actions, do help with the insecurities Willy has, but in
the long term worsen the effect of Willy’s perpetual belief the he is on the brink of success.

Furthermore, the stockings Linda owns are symbols for Willy’s inability to recreate the
‘American Dream’. Willy “(angrily, taking them from her): I won’t have you mending stockings
in this house! Now throw them out” shows his absolute refusal to portray that he has failed as
a provider. In a commercialised world, being successful and able to own ‘things’ is the dream
and certainly for Willy.

Willy’s reminiscence of his encounter with the Woman is a crucial build up for the peripeteia
of this play. Throughout his conversation, there is “the woman's subsiding laughter” which sets
a ominous or even mocking tone. This is the first instance the audience hears ‘the woman’
and the sinister laugh clearly foreshadows the adultery Willy has committed with ‘The Woman’.
Later on, we see that the woman, whose real name is as insignificant as Willy in the business
world, claims that she “picked [Willy]”. It is “pleasing” to him as he is reassured that he is “well-
liked”, an essential characteristic which Willy believes leads to success. As described by C
Bigsby, “If personal meaning lies in success, then failure must threaten identity itself,” and
failure is what leads Willy to his ultimate downfall. This situation is similar to that of Jay Gatsby
in ‘The Great Gatsby’. Gatsby’s constant fear of losing Daisy reflects Willy dread of not being
able to provide his family, have his own business and home and be successful enough to
leave something behind for the future generation.

The contradictory statements made by Willy in justification of Biff actions also play a big part
of the creation of tension. There is a lot of speculation surrounding Biff, his ideal, model, ‘well-
liked’ son, when Bernard rushes in and says “Where is he? If he doesn’t study!”, and Willy
replies with a simple “You’ll give him the answers!”. This is consistent with his belief that well-
liked people will receive answers, success and a good job handed to them on a silver platter.
This is followed by

Miller brilliantly