SUMMARY:

Death of a Salesman begins in the home of Willy Loman. Willy

returns home exhausted from his latest sales excursion. He worries

because he is having difficulty remembering events, as well as

staying focused on the present. His wife, Linda, reassures him that

he is only suffering from mental fatigue. Linda suggests that Willy

should request a New York assignment rather than travel each

week. At first Willy hesitates, complaining that his boss Howard

does not respect his contributions to the company and might not

listen to him, but Linda encourages Willy to tell Howard of his

accomplishments. Willy decides to talk to Howard in the morning.

Willy and Linda argue about their son Biff. Willy calls Biff a "lazy

bum," but Linda defends Biff on the premise that he is still trying to

"find himself." Willy then contradicts his previous statement by

saying that Biff is not lazy, and he decides to get Biff a job as a

salesman. Willy drifts back into the past, remembering how

everyone admired Biff when he was in high school. He comes out of

his reverie and assures Linda that he is fine. He announces that he

will no longer argue with Biff about his job. Linda suggests a picnic

lunch, and Willy realizes that, all day, he thought he was driving

the 1928 Chevy rather than the Studebaker.

CHARACTERS:

Dustin Hoffman as Willy Loman

Kate Reid as Linda Loman

John Malknovish as Biff Loman

Stephen Lang as Happy Loman

Charles Duming as Charley

Louis Polito as Howard Wagner

Barbara Eda- Young as Jenny

Tom Signorehi as Stanley

Linda Kozlowski as Miss Forsythe

Kathyn Rossebtter as Letta

INTRODUCTION:

Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman (1949) is considered to be both the

playwright's masterpiece and a cornerstone of contemporary American

drama. This play gained a number of honors and awards including, the

Pulitzer Prize and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award. When

Arthur Miller finished writing this play, he entitled it as The Inside of His

Head.

Later on he became dissatisfied with this title. Then he conferred second

title of the play. This second title is Death of a Salesman. From the first

title we get a profound insight into the psychological make-up of the

protagonist who is a salesman.

In this play, the protagonist is a salesman by occupation. He harbored a

tremendous ambition. But this ambitious dream of the protagonist never

got accomplished. No matter how hard Willy worked, his dream remained

unattainable. As a result, he became gradually sick and miserable. He

became mentally dichotomous. He became a split personality. In the

course of his life he was completely smitten with a scorching flame of

frustration. Finally, he committed suicide. The playwright wants to show

the inflicting effects of the American dream in the middle class people who

regards the material gain is the absolute happiness.

Death of a Salesman is such a popular play that it has remained at the

center of the modern American plays. This play is an experiment in the

theatre. It is the best example of expressionism in modern American play.

As an expressionistic modern American play, it uses a cross section of a

house as a metaphor for an entire house and an entire life. The death
in Death of a Salesman implies the destruction of a family holding certain

beliefs that have been wrong from the start.

Death of a Salesman has been given a privileged position in American

drama because it is a modern tragedy. Aristotle felt that only characters

of noble birth could be tragic heroes, but Miller confounds this theory, as

Eugene O'Neill did, by showing the human integrity in even the most

humble characters. Miller's Willy Loman is not a peasant, nor is he noble.

In fact, Miller took a frightening risk in producing a figure that we find

hard to like. Willy wants to be well liked, but as an audience, we find it

difficult to like a person who whines, complains and accepts petty

immorality as a normal way of life. Despite his character, we are awed

by his fate.

Willy stands as an aspect of our culture, commercial and otherwise that

is at the center of our reflection of ourselves. Perhaps we react so strongly

to Willy because we are afraid that we might easily become a Willy Loman

if we are not vigilant about our moral views, our psychological well-being,

and the limits of our commitment to success. Willy Loman has mesmerized

audiences in America in many different economic circumstances:

prosperity, recession, rapid growth, and cautions development. No matter

what those circumstances we have looked at the play as if looking in a

mirror. What we have seen has always involved us, although it has not

always made us pleased with ourselves.

 Play Review

“ The Death

of a

Salesman”

Submitted by:

John Mark Traje

Grade 9- Aristotle

Submitted to:

Mrs. Milagrosa D. Bilog

English Teacher