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Summary A* DEATH OF A SALESMAN NOTES - Setting/Stage Directions
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A* DEATH OF A SALESMAN NOTES - Setting/Stage Directions
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Death of a Salesman revision booklet AQA A Level English Lit B
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compare & contrast of the characters Willy Loman and Charley in the play Death of a salesman by Arthur Miller
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Death of a Salesman as a story told through mind and memory of Willy Loman
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Setting/Stage directionsMusic:
The music is apparent through the play ringing louder during emotionally intense scenes
predominantly by a flute. The tragic aspect of the instrument is the correlation to Willy's father
generating the idea that he is haunted by his father and shadowed by his failings in life due to
the music being a heavy element of the setting, as well as haunted by what his life could have
been if he became a craftsman and left the dream behind: "good with his hands"
Willy's father was granted success through being a craftsman who made flutes in Alaska -
granting him a type of success that Willy is nowhere near reaching. The tragedy is drawn to a
close with the melody of a flute being played off into the distance creating an atmosphere of
hopelessness of the displayed consequences of dedicating your life towards a dream
surrounding materialism.
The House:
The Loman's house itself is a juxtaposition in comparison to its surroundings which are large
"angular shapes around it", once again showcasing Willy's failure to achieve the American
dream as now he lives in a small home which is falling apart much like his mental state which his
many flashbacks showcase. The depiction of the Loman house is a fragile seeming home
surrounded by a solid vault of apartment houses. The towering buildings encasing the home
evokes a sense of imprisonment (chained by their beliefs). This creates the idea that Willy is
trapped within the domestic setting with the growing pressures of capitalism and societies
expectations: "they boxed us in here", "bricks windows". This highlights how Willy feels caged
by the expectations of a man in 1949. Moreover, Miller shows an ethereal blue light that falls on
the Loman house compared to the angry glow of orange that encompasses the surrounding
apartments.
The otherworldly light juxtaposes the orange as to reflect the harsh realities of life that
dramatically contrasts Willyʼs delusion and the dream-like state that frequently lives in. The blue
light may also represent the optimism Willy sometimes demonstrates. Miller uses the
juxtaposition of how the houses and apartments are presented to demonstrate how far removed
Willy is from society and how his state of mind is so fragile, he must cower within his world of
delusions in order to cope. The kitchen contains no other fixtures other than a table, three
chairs and a refrigerator while the bedroom is furnished only with a brass bed and a chair; this
clearly conveys the basic foundations of a house, but not a home. The kitchen specifically
symbolises the the heart of the home and by demonstrating the breakdown of appliances in this
room, Miller creates a parallel to the Loman family as their relationships slowly begin to fall apart
and the family drifts away from each other.
In addition, the transparency of the house reinforces the dream-like state that Willy lives in,
surrounding himself in delusions and hallucinations into the past. The sense of tragedy arises
from the fact that the Loman's are either unaware or complicit in their false lives; Happy, for
example, is completely oblivious to the fact that he is following in his fatherʼs footsteps and may
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