Death of a Salesman revision booklet AQA A Level English Lit B
compare & contrast of the characters Willy Loman and Charley in the play Death of a salesman by Arthur Miller
Death of a Salesman as a story told through mind and memory of Willy Loman
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English Literature B
Aspects of Tragedy
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Irony, lies, lack of identity, order vs distruption,
pride, success and hypocrisy
"we've never told the truth for ten minutes in this house" (Biff)
"we always told the truth" (Happy)
"Biff is a lazy bum" "theres one thing about Biff he's not lazy" (Willy)
"i'm vital in new England" "i'm the new England man" " people don't seem to take to me" "they
laugh at me" (Willy)
"gee" "gee is a boys word" (Willy)
"don't whistle in the elevator" (Willy)
"don't be a pest Bernard"
"i think the tragic feeling is evoked in us when we are in the presence of a character who is
ready to lay down his life, if need be, to secure one thing - his sense of personal dignity." -
(Miller - Tragedy and the Common Man)
Lies:
Lies are told in the Loman house to hide the truth and escape the harsh reality of life, embracing
the delusion. The most significant lie is the cover up of Willy's suicidal tendencies as Linda says
that Willy falls asleep at the wheel because he is exhausted until she finally admits her
discovery of the gas pipes nipple. It is interesting to note that if Willy's suicide attempts were
talked about maybe the outcome of the play may have been changed.
Desperately sad, it's a capitalism hard critic and once more, the reverse of the once called
American Dream.
Betrayal and abandonment:
Willy's affair
Howard's dismissal of Willy
Willy' suicide
Biff's admission to Willy that he is a failure due to his lack of higher education
Happy never cared for his father
Linda allowed Willy to live in a illusion
Inspired by his love for his family, ironically Willy abandons them all just as he was abandoned
by his father when he was 3. Willy's death is a result of his inability to distinguish between his
value as a human or as an economic resource.
Success:
Willy's father was also a salesman but unlike Willy he put his heart and soul into every product
that he made and was not alienated from his products how Willy is therefore became successful.
Willy has a contradictory definition of success which surrounds product and tangible goods -
and because he has neither he sees success as being determined by the number of people who
attend his funeral.
Hypocrisy:
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