Summary
Summary A* DEATH OF A SALESMAN NOTES
A* DEATH OF A SALESMAN NOTES (notes which helped me get an a* focused on aspects of tragedy)
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Tragedy of Death of a SalesmanMiller's previous play 'All my sons" was a naturalistic play about the corruption of American
capitalism during wartime and the guilt of a cooperate criminal. Alongside a 'streetcar named
desire,' the concept of the American dream is depicted as sad. Abraham is the template of a
poor man who can become great.
The setting for the death of a salesman is very fragmented, a small plot of land which has not
yet been taken over by the encroaching buildings. The shaving cream holds similarity to the
'aftershave' smell in a streetcar named desire. Ordinary people allow the theme of existentialism
to be represented.
Linda knows about Willy's self-deceit yet not his infidelity. The turning point is Biff's meeting of
the woman when he begins to realise the flaws and lies.
The counting of money is a representation of capitalism at its finest. The flute represents grass,
trees and the horizon which contradicts the enclosed setting. There is a binary between old
fashioned nature and the claustrophobic city. Marcia's picked up Apollo's flute and punished
him for aspiring to play an instrument that belonged to God's. Marcia's was killed for his
misplaced aspirations. The Acadian idea of beauty which is out there but no longer tangible is
represented in the flute.
The death of a salesman is the death of an insignificant man. The temporary nature of the
ordinary character.
"your 60years old they cant expect you to travel every week" - a sense of an ending is created.
Many tragedies have eponymous characters but Miller chose to give him character a position
towards the bottom of society where he is a 'Loman'. Unlike previous tragic heroes he has no
height to fall from apart from his own mind and the estimation of his sons. Willy's inability to
accept reality is regarded as his fatal flaw, leading to his resort to fantasy and retreat into
nostalgia.
"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)
Ben plays a mephistophelian tempter's role encouraging Willy towards suicide: "the jungle is
dark but full of diamonds".
Miller exposes the tragic commercialisation of human relationships in a capitalistic system.
"Why does Miller spend significant stage time and dialogue on seemingly trivial matters that
appear to do little to drive the plot or prominent conflicts forward. "
This can be seen as a criticism on the economic circumstances that influence the characters.
Miller explores the exploitive ideology of capitalism. "All men are created equal".
Willy's labour has no material substance - if a persons labour is worthless then the person must
also be worthless. Willy spends most of the play residing in the intangible realm of memory. He
ultimately sold his own life for $20,000 in life insurance giving us the market value for a man of
Willy's socioeconomic standing. Willy's death symbolises the moral void which forms the centre
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