Michael Duan Block 8 1. Comment on the significance of the title. What kinds of death might be referred to? Explain Part of the significance of the title of “Death of a Salesman” lies in its reference to the ending of the play, where the main protagonist succumbs to a self-inflicted physical death. The relevance of the play’s title does not stop there, however, as it also alludes to the multiple alternative forms of casualty that occur over the course of the story. When viewing the scope of the tragedy’s message with a wider lens, the title can be interpreted as a suggestion that the fundamental American dream has perished, with Willy’s aspirations representing the perpetual struggle of all Americans to prosper and achieve social advancement. Although our nation’s “ragsto-riches” success stories are numerous, few Americans genuinely manage to attain the great fortunes that are so often portrayed as “guaranteed” in those fables. Whereas Biff eventually comes to terms with the fact that his family’s ideals are but illusions, his stubborn father refuses to relent, and thus Willy’s unresolved fantasies must go to the grave along with him. Even Willy’s final wish, for Biff to use his inheritance money to become a successful businessman, is doomed when Biff recognizes the foolhardiness of his father’s delusions and adamantly refuses to follow in his footsteps. Finally, the entirety of the plot can be seen as being centered on the search for an ideal “death of a salesman.” Under this interpretation, Willy’s death at the end of the play is inevitable. Instead, the true focus of the plot lies in Willy’s desperate search for, and ultimate failure to attain, his ideal vision of death: one where he is surrounded by hordes of faithful acquaintances and will be remembered for having been “well-liked.” 2. What significance do you attach to the names of the characters? The choice of names for the characters in “Death of a Salesman” is a not-so-subtle use of irony by Arthur Miller to immediately distinguish between the ideals of and actual attributes of each figure. This is especially apparent in the names of the three central male protagonists: Willy, Biff, and Happy. Willy, although he puts on a façade of determination and ambition, never truly displays any of the “will” that he is named for. Indeed, by the end of the play, his delirium leads him to commit suicide, an act that many characters condemn as cowardly. Biff, although his name suggests masculinity and confidence, is largely submissive in attitude towards his own competence. It is Biff above all other characters who repeatedly questions his own ability to achieve greatness, and who ultimately relinquishes his family’s glorified but unrealistic ambitions. Happy, although he appears far more confident and relatable than his older brother Biff, is never truly content over the course of the play. Constantly striving to earn his father’s recognition, Happy is never able to earn the attention that Biff unhappily receives, and must therefore settle for attention from the numerous females that he sleeps with. Finally, the last name shared by these three characters, Loman, presents the greatest irony. Although Willy struggles for his entire life to thrive and become known, he ultimately fails to overcome the curse that his surname bestows upon him as a “low man.” 3. Describe Biff’s relationship with his father and his brother, Happy. Biff’s relationship with his father Willy is clearly a strained one, one that remains unresolved even at the conclusion of the play. This tension is not due to a conscious effort from either party, but rather is due to the conflicting fundamental ideals of the two characters. Whereas
Michael Duan Block 8 Willy is tragically idealistic and refuses to back down from his extravagant ambitions for himself and his son, Biff is more sensible and recognizes when too much has been placed on his plate. Willy’s dissatisfaction with his eldest son stems from Biff’s failures to meet his overwhelming and intrusive expectations. Biff, on the other hand, has become disillusioned with his father since his exposure of Willy’s infidelity, a disillusionment that continues to grow as Willy’s aspirations infringe further and further onto Biff’s ability to manage his personal life. Even at the resolution of the plot (where Willy commits suicide, believing that the insurance money will spark Biff’s drive for success), the relationship between the two remains irreconcilable, as Biff rejects his father’s final wish and conclusively terminates any aspirations he once might have held towards becoming a businessman. Biff’s relationship with his younger brother Happy is a slightly more complex one. While Biff and Willy are hostile to each other from the very start and show very little improvement in their relationship over the course of the plot, Biff and Happy initially seem to share a compassionate brotherly bond. Indeed, they seem to be thrilled at the prospect of going into business together in the sporting goods industry. Towards the end of the tragedy, however, it is evident that rifts have formed between the two. Happy grows increasingly jealous of Willy’s showering of attention on Biff, and even begins to resort to formulating false announcements of his impending marriage for the sole purpose of garnering acknowledgement. Biff, on the other hand, becomes frustrated with Happy’s empty optimism and heavily exaggerated accounts of his family’s success, and seems to recognize Happy’s gradual transformation into the self-deluded figure of their father. 4. How does Miller characterize Willy? Which of his characteristics are highlighted? What kind of a man is he? To what extent and by what means is he considered a failure? Does anyone consider him a success? Why or why not? Although Miller characterizes Willy with many negative traits and few positive ones, he does not intend to portray Willy as a fundamentally “bad” being, one who is not at all relatable to the reader. Instead, he allows Willy’s numerous shortcomings and their implications to become the center of the plot, giving the opportunity for readers to empathize with the primary protagonist in the process. As the events of the play unfold, Willy’s thoughts and actions reveal that he is hypocritical (giving advice to Biff about how to handle social situations and later blatantly disregarding his own words), foolishly ambitious (with his delusional aspirations for both himself and his son Biff as salesmen, stubbornly prideful (rejecting the sensible job offer from Charley solely due to arrogance), self-aggrandizing (boasting about his great wealth and popularity when in reality he has neither), and has wavering loyalty (clearly visible when he has his affair with The Woman), among other poor characteristics. However, Willy remains a benevolent and very human being at heart, evident by his self-sacrifice to aid Biff’s chances of success. Indeed, the underlying wish behind all of Willy’s fantasies is simply for his family to prosper. Despite the visible threads of humanity that remain in Willy’s character, he goes to the grave at the conclusion of the tragedy very much a failure. He has failed to achieve the noble and idealized “death of a salesman” that he has longed for his entire life. He has failed to even come close to fulfilling his great ambitions for himself, in becoming a revered and “well-liked” salesman who is known throughout the land. He has even failed to instill in his eldest son Biff his aspirations in becoming this salesman, dreams that instead fall to Happy. Happy, in fact, is the only character
Michael Duan Block 8 that truthfully considers Willy (or at least his ideas) a success, as it is he who inherits Willy’s misled pursuits at the end of the play. 5. What roles do women have in this play? Comment on Willy’s relationship with them. Consider Biff’s relationship with women as well. The women in this play serve largely submissive roles, and are present primarily to offer comfort and consolation to the male protagonists. These women act as outlets to distract Willy, Happy, and (to a lesser extent) Biff from the harsh realities of their positions in society. The Woman is utilized by Willy as a reliable source of attention and recognition, treasures that society cannot normally offer him. Willy sees in The Woman the doting, admiring devotees that he longs for, and thus turns to his affair when he fails to achieve status as a popular salesman. Happy later uses Miss Forsythe and Letta in a similar fashion, obtaining from them the valued attention that his father constantly denies him. Linda is unquestionably the strongest emotionally out of all the females in the play, serving as a voice of reason to balance out Willy’s delirium; she, however, still derives her primary importance from her efforts in supporting and protecting her husband. Biff’s relationship with women is less explicit, as he experiences the least encounters with females out of the three male protagonists. Biff is even shown avoiding the two call girls in the restaurant while Happy mercilessly flirts with them. However, it is mentioned in the play that in his early years, Biff was berated for being “too rough” with the girls of the town, and had many female admirers due to his status as a football star. It seems possible that after his discovery of Willy’s infidelity with The Woman, Biff has fundamentally changed his position on females. 6. Identify two minor characters and explain their significance for the play’s action and theme(s). Bernard, the son of Willy’s neighbor Charley and childhood friend of Biff, serves as a constant reminder to Willy of his son’s failure. In their high school years, Biff is described as a popular and “well-liked” student athlete, whereas Willy sneers at Bernard as a “nerd” who is not “well-liked.” In the end, however, Biff fails to surpass Bernard in their pursuits, as Biff fades into a life of obscurity while Bernard becomes a successful lawyer and goes on to argue an important case in front of the Supreme Court. Willy cannot seem to comprehend why the lowly Bernard is able to prosper while his son fails in his various attempts to find calling in life. Indeed, Bernard serves as a “revelation” of sorts to the reader that Willy’s preconception of being “well-liked” as a man’s most important characteristic is a misguided one. The Woman, while she herself as no real importance as a person, is immensely significant to the plot’s progression due to the implications of her existence. Her mere presence sets into motion a dramatic deterioration of events as Willy’s infidelity is exposed, Biff resigns his oncesolid determination, and the Loman family collapses in on itself. The Woman’s affair with Willy reveals the underlying weakness and insecurity of his character, as well as dealing a devastating blow to his relationship with Biff. This event also causes the beginning Biff’s disillusionment with his father’s glorious ideals, and eventually allows him to realize the enormity of the lies that his household is entrenched in. It is important to note, however, that The Woman herself is not responsible for the events that take place in the play. Rather, she is simply the spark that ignites the existing, unstable conditions.
Michael Duan Block 8 7. Describe Miller’s staging of the play. Consider his use of lighting and music, and the way he dramatizes dreams and memories. Miller does not take consideration of the staging of the play lightly, and it is in many cases just as important as the dialogue of the characters themselves. Above all else, however, Miller takes special care in dramatizing the various flashbacks that Willy experiences over the course of the tragedy. Because Willy perceives these visions as very real, there must be some indication to the audience that the plot has shifted to Willy’s illusions, and Miller masterfully creates this distinction through his imaginative use of lighting and music. When Willy slips into the blissful recollections of his memory, the lights shift to create something of a “drugged” effect, where the mood becomes lighter and the tone more bouncy. The distinctive music that accompanies these scenes also aids the audience in distinguishing between reality and illusion. 8. What his typically “American” about Miller’s play? What cultural attitudes and values displayed by the characters provide it with an American tone? The fundamental mindset of Willy, and to a lesser extent, Happy, revolve around the pursuit of the American dream. The attitudes of Willy and Happy are unceasingly optimistic about their own capabilities for social and economic advancement, an attitude that is very characteristic of America but that also ultimately serves to be Willy’s (and eventually Happy’s, it is likely) downfall. In addition, Willy’s personal mantra of being “well-liked” over all else represents another very American value, especially with the advent of our growing celebrity culture and political scene. Over the entirety of the play, Willy engages in a classically American struggle for prosperity and success. He constantly dreams of becoming a noble, respected salesman, one who is both wealthy in terms of material wealth and wealthy in terms of admiration. Willy’s ultimate failure to realize this dream, however, is a message from Miller that his aspirations were misplaced. This play, therefore, can be interpreted as a critique of sorts on the validity of the American dream, as the characters that actively pursue it are doomed to failure while the characters that learn to accept their conditions achieve a sense of enlightenment. 9. Published in 1947, Death of a Salesman has been among the most popular plays of the American theater. What accounts for the play’s perennial appeal? Much of the appeal of “Death of a Salesman” stems from the fact that its characters are not mighty kings, nor overly exaggerated lovers, but rather are common men, not too radically different from the prospective reader. While the great masterpieces of Shakespeare are magnificent and will forever hold a valued niche in the canon of poetic literature, their subjects seem a bit detached from the daily lives of the modern American people. Although the stories may be compelling, Americans will understandably find it difficult to identify with the characters of Macbeth or Romeo. It is here that Arthur Miller achieves his most profound success: relatability. In his plays, particularly “Death of a Salesman,” theater-goers can easily witness their own potential experiences recreated on the stage. Here, the audience can truly empathize with Willy’s perpetual failure as he pursues the American dream so fundamentally shared by all of us. Each time a new impediment or obstacle is placed in Willy’s doomed path, the audience can feel it as a personal blow. Here as a man, one who is good and just at heart, one who is so similar to ourselves, who is
Michael Duan Block 8 repeatedly refused the granting of his determined wishes and whose situation is becoming so common in American society today. 10. Read Miller’s essay, “Tragedy and the Common Man”, and comment on the degree to which his remarks illuminate his intentions and define his achievement in the play. Miller’s greatest achievement in producing “Death of a Salesman” lies not in the plot of or characters in the play, but rather in the genre of the production itself. According to his essay “Tragedy and the Common Man,” Miller’s true achievement lies in his bringing of tragedy to a temporal atmosphere hostile to tragedy. In the essay, Miller claims that the tragedy has fallen out of favor with the audiences of our contemporary American society. He views it as his duty, then, to reexamine the art form of the theatrical tragedy and tailor it to suit the tastes of the modern America. He does this by carefully crafting the primary protagonists as relatable characters, thus enabling and encouraging the audience to subconsciously evaluate themselves as they evaluate the fictional character of Willy.