Analyzing Death of a Salesman
Since its debut in 1949, Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman has captivated audiences. Miller’s ability to craft the story of Willy Lowman in the midst of his downfall, yet endear him to the audience is why Death of a Salesman is considered to be one of the greatest American plays. Of all the internal and external conflicts experienced by Willy the most notable and arguably the most detrimental were his beliefs that popularity was the key to success, obtaining material wealth was the ultimate measure of success, and professions that required labor were beneath him. Throughout the play, it was made very clear that Willy had high aspirations for himself and his oldest son, Biff, too. As Willy’s once tepid success began to taper off his expectations …show more content…
He accomplishes this by giving his viewers a cue to let them know when Willy is reminiscing. The way that Miller does this is by having Willy take his off glasses and clean them. Not only does this let audience know they are going to get a look into the salesman’s past because without his glasses Willy not only physically losses sight of his present situation, this cue might also suggest that the audience isn’t getting the full picture of what Willy’s past actually looked like, just how he wanted it to look. In these scenes, the spectators know they are about to get more information regarding what happened in the past, in order to get a better grasp on what is occurring in the present, but they must also infer that perhaps these looks back are quite nostalgic and thus skewed. The most apparent example of foreshadowing in this play, is by far the title, Miller chose it to mean a few things. He isn’t just talking about Willy’s literal death from suicide, by putting death instead of suicide in the title; Miller was implying that Willy’s death came long before his final car
Since its debut in 1949, Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman has captivated audiences. Miller’s ability to craft the story of Willy Lowman in the midst of his downfall, yet endear him to the audience is why Death of a Salesman is considered to be one of the greatest American plays. Of all the internal and external conflicts experienced by Willy the most notable and arguably the most detrimental were his beliefs that popularity was the key to success, obtaining material wealth was the ultimate measure of success, and professions that required labor were beneath him. Throughout the play, it was made very clear that Willy had high aspirations for himself and his oldest son, Biff, too. As Willy’s once tepid success began to taper off his expectations …show more content…
He accomplishes this by giving his viewers a cue to let them know when Willy is reminiscing. The way that Miller does this is by having Willy take his off glasses and clean them. Not only does this let audience know they are going to get a look into the salesman’s past because without his glasses Willy not only physically losses sight of his present situation, this cue might also suggest that the audience isn’t getting the full picture of what Willy’s past actually looked like, just how he wanted it to look. In these scenes, the spectators know they are about to get more information regarding what happened in the past, in order to get a better grasp on what is occurring in the present, but they must also infer that perhaps these looks back are quite nostalgic and thus skewed. The most apparent example of foreshadowing in this play, is by far the title, Miller chose it to mean a few things. He isn’t just talking about Willy’s literal death from suicide, by putting death instead of suicide in the title; Miller was implying that Willy’s death came long before his final car