Death of a salesman : certain private conversations in two acts and a requiem
Arthur Miller's play Death of a Salesman addresses loss of identity and a man's inability to accept change within himself and society. The play is a montage of memories, dreams, confrontations, and arguments, all of which make up the last 24 hours of salesman Willy Loman's life. Willy is not an invincible father or a loyal husband or a fantastically successful salesman like he wants everyone to believe. He is self-centered and cannot acknowledge the fact that he is only marginally successful. Hence, Willy fantasizes about lost opportunities for wealth, fame, and notoriety. The play demonstrates how one individual can create a self-perpetuating cycle that expands to include other individuals. This is certainly the case within the Loman family--Willy, Linda, Biff, and Happy--who construct a self-perpetuating cycle of denial, contradiction, and order versus disorder. The play continues to affect audiences because it allows them to hold a mirror up to themselves. Willy vehemently denies Biff's claim that they are both common, ordinary people, but ironically, it is the universality of the play that makes it so enduring
Print Book, English, 1949
Viking Press, New York, 1949