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Death of A Salesman (Paperback)
by Arthur Miller
| Category:
Fiction, Play |
| Market price: ¥ 128.00
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¥ 118.00
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| MSL Pointer Review:
A powerfully sad story of the American Dream gone awry when a small man is destroyed by society's false values. |
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Author: Arthur Miller
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics); 1 edition
Pub. in: October, 1998
ISBN: 0140481346
Pages: 144
Measurements: 7.7 x 5.1 x 0.3 inches
Origin of product: USA
Order code: BA00463
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- Awards & Credential -
Arthur Miller was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for this famed play in 1949. |
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- MSL Picks -
Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller’s masterpiece, certainly is a contender for the finest American drama of the 20th century.
Arthur Miller, one of American's greatest modern playwrights, wrote Death of a Salesman during the 40s. The play turned heads upon its first production in 1949 and has continued to be read and preformed ever since. Through Miller's many characters, he captured the heart and soul of many post-World War II Americans.
Miller constantly paints a picture of a new era, the business era. He openly portrays the business world as mean and ruthless. His character, Willy Loman, accurately represents many of the people who face hardships in the name of business. Willy's depressing home life is a result of his pursuit of success in the business world.
Miller's ideas of the American dream abound throughout the play. He demonstrates this through his character: Happy. Happy is a carefree young man whose only desire is to please his father, Willy. His idea of the ideal American dream is the typical 9 to 5 job with the perfect house and family. While he may desire these goals, his main objective is his father's approval.
Throughout the play, Miller constantly reverberates different ideas and values. For instance, he shows the negativity of parents who live their lives through their children. This philosophy can be seen through the character of Biff, who constantly is straining to be free from his oppressive father, Willy. While Biff wishes to please his father, he doesn't want to be the man his father wants him to become. His dreams are different from that of his fathers, yet Willy disregards his son's dreams.
Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman is unique and groundbreaking for his time period. I honestly enjoyed the play despite the depressing plot. I don't recommend that u read, but rather see it or perform it. In straight lines, the play makes no sense, but with the added lighting and acting, it comes alive in a way that makes u enjoy the story.
By studying this classic play, I have come to realize that life is what you make it to be, not what is handed to you. If you really want something, you have to work for it. Nothing is free, and everything comes with a price. No one can tell you how to live your life. Your ideas and desires are what counts, not the ideas and desires of another person. You have to live with yourself, so fill your life with happiness and joy. We only live once, so live it to the fullest.
Target readers:
General readers
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From the Publisher:
A play in "two acts and a requiem" by Arthur Miller, written in 1948 and produced in 1949. Miller won a Pulitzer Prize for the work, which he described as "the tragedy of a man who gave his life, or sold it" in pursuit of the American Dream. After many years on the road as a traveling salesman, Willy Loman realizes he has been a failure as a father and husband. His sons, Happy and Biff, are not successful - on his terms (being "well-liked") or any others. His career fading, Willy escapes into reminiscences of an idealized past. In the play's climactic scene, Biff prepares to leave home, starts arguing with Willy, confesses that he has spent three months in jail, and mocks his father's belief in "a smile and a shoeshine." Willy, bitter and broken, his illusions shattered, commits suicide.
Arthur Miller seemed to capture the sometimes tragic plight of the common man with his Death of a Salesman. Harold Bloom, Sterling Professor of the Humanities, Yale University, suggests the strength of the play is puzzling but beyond dispute, lying more in its presentation on stage than its written form. The play's continued vitality is unquestioned.
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An American reader (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-05 00:00>
One of the most popular and famous plays of post-O'Neill theater, Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman is the playwright's masterpiece and a true classic not only of American drama, but also of American literature as a whole. Though it came out in the late 1940's, its universal applicability has endured throughout the ensuing decades and the play still has much to tell us today. As has been noted, 20th century American drama tended to focus primarily on the family. The family presented in Death of a Salesman - like the families in Tennessee William's The Glass Menagerie and Cat On a Hot Tin Roof - is, in many ways, the prototypical American family, although many would not like to admit it. Salesman's dys- functional family preceded the rosier, harmonious families that would come to dominate 50's television; it doesn't take a prophet or even a sociologist to determine which of the two is more true-to-life. In the Loman family, we can see much of ourselves and our families - even if it is the parts that we would rather not think about and focus on. The play also deals with the capitalist system as it stood in the middle of the 20th century; most agree that, to the extent that it has changed since then, it has only been for the worse. Willy Loman, the play's main character and the prototypical Everyman, is a victim of the dog-eat-dog world of business that is a true manifestation of "survival of the fittest": good times are forgotten; nobody cares what one has done in the past: all that matters is, What have you done for me lately? The play shows how a man - and yes, a man: the play was written in the 1940's, after all... and notice that the matriarch, despite the family's hard times, does not work - is judged not by whom he is, not by his virtues, but simply by what he does and how much money he makes (of course, nearly 60 years later, this now extends to women as well.) It doesn't matter how good a man is, how much he loves his family, how much he cares for his children, how much he loves his wife - if he can't make enough money to keep food on the table. A man who doesn't do that, at least in society's eyes, is a complete and total failure: nothing else matters. Willy's inability to escape from this system leads to his total and complete focus on money and work, driving his attention away from what matters most to him, his family, and ends in his tragic fate. Such a plight is, no doubt, familiar to many Americans. The right to the "pursuit of happiness" may be in the Declaration of Independence for all to read, but achieving the proverbial American Dream isn't always that easy: it's trying, it's difficult, it's hard - and, indeed, it can be fatal. This is what the play tells us, and its truth is why the play has endured through the years and why it will continue to endure. This is a true masterpiece that deserves to be read by all. |
Mack (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-05 00:00>
I first fell in love with the work of Arthur Miller while I was doing my undergraduate studies several years ago. Death of a Salesman was among the assigned readings. I instantly fell in love with the story and wrote a paper about it. When I recently saw a used copy of Death of a Salesman for fifty cents, I seized the opportunity to enjoy this work again.
The main character, Willy Loman faces a hopeless situation. He receives no sense of fulfillment from his job, his sons are disappointments, and he is haunted my missed opportunities of his life. The only opportunity to save Willy from his demise seems to be the poteantial of his sons to become successful. While their failure seems eminent, Willy sees hope in their attempts. When the sons attempts at success prove futile, it leads to Willy's demise.
Any person who feels underappreciated in life can empathize with Willy Loman. Statements that Arthur Miller made about the American landscape then are still applicable today. Some people would rather not succeed in life as long as they can enjoy themselves. Our missed opprtunities can haunt us for the rest of our lives. But Miller's loudest statement is that in spite of your work and dedication to others, it is possible that nobody will go your funeral. A sad but true statement about a fast paced society.
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Michael Crane (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-05 00:00>
Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman, while confusing when just read through the text alone, is an awesomely crafted play that takes drama to the next level. Now being interested in plays, I decided it was time to read this one, being that this is considered a classic by many (which I could easily see why). Reading this play makes me want to write plays. Reading something like this makes me believe that I can some up with something great too. I am glad that I finally took the time to read it.
The story is about a broken-hearted salesman, Willy Loman. He is a man no longer living in the real world but is mostly trapped in his own delusional world. He can't let go of the past no matter how hard he tries, and it's eating him up inside. He wants to believe that his family is a shoe-in for greatness, no matter how lonely and sad his wife is, or how much of a player/swinger his youngest son is, or how confused and anti-business his oldest son is. You put all of this together and you get a glimpse of an American tragedy that is so powerful and sad that it makes you think these things happen all the time. From Page 1 you know it's not going to end on a happy note, but you decide to take the path anyways. And a path worth taking it is.
I admit that I was confused at certain points, because through the text alone it is very hard to separate Willy's reality from his imagination. There are places where Willy departs from reality and goes back to the past and it makes it very hard for us to figure out what is going on if we're only reading it. When I saw the movie version after reading this, I was able to appreciate the play more. I understood what confused me and I was able to figure out what was happening. Despite some confusing moments it is still a tremendous play that is very involving from start to finish. You are able to sympathize with the main character, and with the rest of the characters as well. You know a writer has done the job right when you are able to feel or care for every single character (or at least almost all of them, being there will be a few minor characters you're really not supposed to care for that much. This is something that always happens in the world of fiction and is to be expected). Arthur Miller did an amazing job of writing such a realistic and emotionally driven play. The characters were realistic as well as the dialogue.
Death of a Salesman is more than just simply a stunning play; it is a beautiful portrait of a family dealing with hardships and troubles. As soon as I began the play I was unable to put it down until it was finished. If you want to read a great play and are interested in great works of drama, this is the one for you.
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Kristen (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-05 00:00>
Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller, describes the traditional highs and lows of the "American Dream". The way Miller has portrayed the different characters really shows the tragic reality of what Americans must cope with in their lives. In this playwright the audience is introduced to four main characters. Willy is the father and is pretty much losing his mind and is holding on to things that should've been let go of. Linda, his wife, is caring and completely adores him. Together they have two sons the elder is Biff, and Happy the younger one. Miller shows how dreams will not always turn out the way you imagined them to be.
Millers' point in this play is showing the way Americans want that dream of having the wife stay at home and take care of the house and the husband make enough for the two of them and they live happily ever after. In reality though it really never turns out that way. He depicts this family, the Lowman family, and how they struggle to survive. In this struggle Linda is found alone in her family. Seeing how Willy is going crazy and Biff and Happy only come home just to go away once more. As we are introduced to Act I you can see the drama in their family and how it only gets worse. The family that we perceive as perfect becomes helpless and sad. It then comes to the point that suicides an option for Willy just so that Biff can make it in the business world.
A life lesson that I have learned through this is that the American Dream isn't half as much as everyone makes it to be. There are so many things that are wrong about the "dream" that many people overlook. People should use the gifts they're given and not settle for something less than it. By striving to accomplish something that you just aren't good at makes it tough to have success at that job. Therefore by exercising the talent we are given success is a lot more likely. Miller describes over and over again the idea of Willy wanting to be well like and even though that is a good thing, it can sometimes bite you back.
This saddening playwright is extremely well written and has a good storyline. The way he describes the lives of his characters and the way they lived is realistic and true to the lives of people today. The way that we can relate to the characters makes the play even more interesting. I definitely recommend this playwright because of its dramatic appeal and anyone who reads it will be able to relate somehow to one of the characters described.
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