Death of a Salesman is a play written by Arthur Miller. The play is about the life of Willy Loman, a salesman who is struggling to make ends meet. The play explores the themes of family, success, and failure. Death of a Salesman is considered to be one of the greatest American plays ever written.
The play is set in the late 1940’s in New York City and is about a sixty-year-old man named Willy Loman who is in the process of losing his grip on reality. His problems stem from his disillusionment with his life, which he tries to escape by living in the past. In the present, he is a traveling salesman for a company that no longer values him because he is too old and does not bring in enough business. In addition, his sons Biff and Happy are both failures in his eyes.
Biff was once a star athlete with a promising future, but he failed to live up to his potential and now works as a janitor. Happy is a successful businessman, but he is shallow and dishonest. Willy’s only hope is that Biff will be able to have a successful life, but when Biff confronts him about his lies and lack of success, Willy cannot handle the truth and kills himself.
Death of a Salesman is a tragedy because it shows how the American dream can turn into a nightmare when it is based on false illusions. Willy Loman believed that he could be successful if he just worked hard enough, but he did not realize that his talent was not enough to make him successful.
In addition, he placed too much importance on material possessions and appearances, which led to his downfall. The play also shows how the pressure to succeed can lead to mental and emotional problems. Willy Loman was under a lot of pressure to provide for his family and to be successful, but he was not able to handle the pressure and it eventually led to his downfall.
Death of a Salesman is an important play because it shows how the American dream can fail if it is based on false illusions. It is also a cautionary tale about the dangers of putting too much pressure on oneself to succeed. The play is still relevant today because there are many people who are still struggling to achieve the American dream.
At the start of this play, Willy Loman is an idealistic young man with no ambition or drive who has made $100 million by age thirty-one. His dream of success and the American Dream are what he lives for, but all his hopes are shattered in a single day when his father dies and leaves him alone to deal with death.
The main themes of Death of a Salesman are the notion of the American Dream, what it takes to succeed, and the struggle to distinguish between reality and illusion. Willy Loman is married to Linda and has two sons named Biff and Happy. Ben, Charley, Bernard, as well as several women from the hotel
The play is set in New York City and starts with Willy coming home from a business trip. He has been fired from his job and is struggling to understand what happened. His wife Linda tries to comfort him, but he is fixated on the idea that he has failed as a salesman. Biff, his older son, comes home and Willy is overjoyed to see him. However, their reunion is short-lived as Biff quickly realizes that his father is not the man he used to be.
Willy begins to flashback to when Biff was a young boy and was always getting into trouble. One time, he even stole some lumber from a construction site to build a shed for his baseball equipment. Despite Biff’s mistakes, Willy always believed in him and was confident that he would be a success.
The next day, Happy, Willy’s younger son, comes home from work. He is successful in sales and has a good relationship with his boss. However, Willy is convinced that Happy is not doing as well as he could be. This causes tension between the two of them.
Later, Willy has a conversation with his neighbor Charley. He borrows money from him and asks for a job, but Charley turns him down. Willy becomes increasingly frustrated and starts to hallucinate. He sees his deceased brother Ben, who tells him that he should have gone west instead of staying in New York. Willy continues to have hallucinations and eventually dies.
The play ends with Linda, Biff, and Happy grieving over Willy’s death. They all realize that he was not the man they thought he was. However, they also see that he was a victim of the false promises of the American dream.
Willy has always desired to be a popular and successful individual among others, but he has yet to achieve anything. Willy is presented as a typical guy in Miller’s play. In an essay entitled “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 Necessary,” Miller says I believe 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 needed be, to preserve one thing his sense of personal worth (Miller, 1). In this passage, while expressing that someone would give up everything – even their own life – for their dignity.
Dignity is important to Willy because it is a sign of success and likeability. However, dignity is also important to the reader because it allows the reader to empathize with Willy. Death of a Salesman makes the reader question what the definition of success truly is.
Success is often associated with wealth or fame, but Miller shows that this is not always the case. In Death of a Salesman, Miller argues that sometimes the most successful people are not necessarily the ones who are rich or famous. Instead, he argues that the most successful people are those who have a strong sense of personal dignity. This is something that Willy does not have, and it ultimately leads to his downfall.
By definition, then, success does not always equate to wealth or fame. Instead, success can be measured by a variety of different factors, including personal dignity. Death of a Salesman teaches us that sometimes the most successful people are not necessarily the ones who are the richest or most famous, but rather the ones who have a strong sense of personal dignity. This is an important lesson that we can all learn from.
Willy is eager to give up everything in order to succeed as a great salesman and be recognized as a strong salesperson. The play begins when Willy returns home from a selling trip. He is growing old and weary of traveling long distances. His two sons, Biff and Happy, are visiting the family. Linda asks Willy why Biff is unemployed, penniless, and stranded at home. Willy believes that his two sons, particularly Biff, will become successful, but he did not see that even his own children were unable to do so.
Linda tries to comfort Willy and reminds him of the good times they have had together. She is worried about his health and she insists that he see Howard, his boss, about getting a new job closer to home.
Willy goes to New York City to visit Howard. He is upset that he has not been given a raise in salary and that he has been asked to retire. Howard tries to explain that times have changed and that Willy is no longer an effective salesman. When Willy becomes angry and starts yelling, Howard fires him.
Willy returns home and tells Linda he has been fired. Linda does her best to console him, but Willy is inconsolable. He feels like a complete failure.