Death Of A Salesman by Arthur Miller: A two scene play

Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, a play set in the early 1900’s, follows the story of a common working man, Willy Loman, a traveling salesman. The play follows Willy in the last 24 hours leading to his death, over the span of two scenes. 

The first scene takes place in the characters home, a place where the majority of the play takes place. We are introduced to Willy and his family; Linda is wife, and thier two sons, Biff and Happy. Throughout this first scene, it is brought to our attention, the unstable and tragedy that is Willy Loman. The play itself is categorized as a tragedy, and we see this theme loom over Willy as we see decisions of both the past and present catch up to him and he reflects on this question of: was his life such a failure? A question that Miller kept in mind while writing the play, as he took into consideration the world around him. 

During the time Miller was writing the play, he acknowledged the concept of The American Dream, and what this really looked like. Having grown up in luxury and having since moved to a “dead end corner” of Brooklyn at the age of 13, we can see where Miller had struck inspiration for his works. Miller had visited Brooklyn prior to his move, to visit his cousins, whose fathers were salesmen; the inspiration of the character Willy, had come to the realization that the landscape was much different than he had recalled. Note this was around 1928, just before the Stock Market Crash. With it being so open and free, the open space used for hunting and the greenery extending in all directions, this was not the same Brooklyn that Miller came into years later; how Brooklyn had shrunk and houses appearing as far as the eye can see. All of this sets the stage for

Death of a Salesman, as Willy constantly criticizes the lack of nature present in his home. The opening stage directions makes it apparent that the Loman's home is the last one standing as large apartment buildings surround and enclose it. Mentions of wanting to grow a garden, but can’t due to a lack of sunlight is brought up towards the end. Miller had planted two trees in his family home in Brooklyn, attempting to bring some life to the misshapen porch he’d built. We see those same trees be brought up in the play, when Willy mentions hanging up a hammock between the two, but just like the real trees that Miller planted, the trees in the play get cut down. In the case of the play, due to the construction of the apartment buildings being put up. 

Speaking of the play, again this idea of home, the significance of the house which is where the majority of the play takes place, with only two other locations being shown for a brief moment. The stage set up of

the play is one that hasn’t been done before in theater. For the uniqueness of attempting to showcase past and present simultaneously, the house as depicted on stage is displayed to be transparent. A house which to us is meant to shelter and enclose itself from the outside, now stands skeleton like, the bones of a house appears on stage. As mentioned, the main character Willy, is undergoing such an existential crisis, that the character begins to break down, much like the house. 

The house is old and barely standing. Willy makes repairs and payments and yet the car, the fridge, the ceilings are breaking down. Much like Willy, no amount of patchwork can truly fix the mess this character has put himself in. As the play goes on, we see the character becomes delusional. He slips into memories and delusions of the past and present which are depicted on stage. How do you depict memories in real time? Well due to the structure of the set, the walls are so thin, characters can walk through and around the set showcasing the change in time. The music and lighting also allows the audience to tell what point in time is being depicted at the moment. 

These themes of haunting, the idea of the past haunting Willy, is very much present throughout the play, and much of the stories we've read in this class. The idea of generational trauma is seen, and the failures of Willy, is being pushed onto his sons who can't live up to their fathers expectations. They too are haunted by their past of who they were and who they are now. How the two characters, the past and present version of a person you see before you are not the same. The way this setting is established allows for everything to be laid right out in front of you and this idea of reality versus delusions or false happiness, fabricated happiness, is so far mapped out in front of you through the structure of the house, it stands as a work of art in itself. A tragedy indeed.

Work Cited

Arthur Miller + death of a salesman. The Kennedy Center. (n.d.). https://www.kennedy-center.org/education/resources-for-educators/classroom-resources/media-and-interactives/media/theater/arthur-miller--death-of-a-salesman/#:~:text=Miller’s%20most%20famous%20plays%20are,of%20Death%20of%20a%20Salesman.

Stapinski, H. (2016, January 22). Arthur Miller’s Brooklyn. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/24/nyregion/arthur-millers-brooklyn.html