Glass Salesman: A Comparison of Themes In a Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller

One dreams, through the use of imagination, of what will become of them as life progresses. In some cases that person lives passionately with desires of self fulfillment, eventually reaching their goals in an ever so content way. At other times one remains lost, underappreciated, and ultimately carries with them a perilous, loathing attitude. Willy Loman drives his life to the point of no return where images of his past become his contorted reality. Amanda Wingfield slips on the white dress of her adolescence and is suddenly thrown back in time, living as if she were the young girl she once was at Blue Mountain. Death of the Salesman by Arthur Miller was published in 1949, only four years preceding Tennessee Williams play of The Glass Menagerie. Interestingly enough, both plays begin with a glimpse of tragedy and end with self inflicted remorse. Although Death of the Salesman and The Glass Menagerie appear coincidently similar at first glance. Upon a closer examination, it becomes evident that the similarities stretch beyond just the time of publication, but into analogous themes as well. In particular, both plays battle with the distinction between illusion and reality, the incapability of living in the present, and the desire for escape.

One uses their thoughts in times of vulnerability to manoeuvre through situations. This may result in even the revertion to the influence of narcotics to numb oneselves from what is truly taking place. In both plays it is perceived that the characters have trouble with distinguishing what is a figment of their imagination and what is reality. Amanda and Willy both deny their childrens underachievement and faults and believe that the fate of their children lies within their hands. Thus, they imagine their children as being something they are not, in an attempt to hide their childrens failures. Such illusions allow Amanda and Willy to feel successful in forming Laura and Biffs lives. Amanda denies Laura as a cripple and corrects