America has long been known as a land of opportunity. Out of that thinking comes the “American Dream‚” the idea that anyone can ultimately achieve success‚ even if he or she began with nothing. In Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman‚ we follow Willy Loman as he reviews a life of desperate pursuit of a dream of success. In this classic drama‚ the playwright suggests to his audience both what is truthful and what is illusory in the American Dream and‚ hence‚ in the lives of millions of Americans. Unusual
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struggle to leave his mark upon the world. Willy Loman‚ the play’s central character‚ is often considered to be its’ ‘tragic hero’. The salesman grows increasingly disillusioned throughout the course of the play to the point where he eventually takes his own life. Willy’s life is a never-ending dream where he tries to persuade himself and others that he and his sons are successful‚ but‚ in the end Willy is unable to live up to his own expectations. Willy is little more than a failure and a crazed
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testament to the impossibility of fulfilling the American definition of success. Willy Loman‚ a failed‚ middle aged‚ businessman‚ struggles with his personal guilt and internal disappointment to the point of finding a solution in suicide. Symbolizing how success is unattainable while maintaining happiness‚ the motif of seeds mirrors Willy’s longing for a different life. Seized by the conforms of society’s expectations‚ Willy and his sons‚ Happy and Biff‚ suffer in individual silence‚ unable to pursue
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forties is played out on stage. The play tells the story of Willy Loman and his family. Willy‚ like so many other men‚ just wants to be successful and raise two successful sons. He wants to live the so called “American dream” that was so important during this time period. The success of a man and his family was how he was judged‚ if he and his sons were successful then he must be a great man. The seduction of the American dream is what Willy lives for‚ and dies for. As Arthur Miller shows in this play
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The Office (especially the British version‚ with Ricky Gervais instead of Steve Carell). Great – because that’s Willy Loman in a nutshell. He’s delusional‚ thinks everyone loves him‚ and is depressing in an "I’m manifesting everyone’s fears about obsession with material success" kind of way. But now that we’ve gotten a flashy pop culture reference out of the way‚ let’s get to the bigger picture. Death of a Salesman is often considered an attack on the American Dream. Sound familiar? In 2004‚
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DEATH OF A SALESMAN Study Guide for Teachers World-Class Theatre in the Heart of Vermont 703 Main Stre e t ‚ W eston‚ V T 05161 www.westonplayhouse.o rg The Weston Playhouse Theatre Company The 2010 WPTC Teacher’s Workshop and the School Matinee and Touring Production is made possible in part by grants from: The Bay and Paul Foundations Mountain Room Foundation National Endowment for the Arts The Shubert Foundation The Vermont Country Store and The Orton Family Vermont Humanities Council
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that Willy Loman faces are human flaw and delusional personality. Death of a Salesman is a story about a mentally disturbed man named Willy Loman and how he lives his life before his death. Willy has many flashbacks and illusions throughout the novel explaining the many reasons why he decides to choose death over life. Many critics have questioned and debated whether or not Death of a Salesman can be categorized as a tragedy. Death of a Salesman is classified as a tragedy because Willy Loman experiences
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will eventually fall due to their tragic flaw‚ and will come to a tragic realization of the error of their ways during this process. Death of A Salesman by Arthur Miller is indeed an American Tragedy‚ but the question is‚ is Willy Loman a tragic hero? First of all‚ Willy Loman is not from a high background‚ but rather a common American man with a warped sense of his “American Dream”‚ including his successes and family. Willy’s problems all stem from his delusions about his life‚ career‚ and ability
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through the Depression" (Rollyson) which had a significant influence on his life and works. As we see in the play‚ Willy Loman in a sense has two different realities. There is a Willy Loman -- "the financially burdened and emotionally exhausted main character (Thompson) -- is broken‚ an exhausted man in his sixties‚ near the end of his life. And there is the more confident‚ vigorous Willy Loman of some fifteen years before‚ who appears in flashbacks in the story. If we make a parallel between the story
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from the perspective of the protagonist Willy Loman. As the last name alludes‚ Willy has never accomplished anything in his life and now is at the very end of it where he still hopes of making it big in the world. He is 63 years old and has the mind of a child. Willy literally lives in the glory days of the past where his mind tends to switch back and forth‚ from the present to the past. From his name we learn how the reader is hanging on a cliff to see Willy “will he do it”. And His last name gives
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