Death of a Salesman
Books | Drama / American / General
3.7
(680)
Arthur Miller
The Pulitzer Prize-winning tragedy of a salesman’s deferred American dream Ever since it was first performed in 1949, Death of a Salesman has been recognized as a milestone of the American theater. In the person of Willy Loman, the aging, failing salesman who makes his living riding on a smile and a shoeshine, Arthur Miller redefined the tragic hero as a man whose dreams are at once insupportably vast and dangerously insubstantial. He has given us a figure whose name has become a symbol for a kind of majestic grandiosity—and a play that compresses epic extremes of humor and anguish, promise and loss, between the four walls of an American living room."By common consent, this is one of the finest dramas in the whole range of the American theater." —Brooks Atkinson, The New York Times"So simple, central, and terrible that the run of playwrights would neither care nor dare to attempt it." —Time
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More Details:
Author
Arthur Miller
Pages
144
Publisher
Penguin
Published Date
1998-05-01
ISBN
110104215X 9781101042151
Ratings
Google: 3.5
Community ReviewsSee all
"Ah yes, depression. Period defining depression. "
Sages
"Satirizes the psychological misleadings of “The American Dream.” The main character lives his whole life on the disillusioned vision that he is just on the cusp of immense riches. This, like many American workers of the post-Great-Depression era, passed along this toxic hope to the point of even spoiling the minds and livelihoods of his children."
Lauren Christian
"This play is a grim representation of the toll men's work takes on their lives. For the unsuccessful, it destroys their body and mind. Cannibalizing them for all of their positive qualities. Willy Loman is one such victim. Being a husk of a man. With a broken home and dementia that is continuing to worsen. Leaving him with no golden years. And nothing but unfinished works where his legacy. #deathofasalesman #arthurmiller #depression #drama "
Stanley Smith
"Good little play"
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Rebekah Travis
"I loved it!"
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Jeffery Gray
"Willy Loman is a salesman, one who has worked his whole life to make a name for himself, to earn a living and support his family, to gain respect and a legacy, but one who is now falling apart at the seams. This play is such an exploration of broken things, dreams, relationships and legacies. It begs the question of us, what are we aiming for, and are you certain that your goal is worth achieving, the reward worth the sacrifice? To me this play reinstates a focus on the today, not the popularity and the approval of today, but the fulfillment of right now. How can I make choices in my day that will give me fulfilment, how can I live my life not seeking a final reward but instead allow myself to experience the rewards along the way while still choosing to continually add meaning. Willy is not the first to get caught up in the tomorrow of it all, to focus on what his name means to others, but how can we learn from his story. How can we choose not to be a Willy Loman but instead actively purse the joy in the now, much like Linda. I want to see deeper than the profit, the sales and the stress, I want to enjoy the fridge while it works and make the most of a house I still have a mortgage on."
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Caitlin Betcher