Death of a Salesman - tctwebstage.com.docVIP

Death of a Salesman Study Guide Key Facts full title ?·?Death of a Salesman: Certain Private Conversations in Two Acts and a Requiem author ?·?Arthur Miller type of work ?·?Play genre ?·?Tragedy, social commentary, family drama language ?·?English (with emphasis on middle-class American lingo) time and place written ?·?Six weeks in 1948, in a shed in Connecticut date of first publication ?·?1949 original publisher ?·?The Viking Press climax ?·?The scene in Frank’s Chop House and Biff’s final confrontation with Willy at home protagonists ?·?Willy Loman, Biff Loman antagonists ?·?Biff Loman, Willy Loman, the American Dream setting (time) ?·?“Today,” that is, the present; either the late 1940s or the time period in which the play is being produced, with “daydreams” into Willy’s past; all of the action takes place during a twenty-four-hour period between Monday night and Tuesday night, except the “Requiem,” which takes place, presumably, a few days after Willy’s funeral setting (place) ?·?According to the stage directions, “Willy Loman’s house and yard [in Brooklyn] and . . . various places he visits in . . . New York and Boston” falling action ?·?The “Requiem” section, although the play is not really structured as a classical drama tense ?·?Present foreshadowing ?·?Willy’s flute theme foreshadows the revelation of his father’s occupation and abandonment; Willy’s preoccupation with Linda’s stockings foreshadows his affair with The Woman; Willy’s automobile accident before the start of Act I foreshadows his suicide at the end of Act II tone ?·?The tone of Miller’s stage directions and dialogue ranges from sincere to parodying, but, in general, the treatment is tender, though at times brutally honest, toward Willy’s plight themes ?·?The American Dream; abandonment; betrayal motifs ?·?Mythic figures; the American West; Alaska; the African jungle symbols ?·?Seeds; diamonds; Linda’s and the womon’s stockings; the rubber hose Context Arthur Miller was born in New York City o