Death of a Salesman – Themes

[amy keung]

Death of a Salesman — Archetypal Themes

Interesting features
intercalation of reality and Willy’s fantasies
A Doll’s House: only reality is presented
Our Town: departure from the “reality” of the play to the emphasis on
the artificiality of the theater

Major themes
American dream
Willy’s dream for himself and his sons to be successful
Decimated dreams
Through Willy’s downward spiral into despair and eventual suicide,
Miller presents the tragedy of one’s failure of achieving their dream

Connections
Charley and his son Bernard are the antitheses to Willy and his sons
Charley and Bernard are portrayed to be successful; Willy is the
epitome of failure
Juxtaposition of reality and Willy’s imagination as a structural
device that highlights Willy’s delusions
Miller shows the audience that Willy is too enraptured within his
ideal world to notice the problems he faces in reality
theme: Willy’s blindness

Effects on the audience
The audience’s confusion as a result of the vague distinctions between
reality and fantasy
The audience pities Willy and his family; Miller creates this
emotional connection between the audience and the protagonist of the
play to maintain interest

Comparison with other works
A Doll’s House
Both Miller and Ibsen present their protagonists as characters who aim
to achieve a goal
Miller’s character Willy fails, while Nora succeeds in leaving
Helmer’s household
Our Town
Both plays end in tragedy caused by the common theme of blindness,
catalyzed by the central character’s death
Willy’s suicide marks his ultimate failure, caused by his being
delusional
Emily’s death is the pivotal point in the play from which she starts
to realize the blindness of humans

Phrases/collocations
Throughout Death of A Salesman, Miller illustrates the theme of (...)
Miller juxtaposes (...) with the characters’ inattentiveness to (…)
The playwright impels the audience (………….)

Key quotes
A diamond is hard and rough to the touch.
Nothing’s planted. I don’t have a thing in the ground.

Possible paper 2 question topics
In what ways and to what extent do dramatists present ignorance and/or
blindness?
In what ways and to what extent do dramatists present characters’
failures?