In Arthur Miller's poignant drama "Death of a Salesman," Willy Loman, an aging salesman, grapples with the harsh realities of his unfulfilled dreams and the American Dream itself. As he clings to illusions of success, the threads of his family relationships unravel, revealing deep-seated regrets and aspirations. Willy's tragic journey forces us to confront the cost of ambition and societal expectations. With powerful dialogue and rich character development, Miller captures the essence of human fragility. Will Willy find redemption or will he be doomed to repeat the mistakes of his past?
By Arthur Miller
Published: 1976
"The great American dream is not about wealth; it’s about the relentless pursuit of identity and significance."
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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“The great American dream is not about wealth; it’s about the relentless pursuit of identity and significance.”
Death of a Salesman
By Arthur Miller
Discover a world of knowledge through our extensive collection of book summaries.
Arthur Miller (1915-2005) was an influential American playwright and essayist, renowned for his captivating narratives exploring themes of individuality, societal pressure, and morality. His most notable works include 'Death of a Salesman', 'The Crucible', and 'A View from the Bridge', all of which examine the struggles of the common man and the complexities of the human condition. Miller's writing style is characterized by its sharp dialogue, rich character development, and a poignant critique of American society, making him a significant figure in 20th-century literature.
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