the death of a salesman essay

105 Death of a Salesman Essay Topics & Examples

Death of a Salesman is Arthur Miller’s multiple award-winning stage play that explores such ideas as American Dream and family. Our writers have prepared a list of topics and tips on writing the Death of a Salesman thesis statement, essay, or literary analysis.

A Summary and Analysis of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

Death of a Salesman is that rare thing: a modern play that is both a classic, and a tragedy. Many of the great plays of the twentieth century are comedies, social problem plays, or a combination of the two. Few are tragedies centred on one character who, in a sense, recalls the theatrical tradition that gave us Oedipus, King Lear, and Hamlet.

But how did Miller come to write a modern tragedy? What is Death of a Salesman about, and how should we analyse it? Before we come to these questions, it might be worth briefly recapping the plot of what is, in fact, a fairly simple story.

Death of a Salesman : summary

The salesman of the title is Willy Loman, a travelling salesman who is in his early sixties. He works on commission, so if he doesn’t make a sale, he doesn’t get paid. His job involves driving thousands of miles around the United States every year, trying to sell enough to put food on his family’s table. He wants to get a desk job so he doesn’t have to travel around any more: at 62 years of age, he is tired and worn out.

He is married to Linda. Their son, Biff, is in his thirties and usually unemployed, drifting from one temporary job to another, much to Willy’s displeasure. Willy’s younger son, Happy, has a steady job along and his own home, and is therefore a success by Willy’s standards.

However, Happy, despite his name, isn’t happy with the life he has, and would quite like to give up his job and go and work on a ranch out West. Willy, meanwhile, is similarly dreaming, but in his case of the past, rather than the future: he thinks back to when Biff and Happy were small children and Willy was a success as a salesman.

The Lomans’ neighbour, Charley, offers Willy a job to help make ends meet, but Willy starts to reminisce about his recently deceased brother, Uncle Ben, who was an adventurer (and young Willy’s hero). Linda tells her sons to pay their father some respect, even though he isn’t himself a ‘great man’.

It emerges that Willy has been claiming to work as a salesman but has lately been borrowing money as he can’t actually find work. His plan is to take his own life so his family will receive life insurance money and he will be able, with his death, to do what he cannot do for them while alive: provide for them. Biff agrees reluctantly to go back to his former boss and ask for a job so he can contribute to the family housekeeping.

Meanwhile, Willy asks his boss, Howard, for his desk job and an advance on his next pay packet, but Howard sacks Willy. Willy then goes to Charley and asks for a loan. That night, at dinner, Willy and Biff argue (Biff failed to get his own former job back when his old boss didn’t even recognise him), and it turns out that Biff once walked in on his father with another woman.

Willy goes home, plants some seeds, and then – hearing his brother Ben calling for him to join him – he drives off and kills himself. At his funeral, only the family are present, despite Willy’s prediction that his funeral would be a big affair.

Death of a Salesman : analysis

Miller’s family had been relatively prosperous during the playwright’s childhood, but during the Great Depression of the 1930s, as with many other families, their economic situation became very precarious. This experience had a profound impact on Miller’s political standpoint, and this can be seen in much of his work for the theatre.

Death of a Salesman represented a decisive change of direction for the young playwright. His previous success as a playwright, All My Sons , was a social drama heavily influenced by Henrik Ibsen, but with his next play, Miller wished to attempt something new. The mixture of hard-hitting social realism and dreamlike sequences make Death of a Salesman an innovative and bold break with previous theatre, both by Miller and more widely.

In his essay ‘ Tragedy and the Common Man ’ (1949), which Miller wrote to justify his artistic decision to make an ordinary American man the subject of a theatrical tragedy, Miller argued that the modern world has grown increasingly sceptical, and is less inclined to believe in the idea of heroes.

As a result, they don’t see how tragedy, with its tragic hero, can be relevant to the modern world. Miller argues, on the contrary, that the world is full of heroes. A hero is anybody who is willing to lay down his life in order to secure his ‘sense of personal dignity’. It doesn’t matter what your social status or background is.

Death of a Salesman is an example of this ethos: Loman, who cheated on his wife and lied to his family about his lack of work and his reliance on friends who lent him money, makes his last gesture a tragic but selfless act, which will ensure his family have money to survive when he is gone.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that Miller is somehow endorsing the hero’s final and decisive act. The emphasis should always be on the word ‘tragedy’: Loman’s death is a tragedy brought about partly by his own actions, but also by the desperate straits that he is plunged into through the harsh and unforgiving world of sales, where once he is unable to earn money, he needs some other means of acquiring it so he can put food on the table for his family.

But contrary to what we might expect, there is something positive and even affirmative about tragedy, as Arthur Miller views the art form.

For Miller, in ‘Tragedy and the Common Man’, theatrical tragedy is driven by ‘Man’s total compunction to evaluate himself justly’. In the process of doing this, and attaining his dignity, the tragic hero often loses his life, but there is something affirmative about the events leading up to this final act, because the audience will be driven to evaluate what is wrong with society that it could destroy a man – a man willing to take a moral stand and evaluate himself justly – in the way that it has.

Does Willy Loman deserve to be pushed to take his own life just so his family can pay the bills? No, so there must be something within society that is at fault. Capitalism’s dog-eat-dog attitude is at least partly responsible, since it leads weary and worn-out men like Willy to dream of paying off their mortgage and having enough money, while simultaneously making the achievement of that task as difficult as possible. When a younger and better salesman comes along, men like Willy are almost always doomed.

But by placing this in front of the audience and dramatising it for them, Miller invites his audience to question the wrongs within modern American society. Thus people will gain a greater understanding of what is wrong with society, and will be able to improve it. The hero’s death is individually tragic but collectively offers society hope.

So it may be counter-intuitive to describe a tragedy like Death of a Salesman as ‘optimistic’, but in a sense, this is exactly what it is. Miller takes the classical idea of the tragic flaw, what Aristotle had called the hamartia , and updates this for a modern audience, too: the hero’s tragic flaw is redefined as the hero’s inherent unwillingness to remain passive in the face of what he conceives to be a challenge to his dignity and rightful status in society.

There is something noble in his flaw, even though it will lead to his own destruction. So really, the flaw is not within the individual or hero as much as in society itself.

A key context for Death of a Salesman , like many great works of American literature from the early to mid-twentieth century, is the American Dream: that notion that the United States is a land of opportunity where anyone can make a success of their life and wind up stinking rich. Miller’s weaving of dream sequences in amongst the sordid and unsatisfactory reality of the Lomans’ lives deftly contrasts the American dream with the American reality.

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2 thoughts on “A Summary and Analysis of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman”

This is a very insightful and convincing appreciation. What it misses is any idea that Miller’s being Jewish may have had a hand in helping him to see why the American dream and its popularity-cult needed to be criticized. The word “cult” in “populairty-cult” says it all, because “The Death of a Saleman” is at its core a play about idolatry, the Ol,d Testament theme against which its prophets railed the most.

Willy is portrayed as an idol-worshipper, whereas his friend, Charely, and Charley’s son, Bernard, are both seen as devotees of the “true” God, in whose religion the human being is always endowed with dignity and always seen as an end in himself, never as a means to some other end. The play, in fact, asks a very Jewish question. If the true God and the false god both require sacrifice, how can you ever know which is which? And its tragedy supplies us with Miller’s answer: those who worship idols discover in the end that THEY are the sacrifice!

Miller, like Philip Roth later on, was a Jewish-American inheritor of the Old Testament’s prophetic tradition, a tradition in which Amos, Isaiah, Jeremia en Ezekiel continually used their verbal art to expose Israel’s stinking moral corruption, foreseeing nothing but doom if it continued in irs idolatrous ways. Change ancient Israel to America, change the average Israelite of that time to Willy Loman now: both wind up destroying themsevles for the very same reason: with all the good will in they world, they have no self-knowledge and spend their whole lives worshipping a false god, deluded in the belief that they are worshipping the true one.

Their mistake in both cases only becomes apparent when it is time to offer the sacrifice, but by then, of course, it is always too late!

Perfect analysis, particularly when viewed in regards to recent events, involving American involvement with Israel dogma

Literary Theory and Criticism

Home › Drama Criticism › Analysis of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman

Analysis of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman

By NASRULLAH MAMBROL on July 30, 2020 • ( 0 )

Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman is, perhaps, to this time, the most mature example of a myth of Contemporary life. The chief value of this drama is its attempt to reveal those ultimate meanings which are resident in modern experience. Perhaps the most significant comment on this play is not its literary achievement, as such, but is, rather, the impact which it has had on spectators, both in America and abroad. The influence of this drama, first performed in 1949, continues to grow in World Theatre. For it articulates, in language which can be appreciated by popular audiences, certain new dimensions of the human dilemma.

—Esther Merle Jackson, “ Death of a Salesman : Tragic Myth in the Modern Theatre”

It can be argued that the Great American Novel—that always elusive imaginative summation of the American experience—became the Great American Drama in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman . Along with Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey into Night , Miller’s masterpiece forms the defining myth of the American family and the American dream. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is the play’s only rival in American literature in expressing the tragic side of the American myth of success and the ill-fated American dreamers. A landmark and cornerstone 20th-century drama, Death of a Salesman is crucial in the history of American theater in presenting on stage an archetypal family drama that is simultaneously intimate and representative, social and psychological, realistic and expressionistic. Critic Lois Gordon has called it “the major American drama of the 1940s” that “remains unequalled in its brilliant and original fusion of realistic and poetic techniques, its richness of visual and verbal texture, and its wide range of emotional impact.” Miller’s play, perhaps more than any other, established American drama as the decisive arena for addressing the key questions of American identity and social and moral values, while pioneering methods of expression that liberated American theater. The drama about the life and death of salesman Willy Loman is both thoroughly local in capturing a particular time and place and universal, one of the most popular and adapted American plays worldwide. Willy Loman has become the contemporary Everyman, prompting widespread identification and sympathy. By centering his tragedy on a lower middle-class protagonist—insisting, as he argued in “Tragedy and the Common Man,” that “the common man is as apt a subject for tragedy in its highest sense as kings were”—Miller completed the democratization of drama that had begun in the 19th century while setting the terms for a key debate over dramatic genres that has persisted since Death of a Salesman opened in 1949.

Miller’s subjects, themes, and dramatic mission reflect his life experiences, informed by the Great Depression, which he regarded as a “moral catastrophe,” rivaled, in his view, only by the Civil War in its profound impact on American life. Miller was born in 1915, in New York City. His father, who had emigrated from Austria at the age of six, was a successful coat manufacturer, prosperous enough to afford a chauffeur and a large apartment over-looking Central Park. For Miller’s family, an embodiment of the American dream that hard work and drive are rewarded, the stock market crash of 1929 changed everything. The business was lost, and the family was forced to move to considerably reduced circumstances in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn in a small frame house that served as the model for the Lomans’ residence. Miller’s father never fully recovered from his business failure, and his mother was often depressed and embittered by the family’s poverty, though both continued to live in hope of an economic recovery to come. For Miller the depression exposed the hollowness and fragility of the American dream of material success and the social injustice inherent in an economic system that created so many blameless casualties. The paradoxes of American success—its stimulation of both dreams and guilt when lost or unrealized, as well as the conflict it created between self-interest and social responsibility—would become dominant themes in Miller’s work. As a high school student Miller was more interested in sports than studies. “Until the age of seventeen I can safely say that I never read a book weightier than Tom Swift , and Rover Boys, ” Miller recalled, “and only verged on literature with some of Dickens. . . . I passed through the public school system unscathed.” After graduating from high school in 1932 Miller went to work in an auto parts warehouse in Manhattan. It was during his subway commute to and from his job that Miller began reading, discovering both the power of serious literature to change the way one sees the world and his vocation: “A book that changed my life was The Brothers Karamazov which I picked up, I don’t know how or why, and all at once believed I was born to be a writer.”

In 1934 Miller was accepted as a journalism student at the University of Michigan. There he found a campus engaged by the social issues of the day: “The place was full of speeches, meetings and leaflets. It was jumping with Issues. . . . It was, in short, the testing ground for all my prejudices, my beliefs and my ignorance, and it helped to lay out the boundaries of my life.” At Michigan Miller wrote his first play, despite having seen only two plays years before, to compete for prize money he needed for tuition. Failing in his first attempt he would eventually twice win the Avery Hopwood Award. Winning “made me confident I could go ahead from there. It left me with the belief that the ability to write plays is born into one, and that it is a kind of sport of the mind.” Miller became convinced that “with the exception of a doctor saving a life, writing a worthy play was the most important thing a human could do.” He would embrace the role of the playwright as social conscience and reformer who could help change America, by, as he put it “grabbing people and shaking them by the back of the neck.” Two years after graduating in 1938, having moved back to Brooklyn and married his college sweetheart, Miller had completed six plays, all but one of them rejected by producers. The Man Who Had All the Luck, a play examining the ambiguities of success and the money ethic, managed a run of only four performances on Broadway in 1944. Miller went to work at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, tried his hand at radio scripts, and attempted one more play. “I laid myself a wager,” he wrote in his autobiography. “I would hold back this play until I was as sure as I could be that every page was integral to the whole and would work; then, if my judgment of it proved wrong, I would leave the theater behind and write in other forms.” The play was All My Sons, about a successful manufacturer who sells defective aircraft parts and is made to face the consequences of his crime and his responsibilities. It is Miller’s version of a Henrik Ibsen problem play, linking a family drama to wider social issues. Named one of the top-10 plays of 1947, All My Sons won the Tony Award and the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award over Eugene O’Neill’s The Iceman Cometh. The play’s success allowed Miller to buy property in rural Connecticut where he built a small studio and began work on Death of a Salesman .

This play, subtitled “Certain Private Conversations in Two Acts and a Requiem,” about the last 24 hours of an aging and failing traveling salesman misguided by the American dream, began, as the playwright recounts in his introduction to his Collected Plays , with an initial image

of an enormous face the height of the proscenium arch which would appear and then open up, and we would see the inside of a man’s head. In fact, The Inside of His Head was the first title. . . . The image was in direct opposition to the method of All My Sons —a method one might call linear or eventual in that one fact or incident creates the necessity for the next. The Salesman image was from the beginning absorbed with the concept that nothing in life comes “next” but that everything exists together and at the same time within us; that there is no past to be “brought forward” in a human being, but that he is his past at every moment. . . . I wished to create a form which, in itself as a form, would literally be the process of Willy Loman’s way of mind.

The play took shape by staging the past in the present, not through flashbacks of Willy’s life but by what the playwright called “mobile concurrency of past and present.” Miller recalled beginning

with only one firm piece of knowledge and this was that Loman was to destroy himself. How it would wander before it got to that point I did not know and resolved not to care. I was convinced only that if I could make him remember enough he would kill himself, and the structure of the play was determined by what was needed to draw up his memories like a mass of tangled roots without ends or beginning.

At once realistic in its documentation of American family life and expressionistic in its embodiment of consciousness on stage, Death of a Salesman opens with the 63-year-old Willy Loman’s return to his Brooklyn home, revealing to his worried wife, Linda, that he kept losing control of his car on a selling trip to Boston. Increasingly at the mercy of his memories Willy, in Miller’s analysis, “is literally at that terrible moment when the voice of the past is no longer distant but quite as loud as the voice of the present.” Reflecting its protagonist, “The way of telling the tale . . . is as mad as Willy and as abrupt and as suddenly lyrical.” The family’s present—Willy’s increasing mental instability, his failure to earn the commissions he needs to survive, and his disappointment that his sons, Biff and Happy, have failed to live up to expectations—intersects with scenes from the past in which both their dreams and the basis for their disillusionment are exposed. In the present Biff, the onetime star high school athlete with seeming unlimited prospects in his doting father’s estimation, is 34, having returned home from another failed job out west and harboring an unidentified resentment of his father. As Biff confesses, “everytime I come back here I know that all I’ve done is to waste my life.” His brother, Happy, is a deceitful womanizer trapped in a dead-end job who confesses that despite having his own apartment, “a car, and plenty of women . . . still, goddammit, I’m lonely.” The present frustrations of father and sons collide with Willy’s memory when all was youthful promise and family harmony. In a scene in which Biff with the prospect of a college scholarship seems on the brink of attaining all Willy has expected of him, both boys hang on their father’s every word as he exults in his triumphs as a successful salesman:

America is full of beautiful towns and fine, upstanding people. And they know me, boys, they know me up and down New England. The finest people. And when I bring you fellas up, there’ll be open sesame for all of us, ’cause one thing, boys: I have friends. I can park my car in any street in New England, and the cops protect it like their own.

Triumphantly, Willy passes on his secret of success: “Be liked and you will never want.” His advice exposes the fatal fl aw in his life view that defines success by exterior rather than interior values, by appearance and possessions rather than core morals. Even in his confident memory, however, evidence of the undermining of his self-confidence and aspirations occurs as Biff plays with a football he has stolen and father and son ignore the warning of the grind Bernard (who “is liked, but he’s not well liked”) that Biff risks graduating by not studying. Willy’s popularity and prowess as a salesman are undermined by Linda’s calculation of her husband’s declining commissions, prompting Willy to confess that “people don’t seem to take to me.” Invading Willy’s memory is the realization that he is far from the respected and resourceful salesman he has boasted being to his sons as he struggles to meet the payments on the modern appliances that equip the American dream of success. Moreover, to boost his sagging spirits on the road he has been unfaithful to his loving and supportive wife. To protect himself from these hurtful memories Willy is plunged back into the present for a card game with Bernard’s father, Charley. Again the past intrudes in the form of a memory of a rare visit by Willy’s older brother, Ben, who has become rich and whose secrets for success elude Willy. Back in the present Willy is hopeful at Biff’s plan to go see an old employer, Bill Oliver, for the money to start up a Loman Brothers sporting goods line. The act ends with Willy’s memory of Biff’s greatest moment—the high school football championship:

Like a young god. Hercules—something like that. And the sun, the sun all around him. Remember how he waved to me? Right up from the field, with the representatives of three colleges standing by? And the buyers I brought, and the cheers when he came out—Loman, Loman, Loman! God Almighty, he’ll be great yet. A star like that, magnificent, can never really fade away!

The second act shatters all prospects, revealing the full truth that Willy has long evaded about himself and his family in a series of crushing blows. Expecting to trade on his 34 years of loyal service to his employer for a nontraveling, salaried position in New York, Willy is forced to beg for a smaller and smaller salary before he is fired outright, prompting one of the great lines of the play: “You can’t eat the orange and throw the peel away—a man is not a piece of fruit.” Rejecting out of pride a job offer from Charley, Willy meets his son for dinner where Biff reveals that his get-rich scheme has collapsed. Bill Oliver did not remember who he was, kept him waiting for hours, and resentfully Biff has stolen his fountain pen from his desk. Biff now insists that Willy face the truth—that Biff was only a shipping clerk and that Oliver owes him nothing—but Willy refuses to listen, with his need to believe in his son and the future forcing Biff to manufacture a happier version of his meeting and its outcome. Biff’s anger and resentment over the old family lies about his prospects, however, cause Willy to relive the impetus of Biff’s loss of faith in him in one of the tour de force scenes in modern drama. Biff and Happy’s attempt to pick up two women at the restaurant interconnects with Willy’s memory of Biff’s arrival at Willy’s Boston hotel unannounced. There he discovers a partially dressed woman in his father’s room. Having failed his math class and jeopardized his scholarship, Biff has come to his father for help. Willy’s betrayal of Linda, however, exposes the hollowness of Willy’s moral authority and the disjunction between the dreams Willy sells and its reality:

Willy: She’s nothing to me, Biff. I was lonely, I was terribly lonely.

Biff: You—you gave her Mama’s stockings!

Willy: I gave you an order!

Biff: Don’t touch me, you—liar!

Willy: Apologize for that!

Biff: You fake! You phony little fake! You fake!

Willy’s guilt over the collapse of his son’s belief in him leads him to a final redemptive dream. Returning home, symbolically outside planting seeds, he discusses with Ben his scheme to kill himself for the insurance money as a legacy to his family and a final proof of his worth as a provider of his sons’ success. Before realizing this dream Willy must endure a final assault of truth from Biff who confesses to being nothing more than a thief and a bum, incapable of holding down a job—someone who is, like Willy, a “dime a dozen,” no better than any other hopeless striver: “I am not a leader of men, Willy, and neither are you. You were never anything but a hard-working drummer who landed in the ash can like all the rest of them!” Biff’s fury explodes into a tearful embrace of his father. After Biff departs upstairs the significance of his words and actions are both realized and lost by the chronic dreamer:

Willy, after a long pause, astonished, elevated Isn’t that—isn’t that remarkable? Biff—he likes me!

Linda: He loves you, Willy!

Happy ,deeply moved Always did, Pop.

Willy: Oh. Biff! Staring wildly: He cried! Cried to me. He is choking with his love, and now cries out his promise: That boy—that boy is going to be magnificent!

Analysis of Arthur Miller’s Plays

Doggedly holding onto the dream of his son’s prospects, sustained by his son’s love, Willy finally sets out in his car to carry out his plan, while the scene shifts to his funeral in which Linda tries to understand her husband’s death, and Charley provides the eulogy:

Nobody dast blame this man. You don’t understand: Willy was a salesman. And for a salesman, there is no rock bottom to the life. He don’t put a bolt to a nut, he don’t tell you the law or give you medicine. He’s a man way out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoeshine. And when they start not smiling back—that’s an earthquake. And then you get a couple of spots on your hat, and you’re finished. Nobody dast blame this man. A salesman is got to dream, boy. It comes with the territory.

Linda delivers the final, heartbreaking lines over her husband’s grave: “Willy. I made the last payment on the house today. Today, dear. And there’ll be nobody home. We’re free and clear. We’re free. We’re free . . . We’re free. . . .”

The power and persistence of Death of a Salesman derives from its remarkably intimate view of the dynamic of a family driven by their collective dreams. Critical debate over whether Willy lacks the stature or self-knowledge to qualify as a tragic hero seems beside the point in performance. Few other modern dramas have so powerfully elicited pity and terror in their audiences. Whether Willy is a tragic hero or Death of a Salesman is a modern tragedy in any Aristotelian sense, he and his story have become core American myths. Few critics worry over whether Jay Gatsby is a tragic hero, but Gatsby shares with Willy Loman the essential American capacity to dream and to be destroyed by what he dreams. The concluding lines of The Great Gatsby equally serve as a requiem for both men:

Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgiastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eludes us then, but that’s no matter—tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther . . . And one fine morning—

So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.

Death of a Salesman

Introduction to death of a salesman.

Death of a Salesman a play having “two acts and a requiem” is the masterpiece of Arthur Miller written in 1948 and produced in 1949. The popularity and success of the play demonstrate the strength of its story . The play was adapted for various tableaus, films, and course books across the globe, securing a Pulitzer Prize for Miller. The story of the play revolves around an unfortunate middle-class man who ruins his life, chasing the idea of the American Dream. This unattainable hunt costs him dearly; he seems stuck between fantasy and reality with a resultant loss of his own life. In one of his interviews, Miller mentions that the inspiration for the play is seeing his father struggle during the Depression.

Summary of Death of a Salesman

The play features Willy Lowman, living in New York City with his wife, Linda. Although Willy has worked as a salesman for almost thirty years, yet he has not achieved the real level of success that would allow him to stop tiring himself and afford the household expenditures that swallow his diminishing wages. He constantly compares himself to another salesman, Dave Singleton, who led a successful career and when he died, many people came to bid him farewell.

The play begins when Willy comes home exhausted from a failed trip with his mind full of tensions and worries. He seems sick of daily travels, while Linda, consoles him and suggests that he should ask his boss, Howard Wagner, to get a placement that demands less travel. Willy consents to request his boss the next day. Then, Linda and Willy start talking about their sons Biff and Happy, who are out for a date and are expected to be home soon. Also, she reminds him not to be critical or judgmental toward Biff, but Willy expresses his resentment over Biff’s lazy approach toward life.

Alone in the kitchen, Willy plunges back in time and remembers old times when his sons were young and idealized their father as an upright man. His flashbacks make the readers familiar with his philosophy of success that has derived him to his current unsuccessful state. Compared with his successful neighbor, Charley and his son, Bernard, Willy’s family is more determined and full of the natural charisma required for success. Willy always thought that his son’s rising high school football achievements would offer him university scholarships and make him a successful man. Yet the same neighbor once offered him a job but he refused despite the fact that he used to borrow money from him to cover household expenses and his son Bernard who was kind of a nerd in school, is now a successful lawyer.

Once again Willy drives back in time when he thinks about his brother Ben, who left home at seventeen and made quite a fortune in Alaska and Africa . Willy and Ben’s father abandoned them and Willy compares himself with his successful brother and regrets it. This comparison adds more to his miserable state, making him think that he is not capable of achieving success in life. Disturbed by Willy’s present state, Linda discusses his deteriorating mental state with his sons. She tells them about his failed suicide attempts as well. The boys get chagrined at themselves that they could not bring comfort to their father; Biff immediately decides to join his brother’s sports goods business and he’d go and talk to his old acquaintance for business funding. This idea pleases Willy, who, in turn, gives some incoherent and conflicting advice to his sons.

The next day, Willy goes to his boss, Howard Wagner, to request him for placement close to home. Howard not only refuses his plea but also suspends him from the job. Humiliated and disheartened, Willy turns toward Charley to borrow some money, and this time he encounters Charley’s son, Bernard. Like his father, Bernard has also achieved a respectful status in society, while his own sons are still striving to get settled in life. Stumbling between reality and illusions about success, he heads toward Frank’s Chop House where his sons are waiting for him for dinner.

Soon, Willy arrives and confesses that has been fired but hopes to have some good news from Biff. Biff tells Willy that the meeting with Bill Oliver was a failed attempt. Biff and Willy lock their horn in a disturbing argument that throws Willy backs into the past when young Bernard informs Linda that Biff has failed in a Math test and sets his trip to Boston to meet Willy to resolve this issue since it would be affecting his career. Biff discovers his illegitimate affair, which became Biff’s disillusionment with his father and the values that he taught all his life. After the argument, Biff and Happy leave with two call girls abandoning their father in the restaurant. Once, Willy comes back to his senses asks the waitress the way to a seed shop. Once home, Willy’s disconnection from reality continues as he plants seeds in the middle of the night , hoping to grow a garden. In his distress, he has an imaginary dialogue with his deceased brother who reminds him about a life insurance policy worth $20,000. Willy plans on getting in a car crash so he could at least leave them that money and show how much he cared for his children and wife. Also, how ‘well-liked’ by his friends at the grand funeral.

Back in reality, Willy has a final confrontation with Biff who announces leaving his family for good. After the announcement, Biff goes to his room and cries. Aggrieved by his son’s miserable state, Willy finally decides to commit suicide; he leaves the house and intentionally kills himself in a car accident. Only his family and Charley attend his funeral, sharing their thoughts about his struggling life and tragic end. The play ends with the contrasting opinions of Biff and Happy about their father’s unsuccessful life. Happy decides to stay back and fulfill his father’s ‘American dream’ of becoming successful while Biff plans to leave Brooklyn forever. Linda was confused with the irony of how the house mortgage was finally paid off with no one to live in it.

Characters in Death of a Salesman

Willy Loman : Willy Loman, the main protagonist of the play, is a simple family man and Linda’s husband. He also has a brother, Ben, and two young sons, Happy and Biff. As an aging salesman working in various parts of Europe, he seems to be an ambitious man, full of sales philosophy and hopes for a bright future for his son. In fact, he chases the American dream and aspires to enjoy the bliss of life with his family. Unfortunately, his hard work and lowly income not only weakens his determination but also leads him to suffer from anxiety and stress. His mediocre career, estranged relationship with his son Biff and some past mistakes steal the remaining joy of his life. His constant failures and suffering make him stand at the place where he begins to hallucinate. Unfortunately, his sons never understand the intensity of this pain despite Linda’s efforts to make them understand the traumatic state of their father. These worries force the old man to commit suicide.
Linda Lowman: Willy’s wife and mother of Happy and Biff, Linda is a loving lady as she always shares the worries of her husband, making him believe that one day he will taste the fruits of his untiring efforts. Although she supports him in his dreams of prosperity and success, she knows that it is impossible for him to live a life full of wonders. Despite Willy’s disturbed mental state, she stands by him and even rebukes his son for not living up to his father’s expectations.
Biff Loman: The older son of Linda and Willy Loman, Biff is a good and promising athlete and bright student but he never graduates from school. His life is moving at a smooth pace until he discovers his father’s extramarital relationship and becomes mentally upset. Willy wishes him to become a successful businessman, but he flees to the west, following his instinct to become a business tycoon. Despite trying his luck several times, Biff fails to win the admiration of his father. In the end, he admits that he has been chasing the shadow and wishes to lead a normal life.
Happy Loman: The younger son of the Loman family, Happy works as a manager in a store and seems to be a contented person. However, his father thinks that he has not made the right choice in life. He is shown as a really happy person in life with a single flaw that he is a womanizer. Despite his claim that he does not want girls, he fails to avoid them.
Charley : As a successful businessman living in Willy’s neighborhood, Charley helps Willy often with money for paying bills. Once he offers him a job that Willy refuses, claiming he shares distant views about success in life. Although Willy considers his children more practical and successful, he seems jealous of his social status.
Bernard: The intelligent and successful son of Charley, Bernard is a sober young man with a lot of potentials. Unlike his father, he has achieved success and status in society by becoming a successful lawyer. However, Willy’s jealousy toward their success never lets him praise his success.
Ben Loman: Willy’s late brother, Ben proves a constant reminder to the family due to his role of leaving his family years ago to try his fortune elsewhere. His travels to Africa and Alaska and his story of becoming a millionaire reverberates throughout the play. Although he is talked about like a dead person in the play, his success and prosperous life become a model for Willy to follow. He gets obsessed with his brother’s success that he forgets to accept the bitter reality of his own life.
Howard Wagner: Willy’s boss, Howard is shown as a stout and stern kind of person. As a pragmatic manager, he knows how to apply his principles, and caring only for his own interests, and not the problems of his employees. In fact, he is the epitome of a capitalistic owner, who refuses to understand Willy’s plight and when Willy tries to argue, he instantly sacks him.
The Woman: The Anonymous woman appears less in the play, yet plays a significant role in the storyline. She lives in Boston and works in a company. Unfortunately, the lady becomes the reason for contention between Biff and his father.

Themes in Death of a Salesman

American Dream; American dream stands as the most significant theme of the play as every member of the Loman family yearns for a better life. Willy and his sons try to chase this dream but get nothing except failure and dissatisfaction. However, some of the characters have shown it as an achievable model, as Howard Wagner, who has inherited this alluring dream from his father, while Loman’s neighbors have achieved this dream, showing how to lead a prosperous life. Willy is the only person who longs to have this bliss. Despite working hard, he fails to bring any improvement in the standard of his life. Biff, his son also faces continuous failures, while Happy is also not living up to his father’s expectations. Disheartened by the failures of his sons and his own tiring life, Will tries to see his dream through his brother’s success but gets nothing.
Modernity: During the 1950s, modernism started to alter the structure of society, making noteworthy changes in various professions. People started depending on modern gadgets, spending a fortune, and still vying to have another gadget just hitting the market. Creating a false idea of the American dream, modernity eventually creeps in the Loman’s life as they see their sons succeeding in the world like their neighbor but faces only mental torture when they see them failing. Howard keeps on working on his radio, making it clear that technological development has replaced manpower.
Opportunity: Although everyone strives to succeed, yet material luck finds those who seek better opportunities. Howard has been tolerating Willy because his father appointed him. Otherwise, he knows Willy does not deserve the job anymore. So, when Willy asks for some changes in his job, he fires him without having any compassion. Willy does not understand the reason for this sudden decision; instead of equipping himself with a better professional attitude , Willy gets more frustrated. Howard, on the other hand, gets an opportunity to find a new potential salesman. In the same way, Willy’s son, Happy, finds an opportunity to have a good job, while Biff wanders to seek one.
Family: The theme of family emerges through the Lomans, who never accept the changing shift of time, an attitude that costs them dearly. Willy constantly tries to materialize his dreams yet ends up with a failure. After his failed attempts, he fixes his attention to his sons, thinking they may fulfill his dreams of the ideal life through their careers. Unfortunately, both of them fail him; Biff is directionless, while Happy does not run after dreams. In contrast to Willy’s failed family, Charley and his son have resounding success with money and career, making their family achieve the American dream.
Ideal Personality: The concept of ideal or well-liked personality is another major theme Miller discusses in the play. Willy constantly advises his sons that they must be well-liked. To him, well-liked persons are the demands of industry and market as he has seen it during his career as a salesman. It also transpires to them that an ideal personality wins success as they see it in Charley’s son as well as in Howard, the boss of Willy.
Hallucination: Hallucination also stands as another important theme of the play. Willy Loman’s series of failures and constant sufferings drag him to a place where he cuts himself from the biting reality and begins to hallucinate. His hallucination features his successful brother, Ben, who has used his talents to make a fortune. Although Ben is dead, he appears in the form of hallucinations, a state that drags Willy toward disappointment and further mental torture.
Pride: The play projects this theme through the character of Willy Loman. He is an extremely proud man even though he does not have any reason to be proud as his sons have failed him and he is fired from the job. Despite struggling financially, he constantly praises his ideas of success in business and the little accomplishments of his sons. His pride never lets him consider the real success and efforts of his neighbor, Charley, his neighbor, who helps him overcome his financial difficulties.
Betrayal: Although betrayal is a minor theme of the play, it casts a gloomy shadow on various characters as Willy betrays his wife Linda by having an extramarital affair. Similarly, Biff constantly dodges his father’s dreams and tries to figure out his own ways of living. Linda thinks that Biff is betraying his father by not fulfilling Willy’s desires.
Reality versus Illusion : Reality against illusion is another major theme as Willy constantly dreams to be a successful businessman, and in case, if he fails to win glory, his sons will carry the flag to win success for him. Unfortunately, his desires for amassing wealth are only illusions that do not turn into reality despite his struggle. To his surprise, his sons also go against his dreams.

Writing Style of Death of a Salesman

Death of a Salesman shows Miller’s style of writing simple and direct dialogues and presenting down-to-earth real characters. He has used sharp irony and satire to show the poisonous impacts of the American dream upon the middle class. The writer has juxtaposed realism with fantasy at various points in the text to comment on the hollow and unrealistic approach of the people toward the false standards of society. The success of this writing lies in the skillful use of other literary elements, complex characterization , and simple sentence structure though diction at times becomes highly complex, showing the mental state of the Loman family.

Literary Devices in Death of a Salesman

Action: The main action of the play comprises the struggle of Willy Lowman, a salesman by profession. The rising action occurs when Willy is fired from the job, while the falling action occurs when Willy blames himself for the troubles his family is going through.
Allegory : Death of a Salesman shows the use of allegory by presenting the main idea of how the person’s nonadoptive nature creates trouble for himself and the people who belong to him.
Anaphora : The play shows the use of anaphora at different places as give in the below examples, i. Maybe I oughta get stuck into something. Maybe that’s my trouble. I’m like a boy. I’m not married, I’m not in business, I just—I’m like a boy. Are you content, Hap? You’re a success, aren’t you? Are you content? (Act-I) ii. Willy: Where is he? I’ll whip him, I’ll whip him! Linda: And he’d better give back that football, Willy, it’s not nice. Willy: Biff! Where is he? Why is he taking everything? (Act-I) iii. Willy: No, you’re no good, you’re no good for anything. Biff: I am , Dad, I’ll find something else, you understand? (Act-II) These examples show the repetitious use of the phrases “you’re no good”, “only think”, “I’ll whip him”, and “I’m like a boy.”
Allusion : The play shows the use of various allusions as given in the examples below, i. Biff: But you look at your friend….Happy: Yeah, but when he walks into the store the waves part in front of him… I want to walk into the store the way he walks in. (Act-I) ii. Willi: Like a young god, Hercules- something like that. And the sun, the sun all around him. Remember how he waved to me? Right up from the field, with the representatives of three colleges stand by? And the buyers I brought and the cheers when he came out, Loman, Loman, Loman. God Almighty, he’ll be great yet. (Act-I) iii. Willy: That’s why I thank Almighty God you are built like Adonises.” (Act-I) The first example alludes to Moses and the remaining two to Greek gods.
Conflict : There are two types of conflicts in the play, Death of a Salesman. The first one is the external conflict that is going on between Willy Loman and the competitive world around him as well as his own family. Another is the internal conflict of Willy, his fight with the heavy odds of life, and about the troubles of his life how they are going to be resolved.
Climax : The climax of the play, Death of a Salesman, occurs when Willy confronts his distressed son, Biff, for the last time.
Characters: Death of a Salesman presents both static as well as dynamic characters . Willy’s sons Biff, and Happy are dynamic characters as they change their attitude toward life as well as their father. However, the rest of the characters do not see any change in their behavior as they are static characters like Willy Loman, Linda, Charlie, and Bernard.
Irony : The play shows situational irony in the following examples, i. That’s just what I mean. Bernard can get the best marks in school, y’understand, but when he gets out in the business world, y’understand, you are going to be five times ahead of him. That’s why I thank Almighty God you’re both built like Adonises. Because the man who makes an appearance in the business world, the man who creates personal interest, is the man who gets ahead. Be liked and you will never want. (Act-I) ii. CHARLEY (an arm on Bernard’s shoulder) : How do you like this kid? Gonna argue a case in front of the Supreme Court. The irony is clear in the first example through the mention of Adonises and in the second through the mention of the Supreme Court.
Metaphor : Death of a Salesman shows good use of various metaphors besides the extended metaphors of good versus evil such as, i. I am a dime a dozen, and so are you. (Act-II) ii. The world is an oyster, but you don’t crack it open on a mattress. (Act-I) These examples show that characters and the world have been compared to different things to make them feel prominent.
Mood : The Play, Death of a Salesman, shows a melancholic, though it becomes tragic, ironic, and highly satiric at times. Sometimes, it also becomes gloomy when Willy is trapped in the troubles of life
Motif : Most essential motifs of Death of a Salesman are mythic figures, the American West, and the African jungle.
Protagonist : Willy Loman is the protagonist of the play. The text starts with his discontent with his life and ends with his tragic death.
Rhetorical Questions : The play shows the use of rhetorical questions at various places such as, i. CHARLEY: Without pay? What kind of a job is a job without pay? (Act-II) ii. WILLY: What’s the matter with you? I’ve got a job. (Act-II) iii. CHARLEY: Why must everybody like you? Who liked J. P. Morgan? Was he impressive? These examples show the use of rhetorical questions asked by Charley and Willy but they do not need answers. They are self-explanatory.
Theme : A theme is a central idea that the novelist or the writer wants to stress upon. The play, Death of a Salesman, shows the clash between dream and reality, the idea of the American dream and betrayal.
Setting : The setting of the play is Willy Loman’s house, his yard, and other places he visits in Boston and New York.
Tone : The tone of the text is somber, serious, melancholic, and tragic.
Simile : The play shows the use of similes at various places such as, WILLY: Sure. Certain men just don’t get started till later in life. Like Thomas Edison; I think. Or B. F. Goodrich. (Act-I) ii. He’s not to be allowed to fall into his grave like an old dog. (Act-I) iii. Like a young god. Hercules — something like that. (Act-I) These use of “like” in these examples show as things have been compared such as men with Thomas Edison, then Willy with an old dog, and then a person with Hercules.
Symbols : Death of a Salesman presents various symbols such as seeds and diamond symbolize Willy’s hope and the American dream and the rubber horse symbolizes false hopes.

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Death of a Salesman

Arthur miller, ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman . Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides.

Death of a Salesman: Introduction

Death of a salesman: plot summary, death of a salesman: detailed summary & analysis, death of a salesman: themes, death of a salesman: quotes, death of a salesman: characters, death of a salesman: symbols, death of a salesman: theme wheel, brief biography of arthur miller.

Historical Context of Death of a Salesman

Other books related to death of a salesman.

Full Title: Death of a Salesman
When Written: 1948
Where Written: Roxbury, Connecticut
When Published: The Broadway premiere was February 10, 1949. The play was published in 1949 by Viking Press.
Literary Period: Social Realism
Genre: Dramatic stage play
Setting: New York and Boston in 1948.
Climax: Biff's speech to Willy at the end of Act Two.
Antagonist: Howard Wagner; the American Dream that allows Willy and his sons to delude themselves.

Extra Credit for Death of a Salesman

Death of a Simpson: Beleaguered, overweight family man Willy Loman has been the genesis not only of live-action domestic sitcoms like All in the Family and Married with Children , but animated satires like The Family Guy and The Simpsons , both of which have made knowing reference to Death of a Salesman in various episodes.

Salesman in Beijing: In 1983, the People's Art Theatre in Beijing wanted to put on a Chinese-language production of Death of a Salesman . Arthur Miller flew to Beijing and spent six weeks directing the cast, though he only spoke two words of Chinese. He documented his experiences in the book Salesman in Beijing , published in 1984 with photographs by his wife, Inge Morath.

Death of a Salesman Arthur Miller

Death of a Salesman essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of the play Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller.

Death of a Salesman Material

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Death of a Salesman Essays

Shattered dream - the delusion of willy loman james lee, death of a salesman.

"The jagged edges of a shattered dream." Do you find that the play leaves you with such an impression?

Death of a Salesman tells the story of a man confronting failure in the success-driven society of America and shows the tragic trajectory which...

Perceptions of Self Worth and Prominence: Spaces and Settings in Death of a Salesman Lorin Veigas

A wise and possibly very cynical man once said "Nothing fails like success." Even if one is not familiar with Gerald Nachman, or the other rebel comedians of his time, we can all appreciate the clever irony in this quotation. In the complex and...

Sales and Dreams Alex Hoffer

In Arthur Miller's Play Death of a Salesman, the dreams of the major characters are the central focus of the plot. The Lomans, particularly Willy, struggle to realize their dreams while fearing that these goals are unreachable. Yet this fear is...

Musical Motifs Marleigh Russell

Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman is a deceptively simple play. The simplicity of the play, however, quickly dissolves into a respectful ambiguity through Miller's ingenious stage directions, nonverbal expressions and, most importantly, his...

Death of A Salesman: Shifting of the American Dream Richard Salgado

From its very infancy, the American continent was often equated with boundless opportunity. In A Description of New England John Smith characterized the early colonies of 1616 as a land of economic potential, declaring that "If a man work but...

Death of a Salesman: Psychological Criticism and Deconstruction Anonymous

Arthur Miller's American masterpiece Death of a Salesman, first presented on the stage in New York City in 1949, represents a successful literary attempt at blending the themes of social and personal tragedy within the same dramatic framework. Yet...

Arthur Miller's 'Death of a Salesman' Exemplifies how Careful Attention to the Linguistic Features of a Play tell us all we need to know about Performance Kerri Margaret Scullion - Reid

A thorough analysis of the linguistic features of Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman (1949) will illustrate how, for a conscientious reader, all we need to know about performance is supplied within the written text. Focusing on the dramatist's...

Society In The Crucible and Death of a Salesman Michael Brooks

Two plays by Arthur Miller, Death of a Salesman and The Crucible, both contend that society is the indifferent, sometimes brutal, force that crushes an individual. Although the plays take place in different time periods, they each convey the force...

Symbolism Portrayed Through Common Objects Karen Hill

In Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller uses common objects as symbols of the evolving relationship between the main characters in his play. Women’s stockings and their holes symbolize the failing relationship between Willy Loman and his wife,...

House Versus Home in The Great Gatsby and Death of a Salesman Anonymous

In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald and the play Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, both authors use their characters’ living space, the house, as a metaphor for the attainability of the American Dream of security, wealth, and...

Fetters of the Dream: Failure and Success in Death of a Salesman Yvette Whitaker College

Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman is a story about the futility of self-deception, but it also examines the definition of "success" in post-WWII America and the danger of suppressing one's own inclinations to meet the expectations of others....

Biff's Self-Discovery in "Death of a Salesman" Sukayna Ibrahim 11th Grade

In Arthur Miller’s play “Death of a Salesman,” Willy Loman is an individual who strives to achieve the “American Dream” in the 1940’s. This era was characterized by America’s climb out of the Great Depression in addition to its recognition as a...

Sympathy for Willy Loman Anonymous 11th Grade

Arthur Miller’s ‘Death of a Salesman’ is a domestic tragedy that centres around the dysfunctional Loman family, most notably Willy Loman, a failed salesman so captivated by the American Dream and his desire to be a good father that it ultimately...

Is Tragedy Possible in the Modern Society Depicted in Death of a Salesman? Anonymous College

Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman can be measured against Aristotle’s notions of tragedy expressed in his Poetics , involving a fall caused by hamartia and hubris , and an eventual recognition and reversal of fortune, culminating in the audience...

The Redefinition of Tragedy in Death of a Salesman Anonymous College

The definition of a tragic character is something that has been considered set in since the times of ancient Greece. Aristotle’s Poetics defined what makes up a comedy and tragedy, and that definition has been widely accepted since then....

Emotional Intertextuality Between Death of a Salesman and The Kite Runner Haley Paige Parson 12th Grade

There are numerous similarities between Arthur Miller’s Death Of A Salesman and Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner. However, most of the similarities readers identify are only surface deep, and essentially superficial. Sure, readers know that both...

The Death of Dave Singleman: A Study of Contrasts Anonymous 11th Grade

Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman actually makes reference to the deaths of two salesmen: protagonist Willy Loman and an admired yet never-seen character named Dave Singleman. It can be argued that the most obvious difference in the deaths of...

The Crucial Need for Feminism in a Patriarchal Society: Evaluating Death of a Salesman Sofia Gemma Corsetti 12th Grade

The issue of gender equality is a pressing topic in our modern society. Over the course of the past century, we have established human rights, racial rights, and even animal rights. So why is it that when a woman demands equality, she is looked at...

Forgetting Family, Finding Freedom Sarah Noor 12th Grade

Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman and Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie capitalize on the theme of abandonment. In both plays, the protagonists experience abandonment and later desert their respective families; as a result, they illustrate...

Opposite Takes on the “American Dream” in Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun and Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman Kevin Andrew Fagan College

Money is one way to achieve one of the “American Dreams.” The “American Dream” is different for everyone and that dream for most people depends on how they were raised. There are many plays that critique the “American Dream” but only two will be...

The Use of Props in Master Harold... And the Boys and Death of a Salesman Noah David Perry 12th Grade

Playwrights, unlike the authors of novels and other forms of literature, employ the use of production elements and stage designs in the development of their works. These additional aspects present within the creation of theatre grant playwrights...

Capitalism as Masculine Identity in American Theater: Death of a Salesman and Glengarry Glen Ross Riley Stephen Meachem College

America has long prided itself on being a land of opportunity. Since the fifteenth century, pilgrims have flocked to American shores, urged onward by the thought of making money, off the rich lands and resources available here. As time has gone...

Father-Son Relationships in “Death of a Salesman” and “Fences” Anonymous College

In the drama Death of a Salesman, the conflict that arises from a failing paternal-son relationship is illustrated akin also to the play Fences. Both storylines follow middle-class households in the mid-20th century and the interactions between...

Fragile and Fantastic, Fake and Flawed: Two Conflicting Views of Willy Loman Sophia Nadler College

Arthur Miller’s 1949 play, Death of a Salesman, endures today because of its ability to effectively convey a complex family dynamic in the wake of its patriarch’s failed American dream. Themes of disappointment and denial, embellishment and skewed...

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Essays on Death of a Salesman

What makes a good death of a salesman essay topic.

When it comes to writing an essay on Arthur Miller's iconic play, Death of a Salesman , choosing the right topic is essential. A good essay topic should be thought-provoking, engaging, and allow for in-depth analysis. Here are some recommendations on how to brainstorm and choose a compelling essay topic:

Consider the themes: Death of a Salesman explores various themes such as the American Dream, disillusionment, and the nature of success. When brainstorming essay topics, consider how these themes can be explored in depth.
Character analysis: The play features complex characters such as Willy Loman and his son Biff. Choosing an essay topic that delves into the characters' motivations, conflicts, and development can lead to a rich and insightful analysis.
Symbolism and imagery: Death of a Salesman is rich in symbolism and imagery. Look for essay topics that explore the significance of symbols such as the Loman house, the seeds, and the flute, and how they contribute to the overall meaning of the play.
Social and cultural context: Consider how the play reflects the social and cultural context of its time, and how these themes are still relevant today. Essay topics that explore the play's cultural impact and relevance can make for a compelling analysis.

Best Death of a Salesman Essay Topics

When it comes to choosing the best Death of a Salesman essay topics, it's important to think outside the box and choose topics that stand out. Here are 20 creative and thought-provoking essay topics to consider:

The Illusion of the American Dream in Death of a Salesman
The Tragic Hero: Willy Loman's Downfall
The Role of Gender in Death of a Salesman
The American Dream: Success or Failure in Death of a Salesman
The Loman Family Dynamics: A Dysfunctional Portrait
The Symbolism of the Loman House in Death of a Salesman
The Disillusionment of the American Dream in Death of a Salesman
The Tragic Flaw: Willy Loman's Fatal Mistakes
The Portrayal of Friendship and Betrayal in Death of a Salesman
The Relevance of Death of a Salesman in Today's Society
The Disintegration of Willy Loman's Mental State
The Significance of the Flute in Death of a Salesman
The Role of Women in Death of a Salesman
The Conflict Between Reality and Illusion in Death of a Salesman
The Representation of Success and Failure in Death of a Salesman
The Impact of Capitalism on the Characters in Death of a Salesman
The Role of the American Dream in Shaping the Characters' Lives
The Influence of Society on Willy Loman's Mental Health
The Betrayal of the American Dream in Death of a Salesman
The Tragic Nature of Willy Loman's Fate

Death of a Salesman Essay Topics Prompts

Looking for some creative prompts to kickstart your essay writing process? Here are 5 engaging prompts to inspire your Death of a Salesman essay:

Imagine you are Willy Loman's therapist. Write a journal entry reflecting on his mental state and the factors contributing to his disillusionment.
Choose a minor character in Death of a Salesman and analyze their significance in the play. How do they contribute to the overall themes and narrative?
If you were to rewrite the ending of Death of a Salesman , how would you envision a different fate for Willy Loman and his family? What changes would you make to the characters' arcs?
Explore the significance of the American Dream in Death of a Salesman and its portrayal as both a driving force and a destructive illusion. How does the play challenge traditional notions of success and happiness?
Take on the perspective of Biff Loman and write a letter to his father, Willy, expressing his feelings of resentment, love, and the complexity of their relationship.

Choosing a compelling Death of a Salesman essay topic requires careful consideration of the play's themes, characters, and cultural context. By brainstorming thought-provoking topics and prompts, you can embark on a compelling and insightful analysis of Arthur Miller's timeless masterpiece.

The Illusion of The American Dream in Death of a Salesman

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American Dream in Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller

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Broken Dream - The Deception of Willy Loman

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The Necessity of Feminism in a Patriarchal Society: Death of a Salesman

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February 10, 1949

Arthur Miller

Willy Loman, Linda Loman, Biff Loman, Happy Loman, Ben Loman, Bernard, Charley, The Woman, Howard

Mythic figures, the American West, Alaska, the African jungle,Seed, diamonds, Linda’s and The Woman’s stockings, the rubber hose

The American Dream, the anatomy of truth, and infidelity.

“Why am I trying to become what I don’t want to be? What am I doing in an office, making a contemptuous, begging fool of myself, when all I want is out there, waiting for me the minute I say I know who I am!” “I’m gonna show you and everybody else that Willy Loman did not die in vain. He had a good dream. It’s the only dream you can have - to come out number-one man. He fought it out here, and this is where I’m gonna win it for him.” “And when I saw that, I realized that selling was the greatest career a man could want. ’Cause what could be more satisfying than to be able to go, at the age of eighty-four, into twenty or thirty different cities, and pick up a phone, and be remembered and loved and helped by so many different people?” “You can’t eat the orange and throw the peel away — a man is not a piece of fruit!”

The play premiered on Broadway in February 1949 and ran for 742 performances. The play has been adapted for cinema ten times. The play Death of a Salesman won the 1949 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Play.

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Merchant of Venice
The Glass Menagerie

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Death of a Salesman - Essay Examples And Topic Ideas For Free

Death of a Salesman is a famous American play written by Arthur Miller. Exploring this play and choosing it among other essay topics provides an opportunity to make an analysis of important issues related to modern society. This is a tragedy that raises issues of identity, ambition, realization of dreams, and dealing with stress and pressure. It also tells the fascinating and dramatic story of an old man named Willy Lowman. By conducting a thorough research paper on Death Of A Salesman and developing a detailed outline, you can organize your thoughts and present a comprehensive analysis of Death of a Salesman. The play emphasizes the price one pays and the disappointment that can accompany the endless pursuit of success. This idea can be used as a thesis statement.

Explore existing essays on Death Of A Salesman to gain inspiration and insight into different approaches to the play. During the writing, remember that an impactful introduction sets the stage. It captures the reader’s attention and provides the necessary context. You need to support your arguments with textual evidence and examples. You can discuss the themes and messages provided by the author. You can also add details about the influence of the play on the literary world and the broader cultural landscape. By drawing upon the insights gained from The Death Of A Salesman essay examples, you can draw a comprehensive conclusion. It will help your readers to think and leave a lasting impression.

Betrayal in “Death of a Salesman”

Betrayal is breaking or violating trust within a relationship. Relationships are amongst individuals or organizations. In Fences, Troy has cheated on his wife. In Death of a Salesman, Willy makes multiple attempts at ending his life, later succeeding. Willy also has an affair while on sales trips. Biff fails to meet Willy’s expectations of making it in the business world. All of which are acts of betrayal. Death of a salesman and Fences share a common motif of betrayal. Willy […]

The American Dream in “Death of a Salesman”

“Death of a Salesman,” a play by Arthur Miller, was written in 1948 and produced in 1949. In Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman” one theme revealed in the drama play is the concept of the American dream of opportunity. America is the dream land of golden opportunities, even the poorest man can build his way upward in life. Miller uses this concept of opportunity by illustrating that new opportunity does not occur multiple times. Born in Harlem, New York, […]

Linda Loman Wife of Willy Loman

"Death of A Salesman Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman was a Pulitzer Prize-winning master piece (Miller 1019) in 1949. The play represent a tragedy about Willy Loman a self centered salesman whom as passed his time in the professional world of sales. A Devoted Wife: Linda Loman is a devoted wife. She shows constant wifely care and kindness about Willy. This is her most important characteristic. This trait appears in opening dialogue when Willy has unexpectedly returned after having left […]

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Willy’s Struggle for Identity in “Death of a Salesman”

Willy Loman is a 63-year-old salesman, father, and husband. Willy believes that all you need to live the American dream is wealth which comes from being well-liked by others. Never have succeeded in his sellings, Willy is unable to face the truth, expects his sons to do great things and fulfill his own - dreams the ones he couldn’t fulfill himself. In Arthur Miller’s play, Death of a Salesman, parent’s deluded definition of the American dream can affect their relationships […]

Analysis “Death of a Salesman” by Arthur Miller

In “Death of a Salesman” by Arthur Miller, the play revolves around Willy Loman, a salesman, and his family dealing with his struggles. Based in the 1940s, the play had different mannerisms than what people would perceive today. These mannerisms were affected by the Great Depression and World War II. While mannerisms may have been different, there are many similarities with how the men of this play behaved. Willy Loman, however, was a very difficult man who had many different […]

Analysis of Willy Loman

We see the caricature drawings of people when we go to an amusement park and laugh at them. Willy Loman, on the other hand, was the depressing literary caricature of a man who time has passed by as he has outlived his ability to be a successful salesman. Willy Loman lived in a world of fantasies where being well liked and good looking were the keys to the American dream. Due to his obsession with his understanding of the American […]

Symbolism in Death of a Salesman

"In psychology, a person has a threshold of how much stress they can uphold; an excessive amount of stress can lead to unsuccess, and a deficiency will lead to the same. Willy, a father of two adult kids with a wife, was exponentially spiraling into insanity due to the stress of his family and his future not coming together. He had unhealthy obsessions with his children and his car which lead to him ultimately ruining his life further. Throughout the […]

Character Analysis “Death of a Salesman”

Biff would express Willy's more aware and creative side. We use cookies to give you the best experience possible. Willy tries to bring him out of the past, but Biff imitates his maths teacher's lisp, instigating laughter from Willy and The Woman. Occasionally, she appears to be deceived by Willy's self-deceptive hopes for future prosperity and success, but at other times, she appears more realistic and less vulnerable than her husband. Willy's emotional well-being decreases sharply as dramatic events unfold […]

Amanda and Linda: a Comparative Observation

When examining the characteristics of a matriarch and the type of woman one might consider proper for the role, the many first ladies of the United States over the past two centuries come to mind. A matriarch will guide her family throughout decades providing unwavering strength and support during the most celebrated times, and she will stand firm with her loved ones during the most difficult of times. First ladies certainly do fit the profile. Most matriarchs do not experience […]

Family Name in “Death of a Salesman” by Arthur Miller

What does a name really mean? What does it represent? Does your last name affect how others see you just because of how that name was represented by your ancestors? In many cases, yes. A name can affect your reputation positively or negatively. Many times people can get too caught up in their work or personal situations and don’t put enough time or energy into their kids and helping them develop into productive citizens in order to carry on their […]

Linda Loman in “Death of a Salesman” by Arthur Miller

The character Linda Loman, who plays the role of Willy Loman's wife, in Arthur Miller's play, Death of a Salesman is a very important part in the play. Her character shows the typical American wife of that era. This is directly indicated by her behavior, the way she hides her feelings, and the way she treats her sons. There are many examples throughout the play that reveals that Linda is the classic enabler who indirectly causes the dysfunction in the […]

Escaping the Shackles of Modern Society

Throughout the history of drama production, the underlying message meant to be conveyed has been interpreted in many ways. Terrence Smith and Mike Miller argued that “The purpose of drama is not to define thought but to provoke it,” suggesting that plays are not used to spell out a one-sided topic, but rather are meant to evoke further speculation from all angles upon a specific subject. While witnessing the plot unfold amidst the play’s dynamics, the audience has the opportunity […]

Comparison between “Death of a Salesman”, “Oedipus Rex”, and “A Streetcar Named Desire”

Both “Oedipus Rex,” “A Streetcar Named Desire,” and “Death Of A Salesman” have scenes where a character’s past is revealed, whether it is to other characters or the audience (Oedipus’ parentage, Blanche’s past, or Willy’s affair). This overall foreshadows that they cannot fully escape their past, whether it is an eventual surfacing (“A Streetcar Named Desire” and “Death of a Salesman”) or an unexpected revelation (Oedipus Rex). This is linked to the theme of the inevitability of fate. There are […]

The Interpretation of a Family-Man: Fences V. Death of a Salesman

Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman and August Wilson’s Fences follow a comparable storyline of two fathers struggling to keep their families together. Main characters, Troy Maxson and Willy Loman, have suffered with infidelity and failing father-son relationships while in pursuit of their possibly unrealistic dreams. The focus on father-son relationships in Death of a Salesman and Fences is an apparent similarity throughout both plays. Troy and Willy have high expectations and dreams for their sons. However, these dreams for […]

Utilizing Literary Device of Theme in ‘Death of a Salesman’

A theme is a literary device used by an author to help the readers understand the central focus of a literary work. Some authors use themes to help the readers see the deeper meaning behind the story. While others use themes in order to help the reader understand and connect all of the parts of a story. In Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller many themes are shown to the reader throughout the play to help develop the characters […]

Perception of Reality in Death of a Salesman

"In the play Death of a Salesman, the family shown is dealing with the repercussions of their father being affected by a form of memory loss or dementia. Many of the characters in the story suffer from perceiving their lives as different to what they actually are. Willy, Biff and Happy all tend to lie and fabricate new stories about how their lives are better than how they actually are. Willy is the worst of the three, often lying to […]

Lavish Lifestyles and the Ideals of the American Dream

"For centuries people have been inspired by lavish lifestyles and the ideals of the American Dream. The saying “keeping up with the Joneses” holds true to not only today’s society, but has held true to society for decades now. The idea that anyone can achieve financial success is held near and dear to those who believe in one day acquiring the riches that the American Dream “says” an individual should obtain. Arthur Miller’s play, Death of a Salesman shines a […]

Comparison of Father-Son Dynamics in ‘Death of a Salesman’ and ‘Fences’

"Does your son have to like you you for you to be a good father? Willy is a man who believes that the key to success is being well liked and he instills this in this sons even though this might not be true. Troy is a man who take care of his responsibilities and tries to keep his son from being him because he wants him to be a better man than he ever was. A fathers job is […]

Analysis of Death of a Salesman

"In death of a salesman, Arthur Miller While reading a book, you should feel the feelings of the characters and everything that is expressed. Many books I don’t understand but this book did a very good job at doing just that. What i’m trying to say is, this book shows a lot of emotions and also relates to today's lifetime. Many symbols were shown in this book for example, his car was a great symbol. From page 48-50 the car […]

The American Dream in Play ‘The Death of a Salesman’

Research from Washington University Professor Mark Rank found that people define the American dream as three things: being able to pursue your passion, have economic security and being optimistic about the future (Cite 2). But, what if your typical dream never unfolds as in the case of Willy Loman and his family, in the play “The Death of a Salesman”? It’s as if the creator of the play, Arthur Miller, had a crystal ball in the 1940’s to look at […]

Paralels with Death of a Salesman

"In the Death of a Salesman there are many poems that connect with its themes, such as family life or work life. You can also see some themes alike like wanting to save the life of someone you love. Or just wanting someone you love to succeed these are some parallels in the poems and Death of a Salesman. In the poem Do Not Go Gentle by Dylan Thomas it has a lot in common with death of a salesman […]

Death of Salesman

The play “Death of a Salesman” greatly portrays a specific ideology in regards to values, dreams, goals, and success in our society. It helps showcase the American dream that society tends to strive for even in the early 1900’s. That dream of being a successful business person. As well as the theory that image and physical attributes are most important to gaining fruition. Willy Loman plays a man in his sixties who has strived for this American dream for over […]

Different American Dreams in Death of a Salesman

"In the play Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller brings to life the idea that the American dream is different for everyone, yet is achieved by the same process and rules through the use of convincing analogies, metaphors, and verbal contradictions. Miller's use of convincing analogies in the play during Act 2 brings across the importance of knowing people, being well-liked and putting a smile on your face. ”WILLY: Without a penny to his name, three great universities are begging […]

Death of a Salesman Tells the Story

"Death of a Salesman tells the story of a dysfunctional family through the eyes of the father whose sons are grown. The family went from prosperous, to needing support as the father gets older and the truth of his character is revealed. We see Willy, the father, as a grumpy old man we find out through his unhinged flashbacks his life used to be golden, he lived the American dream. His sons were popular, he was a great salesman who […]

Willy Character Analysis in “Death of a Salesman”

Willy Loman in Arthur Miller's 'Demise of death of a Salesman' is a complex and clashed character. He winds up inconsistent with his environment, his qualities, and even his family, now and again. Furthermore, these contentions overflow into how he brings up his children. Willy attempts to impart what he supposes are his increasingly outstanding attributes into his young men; affability and activity. In any case, one can see by his activities and even his words that he has a […]

Themes in Death of a Salesman

The American Dream is a relevant and universal theme in the play. As Willy Loman there are many people who misinterpret the idea of the American Dream. For him, to accomplish success and wealth a person needs to be “well liked” (p.20). Willy’s obsession with popularity leads him to tell his son Biff “you are going to be five times ahead of him. / Because the man who makes an appearance in the business world, the man who creates personal […]

Failure in Achievnig the American Dream

"In The Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller shows the failure to achieve the American Dream that we all strive for can lead to drastic decisions by using irony, symbolism, and allusions. For example, Biff Loman in The Death of a Salesman tells Willy Loman “I am not a leader of men, Willy, and neither are you. You were never anything but a hard-working drummer who landed in the ash can like the rest of them!"" (Miller 132). This quote is […]

Literary Analysis – Death of a Salesman

In “Death of a Salesman” by Arthur Miller, the conflict between father and son shapes the work’s overall significance and explains all the unfortunate occurrences throughout. The American Dream plays a big role in this novel. The American Dream symbolizes the ideas of futurism and possibilities. The American Dream has a definite objective for many people, and it means a different thing for all. The American dream also is accessible, but in this world, people still believe that because of […]

Death of a Salesman Summary

"The tragic play Death of a Salesman written by Arthur Miller is a story about a salesman named Willy Loman, who spends his whole life with a deluded dream of achieving lofty goals in an unforgiving society. Willy often neglects his family’s needs, because he is so blinded by the thought of vast riches that are unattainable for him. Being a modern day tragedy, Death of a Salesman examines the effects of what can happen when a person chasing the […]

Willy’s Obsession with the American Dream in Death of a Salesman

The American Dream throughout the ages has stood as each person's idea of success. The American dream normally associated with nineteen fifties America is a small family, cookie cutter house, and maybe even a dog. Though that is only one idea of the American dream, a shallow analysis that can and should go farther. Arthur Miller uses his play Death of a Salesman to do just that and absolutely succeeds in doing so. Throughout Death of a Salesman, Miller portrays […]

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How to Write an Essay About Death Of A Salesman

Understanding 'death of a salesman'.

Before writing an essay about Arthur Miller's 'Death of a Salesman', it is essential to understand the play's context, themes, and characters. 'Death of a Salesman' is a classic of American theater, written in 1949, that explores the American Dream's disillusionment through the life of Willy Loman, a struggling salesman. Begin your essay by outlining the play's plot, setting, and main characters, including Willy, his wife Linda, and their sons, Biff and Happy. Discuss the historical and cultural context of post-war America in which the play was written, as it is crucial for understanding the themes of the play, such as the pursuit of success, the fragility of the human psyche, and the impact of societal expectations.

Developing a Thesis Statement

A strong essay on 'Death of a Salesman' should be centered around a clear, concise thesis statement. This statement should present a specific viewpoint or argument about the play. For example, you might analyze Willy Loman’s character as a representation of the failure of the American Dream, discuss the play's commentary on societal values and pressures, or explore the theme of reality versus illusion. Your thesis will guide the direction of your essay and provide a structured approach to your analysis.

Gathering Textual Evidence

To support your thesis, gather evidence from the text of the play. This involves close reading to find relevant quotes, dialogues, and scenes that support your argument. For instance, if discussing the theme of disillusionment, identify key moments in the play that demonstrate Willy's growing despair and disillusion. Use these examples to build your argument and provide depth to your analysis.

Analyzing Miller's Techniques and Themes

Analyze how Arthur Miller uses literary techniques to develop the play's themes and characters. Discuss his use of symbolism, the play’s structure, and the use of flashback as a narrative device. For example, explore the symbolism of the seeds Willy plants, which fail to grow, as a metaphor for his unfulfilled dreams and aspirations. This analysis should demonstrate a deep understanding of the text and how Miller communicates his ideas.

Concluding the Essay

Conclude your essay by summarizing your main arguments and restating your thesis in light of the discussion. Your conclusion should tie together your insights into 'Death of a Salesman,' emphasizing the significance of your findings. Reflect on the broader implications of the play, such as its relevance to contemporary society or its place in American literary history.

Reviewing and Refining Your Essay

After completing your essay, review and refine it. Ensure that your arguments are coherent, your evidence is clearly presented, and your writing is free of grammatical errors. Consider seeking feedback from teachers or peers to help improve your essay. A well-written essay on 'Death of a Salesman' will not only demonstrate your understanding of the play but also your ability to engage critically with literary texts.

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105 Death of a Salesman Essay Topics & Samples
Updated: Dec 6th, 2023. 12 min. Death of a Salesman is Arthur Miller's multiple award-winning stage play that explores such ideas as American Dream and family. Our writers have prepared a list of topics and tips on writing the Death of a Salesman thesis statement, essay, or literary analysis. We will write.
A Summary and Analysis of Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman
Death of a Salesman: summary. The salesman of the title is Willy Loman, a travelling salesman who is in his early sixties. He works on commission, so if he doesn't make a sale, he doesn't get paid. His job involves driving thousands of miles around the United States every year, trying to sell enough to put food on his family's table. He ...
Analysis of "Death of a Salesman": [Essay Example], 847 words
Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman" is a timeless tale of an aging salesman, Willy Loman, who clings to an optimistic philosophy of the American Dream and its associated values while struggling to provide for his family. In this essay, I will argue that the play critiques these values and sheds light on the dark side of the American Dream ...
Analysis of Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman
Categories: Drama Criticism, Literature. Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman is, perhaps, to this time, the most mature example of a myth of Contemporary life. The chief value of this drama is its attempt to reveal those ultimate meanings which are resident in modern experience. Perhaps the most significant comment on this play is not its ...
Death of a Salesman
Introduction to Death of a Salesman. Death of a Salesman a play having "two acts and a requiem" is the masterpiece of Arthur Miller written in 1948 and produced in 1949. The popularity and success of the play demonstrate the strength of its story. The play was adapted for various tableaus, films, and course books across the globe, securing ...
Death of a Salesman Study Guide
Key Facts about Death of a Salesman. Full Title: Death of a Salesman. When Written: 1948. Where Written: Roxbury, Connecticut. When Published: The Broadway premiere was February 10, 1949. The play was published in 1949 by Viking Press. Literary Period: Social Realism. Genre: Dramatic stage play. Setting: New York and Boston in 1948.
Death of a Salesman Sample Essay Outlines
Outline. I. Thesis Statement: Being a salesman not only constitutes Willy's occupation but shapes his entire personality and outlook on life. His identity as a salesman greatly influences his ...
Death of a Salesman Critical Essays
Analysis. Death of a Salesman raises many issues, not only of artistic form but also of thematic content. Dramatically speaking, the play represents Arthur Miller's desire to modernize the ...
Death of a Salesman Essay Questions
The Question and Answer section for Death of a Salesman is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel. Significant of the tittle in 600 words. I think the title refers to both the death of Willy the salesmen and the death of his dreams. Willy's dreams of success turn to disillusionment when he cannot compete in the ...
Death of a Salesman Essays and Criticism
In the following essay, Sister Bettina examines the function of the character of Ben in Death of a Salesman, arguing that Ben is an extension of Willy's own consciousness, and that "through [Ben ...
Major Themes in Death of a Salesman
Death of a Salesman addresses loss of identity and a man's inability to accept change within himself and society. The play is a montage of memories, dreams, confrontations, and arguments, all of which make up the last 24 hours of Willy Loman's life. The three major themes within the play are denial, contradiction, and order versus disorder.
Death of a Salesman Essays
Death of a Salesman. Arthur Miller's 1949 play, Death of a Salesman, endures today because of its ability to effectively convey a complex family dynamic in the wake of its patriarch's failed American dream. Themes of disappointment and denial, embellishment and skewed... Death of a Salesman essays are academic essays for citation.
Death of a Salesman Critical Overview
Critical Overview. Since its debut performance in 1949, Death of a Salesman has brought audiences to tears. Critical debate rages, however, over Willy Loman's stature as a tragic hero. In the ...
Essays on Death of a Salesman
Best Death of a Salesman Essay Topics. When it comes to choosing the best Death of a Salesman essay topics, it's important to think outside the box and choose topics that stand out. Here are 20 creative and thought-provoking essay topics to consider: The Illusion of the American Dream in Death of a Salesman; The Tragic Hero: Willy Loman's Downfall
Death of a Salesman
Pulitzer Prize. Death of a Salesman, a play in "two acts and a requiem" by Arthur Miller, written in 1948 and produced in 1949. Miller won a Pulitzer Prize for the work, which he described as "the tragedy of a man who gave his life, or sold it" in pursuit of the American Dream. After many years on the road as a traveling salesman, Willy ...
Death of a Salesman Analysis
Sample Essay Outlines ... Death of a Salesman is often considered to be, at its core, a character study of one deeply flawed and deeply hopeful man. However, the play also explores how the flaws ...
Death of a Salesman
Words: 826 Pages: 3 5799. "Death of a Salesman," a play by Arthur Miller, was written in 1948 and produced in 1949. In Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman" one theme revealed in the drama play is the concept of the American dream of opportunity. America is the dream land of golden opportunities, even the poorest man can build his way ...
Death of a Salesman Suggested Essay Topics
Act II, Part 1. 1. Write an essay in which you describe how Willy's love of "personality" conforms to Howard's idea that "business is business.". As you describe the fact that both ...

105 Death of a Salesman Essay Topics & Examples

A Summary and Analysis of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman

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Death of a Salesman Essays

Perceptions of Self Worth and Prominence: Spaces and Settings in Death of a Salesman Lorin Veigas

Sales and Dreams Alex Hoffer

Musical Motifs Marleigh Russell

Death of A Salesman: Shifting of the American Dream Richard Salgado

Death of a Salesman: Psychological Criticism and Deconstruction Anonymous

Arthur Miller's 'Death of a Salesman' Exemplifies how Careful Attention to the Linguistic Features of a Play tell us all we need to know about Performance Kerri Margaret Scullion - Reid

Society In The Crucible and Death of a Salesman Michael Brooks

Symbolism Portrayed Through Common Objects Karen Hill

House Versus Home in The Great Gatsby and Death of a Salesman Anonymous

Fetters of the Dream: Failure and Success in Death of a Salesman Yvette Whitaker College

Biff's Self-Discovery in "Death of a Salesman" Sukayna Ibrahim 11th Grade

Sympathy for Willy Loman Anonymous 11th Grade

Is Tragedy Possible in the Modern Society Depicted in Death of a Salesman? Anonymous College

The Redefinition of Tragedy in Death of a Salesman Anonymous College

Emotional Intertextuality Between Death of a Salesman and The Kite Runner Haley Paige Parson 12th Grade

The Death of Dave Singleman: A Study of Contrasts Anonymous 11th Grade

The Crucial Need for Feminism in a Patriarchal Society: Evaluating Death of a Salesman Sofia Gemma Corsetti 12th Grade

Forgetting Family, Finding Freedom Sarah Noor 12th Grade

Opposite Takes on the “American Dream” in Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun and Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman Kevin Andrew Fagan College

The Use of Props in Master Harold... And the Boys and Death of a Salesman Noah David Perry 12th Grade

Capitalism as Masculine Identity in American Theater: Death of a Salesman and Glengarry Glen Ross Riley Stephen Meachem College

Father-Son Relationships in “Death of a Salesman” and “Fences” Anonymous College

Fragile and Fantastic, Fake and Flawed: Two Conflicting Views of Willy Loman Sophia Nadler College

Essays on Death of a Salesman

Best Death of a Salesman Essay Topics

Death of a Salesman Essay Topics Prompts

The Illusion of The American Dream in Death of a Salesman

American Dream in Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller

Broken Dream - The Deception of Willy Loman

The Necessity of Feminism in a Patriarchal Society: Death of a Salesman

Relevant topics

Death of a Salesman - Essay Examples And Topic Ideas For Free

Betrayal in “Death of a Salesman”

The American Dream in “Death of a Salesman”

Linda Loman Wife of Willy Loman

Willy’s Struggle for Identity in “Death of a Salesman”

Analysis “Death of a Salesman” by Arthur Miller

Analysis of Willy Loman

Symbolism in Death of a Salesman

Character Analysis “Death of a Salesman”

Amanda and Linda: a Comparative Observation

Family Name in “Death of a Salesman” by Arthur Miller

Linda Loman in “Death of a Salesman” by Arthur Miller

Escaping the Shackles of Modern Society

Comparison between “Death of a Salesman”, “Oedipus Rex”, and “A Streetcar Named Desire”

The Interpretation of a Family-Man: Fences V. Death of a Salesman

Utilizing Literary Device of Theme in ‘Death of a Salesman’

Perception of Reality in Death of a Salesman

Lavish Lifestyles and the Ideals of the American Dream

Comparison of Father-Son Dynamics in ‘Death of a Salesman’ and ‘Fences’

Analysis of Death of a Salesman

The American Dream in Play ‘The Death of a Salesman’

Paralels with Death of a Salesman

Death of Salesman