[This book] has been recognized as a milestone of the American theater. In the person of Willy Loman, the aging, failing salesman who makes his living riding on a smile and shoeshine, [the author] redefined the tragic hero as a man whose dreams are at once insupportably vast and dangerously insubstantial. He has given us a figure whose name has become a symbol for a kind of majestic grandiosity - and a play that compresses epic extremes of humor and anguish, promise and loss, between the four walls of an American living room.

Classic Literature. Drama. Fiction. HTML:

Stacy Keach and Jane Kaczmarek star in this 1949 masterpiece by Arthur Miller, a searing portrait of the physical, emotional, and psychological costs of the American dream. Willy Loman (Keach) is the play's iconic traveling salesman, whose family is torn apart by his desperate obsession with greatness and social acceptance. As his two sons cast about aimlessly for their station in life, Willy begins to come unraveled when the reality of his life threatens his long-cherished illusions.

An L.A. Theatre Works full-cast performance featuring:

Stacy Keach as Willy Loman;

and Jane Kaczmarek as Linda Loman;

Steven Culp as Biff Loman;

Maureen Flannigan as Letta and Jenny;

Jason Henning as Bernard and Stanley;

Kathryn Meisle as The Woman;

Tim Monsion as Uncle Ben;

Sam Mcmurray as Charley;

John Sloan as Happy Loman;

Kate Steele as Miss Forsythe;

Kenneth Alan Williams as Howard.

Directed by Eric Simonson. Recorded before a live audience at the Skirball Cultural Center, Los Angeles in March, 2011.

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Classic Literature. Drama. Fiction. Literature. HTML:The Pulitzer Prize-winning tragedy of a salesman’s deferred American dream
 
Ever since it was first performed in 1949, Death of a Salesman has been recognized as a milestone of the American theater. In the person of Willy Loman, the aging, failing salesman who makes his living riding on a smile and a shoeshine, Arthur Miller redefined the tragic hero as a man whose dreams are at once insupportably vast and dangerously insubstantial. He has given us a figure whose name has become a symbol for a kind of majestic grandiosity—and a play that compresses epic extremes of humor and anguish, promise and loss, between the four walls of an American living room.
"By common consent, this is one of the finest dramas in the whole range of the American theater." —Brooks Atkinson, The New York Times
"So simple, central, and terrible that the run of playwrights would neither care nor dare to attempt it." —Time.

Pulitzer Prize-winning play concerned with the despair of a 63-year-old traveling salesman when he is forced to face the reality he has evaded all his life.

Stacy Keach and Jane Kaczmarek star in Arthur Miller's 1949 masterpiece, a searing portrait of the physical, emotional, and psychological costs of the American dream. Willy Loman (Keach) is the play's iconic traveling salesman, whose family is torn apart by his desperate obsession with success and social acceptance. As his two sons cast about aimlessly for their station in life, Willy begins to come unraveled when the reality of his life threatens his long-cherished illusions. Recorded before a live audience at the Skirball Cultural Center, Los Angeles in March 2011. Directed by Eric Simonson Producing Director: Susan Albert Loewenberg An L.A. Theatre Works full cast performance featuring: - Steven Culp as Biff Loman - Maureen Flannigan as Letta/Jenny - Jason Henning as Bernard/Stanley - Jane Kaczmarek as Linda Loman - Stacy Keach as Willy Loman - Kathryn Meisle as The Woman - Tim Monsion as Uncle Ben - Sam McMurray as Charley - John Sloan as Happy Loman - Kate Steele as Miss Forsythe - Kenneth Alan Williams as Howard Recording, Editing and Mixing Engineer: Mark Holden for The Invisible Studios, West Hollywood Sound Effects Artist: Tony Palermo.

An unsuccessful traveling salesman finally confronts, in his early sixties, his shattered dreams.

A searing portrait of the physical, emotional, and psychological costs of the American dream. Willy Loman is the iconic traveling salesman whose family is torn apart by his desperate obsession with greatness and social acceptance. As his two sons cast about aimlessly for their stations in life, Willy begins to come unraveled when the reality of his life threatens his long-cherished illusions.

Reprint of the 1967 ed. published by Viking Press, New York.

"Why am I trying to become what I don't want to be ... when all I want is out there, waiting for me the minute I say I know who I am. Willy Loman is an ageing travelling salesman haunted, driven and yet held back by empty dreams of prosperity and success. Justly celebrated as one of the most famous dramatisations of the failure of the American Dream, the play's moral and political purpose is perfectly counterbalanced by a powerful and moving human drama of a man trying to make his way in the world and of the human flaws that lead to the shattering of his family and of their figurehead. Death of a Salesman is Miller's tragic masterpiece and considered one of the greatest plays of the twentieth century. Awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1949, the play remains a classic work of literature and drama that is studied and performed around the world. This new edition includes an introduction by Claire Conceison that explores the play's production history as well as the dramatic, thematic, and academic debates that surround it; a must-have resource for any student exploring Death of a Salesman"--

Presents the script of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play in which Willy Loman, a sixty-three-year-old traveling salesman, is forced to face the reality he has avoided all his life.

Willy Loman returns home exhausted after a cancelled business trip. Worried over Willy's state of mind and recent car accident, his wife Linda suggests that he ask his boss Howard Wagner to allow him to work in his home city so he will not have to travel. Willy complains to Linda that their son, Biff, has yet to make good on his life. Despite Biff's promising showing as an athlete in high school, he flunked senior-year math and never went to college.Biff and his brother Happy, who is temporarily staying with Willy and Linda after Biff's unexpected return from the West, reminisce about their childhood together. They discuss their father's mental degeneration, which they have witnessed in the form of his constant indecisiveness and daydreaming about the boys' high school years. Willy walks in, angry that the two boys have never amounted to anything. In an effort to pacify their father, Biff and Happy tell their father that Biff plans to make a business proposition the next day.Death of a Salesman is a 1949 play written by American playwright Arthur Miller. It was the recipient of the 1949 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and Tony Award for Best Play. The play premiered on Broadway in February 1949, running for 742 performances, and has been revived on Broadway four times, winning three Tony Awards for Best Revival. It is widely considered to be one of the greatest plays of the 20th century.

Death of a Salesman SparkNotes Literature Guide by Arthur Miller Making the reading experience fun! When a paper is due, and dreaded exams loom, here's the lit-crit help students need to succeed! SparkNotes Literature Guides make studying smarter, better, and faster. They provide chapter-by-chapter analysis, explanations of key themes, motifs, and symbols, a review quiz, and essay topics. Lively and accessible, SparkNotes is perfect for late-night studying and paper writing. Includes: - An A+ Essay-an actual literary essay written about the Spark-ed book-to show students how a paper should be written. - 16 pages devoted to writing a literary essay including: a glossary of literary terms - Step-by-step tutoring on how to write a literary essay - A feature on how not to plagiarize.

A not-too-successful traveling salesman rears his sons on platitudes to his and their undoing.

Pulitzer Prize-winning play about a middle-aged man's emotional turmoil due to being past his prime and failing to reach success.

Willy Loman has been a salesman all his life, but at sixty he is forced to take stock of his life and face its futility and failure. His predicament gives him heroic stature in this modern-day tragedy.

A-- Death of a Salesman Widely considered Arthur Miller's masterpiece, Death of a Salesman.

In the spring of 1948, Arthur Miller retreated to a log cabin in Connecticut with the first two lines of a new play already fixed in his mind. He emerged six weeks later with the final script of "Death of a Salesman" - a painful examination of American life and consumerism. Opening on Broadway the following year, Miller's extraordinary masterpiece changed the course of modern theatre. In creating Willy Loman, his destructively insecure anti-hero, Miller himself defined his aim as being 'to set forth what happens when a man does not have a grip on the forces of life.'

Willy Loman, the protagonist of Death of a Salesman, has spent his life following the American way, living out his belief in salesmanship as a way to reinvent himself. But somehow the riches and respect he covets have eluded him. At age 63, he searches for the moment his life took a wrong turn, the moment of betrayal that undermined his relationship with his wife and destroyed his relationship with Biff, the son in whom he invested his faith. Willy lives in a fragile world of elaborate excuses and daydreams, conflating past and present in a desperate attempt to make sense of himself and of a world that once promised so much. PUBLISHER ANNOTATION, c2005.

'A man is not an orange. You can't eat the fruit and throw the peel away' Willy Loman is on his last legs. Failing at his job, dismayed at his the failure of his sons, Biff and Happy, to live up to his expectations, and tortured by his jealousy at the success and happiness of his neighbour Charley and his son Bernard, Willy spirals into a well of regret, reminiscence, and A scathing indictment of the ultimate failure of the American dream, and the empty pursuit of wealth and success, is a harrowing journey. In creating Willy Loman, his destructively insecure anti-hero, Miller defined his aim as being 'to set forth what happens when a man does not have a grip on the forces of life'.

Death of a Salesman has been justly celebrated as one of the most famous dramatisations of the failure of the American Dream, but its moral and political purpose is perfectly counterbalanced by a powerful and moving human drama of a man trying to make his way in the world and of the human flaws that lead to the shattering of his family and of their idol. This Student Edition of Miller's masterpiece features an extensive introduction by Enoch Brater which makes it the perfect edition for students of literature and drama. It includes a chronology of Miller's life and times; a summary of the plot, commentary on the characters, themes, language and context, a production history of the play and questions for further study.

Arthur Miller's most famous play, Death of a Salesman, has become a key text in Western literature. This unusually powerful recording, made for radio in 1953, was directed by Elia Kazan who premiered the play. It features Thomas Mitchell and Arthur Kennedy as father and son. Willy, a travelling salesman, based in New York, relentlessly chases material success. As the disappointing nature of his reality crowds in upon him, Willy and his family suffer the tragic cost of his delusions of greatness. A domestic tragedy, a cynical indictment of materialism and the American Dream, and a profoundly moving story of one man's struggle to maintain his dignity in the face of continual adversity Miller's play is essential listening.

"A contemporary classic. . . listen to this album." --The New York Times Death of a Salesman burst upon the scene in 1949, and is as fresh and meaningful today as it was when it opened on Broadway - and won the Drama Critics' Circle Award, the Tony Award and the Pulitzer Prize. As Death of a Salesman is Miller's great play, Willy Loman is Lee J. Cobb's great role. He created the part on Broadway, just as Mildred Dunnock created the role of Linda Loman. They both recreate their roles here, with an exceptional cast including Michael Tolan as Biff, Gene Williams as Happy, and in the role of Bernard - Dustin Hoffman. Arthur Miller took an active part in this production, undertaken expressly for this recording - from Miller himself recording the introduction with which the play opens to choosing the director, participating in the casting, and attending the rehearsals. Arthur Miller was born in New York City in 1915. His first theatrical success occurred in 1947 with All My Sons, which earned him the Drama Critics' Circle Award. In 1949, Death of a Salesman was given the Pulitzer Prize and Drama Critics' Circle Award. The Crucible won a Tony Award four years later. His other plays include A View From the Bridge, The Price, After the Fall, Incident at Vichy, The American Clock, Danger: Memory, The Ride Down Mt. Morgan, and Broken Glass.

'Death of a Salesman' is Miller's tragic masterpiece about Willy Loman, the ageing travelling salesman haunted and driven by empty dreams of prosperity and success.

Death of a Salesman has been justly celebrated as one of the most famous dramatisations of the failure of the American Dream, but its moral and political purpose is perfectly counterbalanced by a powerful and moving human drama of a man trying to make his way in the world and of the human flaws that lead to the shattering of his family and of their idol.

Death of a Salesman is Miller's tragic masterpiece and one of the greatest plays of the twentieth century. Awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1949, the play remains a classic work of literature and drama that is studied and performed around the world. This critical edition offers a wealth of authoritative and helpful commentary by one of the leading international Miller scholars. Prepared in consultation with the author's estate, it is the definitive edition of the work.Willy Loman is an ageing travelling salesman haunted and driven by empty dreams of prosperity and success. Justly celebrated as one of the most famous dramatisations of the failure of the American Dream, the play's moral and political purpose is perfectly counterbalanced by a powerful and moving human drama of a man trying to make his way in the world and of the human flaws that lead to the shattering of his family and of their idol.This Student Edition features an extensive introduction by Enoch Brater which makes it the perfect edition for students of literature and drama. It includes a chronology of Miller's life and times; a summary of the plot, commentary on the characters, themes, language and context, a production history of the play and questions for further study.

Stacy Keach and Jane Kaczmarek star in Arthur Miller's 1949 masterpiece, a searing portrait of the physical, emotional, and psychological costs of the American dream. Willy Loman (Keach) is the play's iconic traveling salesman, whose family is torn apart by his desperate obsession with success and social acceptance. As his two sons cast about aimlessly for their station in life, Willy begins to come unraveled when the reality of his life threatens his long-cherished illusions. Recorded before a live audience at the Skirball Cultural Center, Los Angeles in March 2011..

Death of a Salesman is a 1949 play written by American playwright Arthur Miller. It won the 1949 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and Tony Award for Best Play. The play premiered on Broadway in February 1949, running for 742 performances, and has been revived on Broadway four times, winning three Tony Awards for Best Revival.Arthur Miller, in full Arthur Asher Miller, (born October 17, 1915, New York, New York, U.S.--died February 10, 2005, Roxbury, Connecticut), American playwright, who combined social awareness with a searching concern for his characters' inner lives. He is best known for Death of a Salesman (1949).Miller was shaped by the Great Depression, which brought financial ruin onto his father, a small manufacturer, and demonstrated to the young Miller the insecurity of modern existence. After graduation from high school he worked in a warehouse. With the money he earned he attended the University of Michigan (B.A., 1938), where he began to write plays. His first public success was with Focus (1945; filmed 1962 made-for-television]), a novel about anti-Semitism. All My Sons (1947; filmed 1948), a drama about a manufacturer of faulty war materials that strongly reflects the influence of Henrik Ibsen, was his first important play. It won Miller a Tony Award, and it was his first major collaboration with the director Elia Kazan, who also won a Tony.Miller's next play, Death of a Salesman, became one of the most famous American plays of its period. It is the tragedy of Willy Loman, a man destroyed by false values that are in large part the values of his society. For Miller, it was important to place "the common man" at the centre of a tragedy. As he wrote in 1949: The quality in such plays i.e., tragedies] that does shake us...derives from the underlying fear of being displaced, the disaster inherent in being torn away from our chosen image of what and who we are in this world. Among us today this fear is as strong, and perhaps stronger, than it ever was. In fact, it is the common man who knows this fear best.Miller had been exploring the ideas underlying Death of a Salesman since he was a teenager, when he wrote a story about a Jewish salesman; he also drew on memories of an uncle. He wrote the play in 1948, and it opened in New York City, directed by Kazan, in February 1949. The play won a Tony Award for best play and a Pulitzer Prize for drama, while Miller and Kazan again each won individual Tonys, as author and director respectively. The play was later adapted for the screen (1951 and several made-for-television versions) and was revived several times on Broadway.Miller based The Crucible (1953) on the witchcraft trials in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692-93, a series of persecutions that he considered an echo of the McCarthyism of his day, when investigations of alleged subversive activities were widespread. Though not as popular as Death of a Salesman, it won a Tony for best play. It was also adapted numerous times for film and television. In 1956, when Miller was himself called before the House Un-American Activities Committee, he refused to name people he had seen 10 years earlier at an alleged communist writers' meeting. He was convicted of contempt but appealed and won.

THE STORY: The story revolves around the last days of Willy Loman, a failing salesman, who cannot understand how he failed to win success and happiness. Through a series of tragic soul-searching revelations of the life he has lived with his wife, h

The story revolves around the last days of Willy Loman, a failing salesman, who cannot understand how he failed to win success and happiness . Through a ser?ies of tragic s?oul-?searching revel?ations of the l?ife he has live?d with his wife?, his sons, and? his business a?ssociates, we d?iscover how his? quest for the ?"American Dream" kept him blind? to the people ?who truly loved? him. A thrilli?ng work of deep? and revealing ?beauty that rem?ains one of the? most profound ?classic dramas ?of the American? theatre.

Ever since it was first performed in 1949, Death of a Salesman has been recognized as a milestone of the American theater.

Unlock the more straightforward side of Death of a Salesman with this concise and insightful summary and analysis! This engaging summary presents an analysis of Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, a tragic drama centred on the character of Willy Loman and his turbulent relationship with his eldest son, Biff. Over the course of the play, flashbacks or dream sequences are used to reveal the reasons why their bond has disintegrated to such a degree, focusing on Willy's obsession with material success and Biff's rejection of the narrative of the American Dream to illustrate the stark contrasts between their personalities and attitudes towards life. Arthur Miller is considered one of the most influential dramatists of the 20th century, and Death of a Salesman is one of his best-known plays. It remains popular today, and new productions of the play are frequently performed. Find out everything you need to know about Death of a Salesman in a fraction of the time! This in-depth and informative reading guide brings you: - A complete plot summary - Character studies - Key themes and symbols - Questions for further reflection Why choose BrightSummaries.com? Available in print and digital format, our publications are designed to accompany you on your reading journey. The clear and concise style makes for easy understanding, providing the perfect opportunity to improve your literary knowledge in no time. See the very best of literature in a whole new light with BrightSummaries.com!

The play shows a series of chronological events which take place during one evening and the next day. At intervals throughout the play we see scenes from Willy's past enacted on the same stage set at the same time. On first consideration this seems more likely to confuse than reveal, but Miller had very strong reasons for staging the play in this way. Miller beli9eves that the past is not something which is now behind us.... he says the past is with us all the time, informing and influencing our actions and choices. If we are to understand Willy, we must be aware of the emotional burdens and the formative influences which he carries with him from the past.

The tragedy of a typical American--a salesman who at the age of sixty-three is faced with what he cannot face; defeat and disillusionment.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning tragedy of a salesman's deferred American dream A Penguin Classic   Since it was first performed in 1949, Arthur Miller's Pulitzer Prize-winning drama about the tragic shortcomings of an American dreamer has been recognized as a milestone of the theater. Willy Loman, the protagonist of Death of a Salesman, has spent his life following the American way, living out his belief in salesmanship as a way to reinvent himself. But somehow the riches and respect he covets have eluded him. At age 63, he searches for the moment his life took a wrong turn, the moment of betrayal that undermined his relationship with his wife and destroyed his relationship with Biff, the son in whom he invested his faith. Willy lives in a fragile world of elaborate excuses and daydreams, conflating past and present in a desperate attempt to make sense of himself and of a world that once promised so much. This Penguin Classics edition features an introduction by Christopher W. E. Bigsby. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Hailed as the first great play to lay bare the emptiness of America's relentless drive for material success, Death of a Salesman is Miller's classic portrait of an ordinary man's struggle to leave his mark on the world.

Willy Loman attempts to make sense of his life and of a world that once promised so much.

"It is a two-act tragedy set in 1940s New York told through a montage of memories, dreams, and arguments of the protagonist Willy Loman, a travelling salesman who is disappointed with his life, and appears to be slipping into senility. The play contains a variety of themes, such as the American Dream, the anatomy of truth, and infidelity. It is considered by some critics to be one of the greatest plays of the 20th century.

Arthur Miller's award-winning play centres on Willy Loman, an ageing and wearied travelling salesman. Exploring the disintegration of Willy Loman's mind and the inevitable drift towards his tragic fate, Miller's portrayal of the failure of the American Dream remains as poignant and relevant today as when it was first performed in 1949. This brand new edition includes rich biographical and contextual information, along with activities that improve textual analysis and encourage a personal response.

The tragic play about a salesman who never got beyond his own daydream world.

Japanese edition of Death of A Salesman, the classic by Arthur Miller. In Japanese. Annotation copyright Tsai Fong Books, Inc. Distributed by Tsai Fong Books, Inc.

A Welsh translation of Arthur Miller's play, Death of a Salesman. This drama is considered to be the best of Arthur Miller's plays, and one of the great plays of all time. It is set in the period following the First World War, but the characters go back in time to the early 1930s.

Memories, anecdotes and articles of a Punjabi writer.

Death of a Salesman By Arthur Miller

A social drama about an aging travelling salesman who recognizes the emptiness of his life and commits suicide.

Arthur Miller's Pulitzer Prize–winning play that forever changed the meaning of the American Dream Willy Loman, the protagonist of Death of a Salesman, has spent his life following the American way, living out his belief in salesmanship as a way to reinvent himself. But somehow the riches and respect he covets have eluded him. At age sixty-three, he searches for the moment his life took a wrong turn, the moment of betrayal that undermined his marriage and destroyed his relationship with Biff, the son in whom he invested his faith. Willy lives in a fragile world of elaborate excuses and daydreams, conflating past and present in a desperate attempt to make sense of himself and of a world that once promised so much. Widely considered Arthur Miller's masterpiece, Death of a Salesman has steadily seen productions all over the world since its 1949 debut, including the multiple Tony-award-winning 2012 Broadway production directed by Mike...

The great American play of an ordinary man's struggle to leave his mark on the world.

This play tells the story of Willy Loman, an ageing salesman, who is a failure in both his business and private life. Fired by his firm, ignored by his children, his humiliation ends in suicide.

Willy Loman, a traveling salesman, experiences a profound sense of failure as he recognizes signs of aging in himself, and decides to take stock of his accomplishments.

"First published by Viking Penguin, Inc., 1949"--T.p. verso.

Classic Literature. Fiction. HTML:

Starred review from January 2, 2012
This L.A. Theatre Works full-cast production of Miller’s classic play about the crashing of the American Dream is an especially poignant listen during the current financial crisis. As the Loman family’s aspirations come crashing down, patriarch Willy battles his ego and his slow decline into old age, while his two boys continue to fail as men. But with money dwindling, they must make one last attempt to find financial stability. Stacy Keach offers up an admirable rendition of Willy, for whom listeners will easily feel empathy as he swings from mood to mood. Keach’s emotional range and energy dominates what is already an impressive production in terms of acting, sound effects, and sound clarity. Jane Kaczmarek provides a winning performance as Linda Loman, battling against the dominating and condescending males within the family. This audio drama proves so enjoyable that a second listening will definitely be necessary.

. HTML:The Pulitzer Prize-winning tragedy of a salesman's deferred American dream

Ever since it was first performed in 1949, Death of a Salesman has been recognized as a milestone of the American theater. In the person of Willy Loman, the aging, failing salesman who makes his living riding on a smile and a shoeshine, Arthur Miller redefined the tragic hero as a man whose dreams are at once insupportably vast and dangerously insubstantial. He has given us a figure whose name has become a symbol for a kind of majestic grandiosity—and a play that compresses epic extremes of humor and anguish, promise and loss, between the four walls of an American living room.
"By common consent, this is one of the finest dramas in the whole range of the American theater." —Brooks Atkinson, The New York Times
"So simple, central, and terrible that the run of playwrights would neither care nor dare to attempt it." —Time.

Portrait of Willy Loman, an aging, failing salesman whose dreams are at once insupportably vast and dangerously insubstantial.

Unlock the more straightforward side of Death of a Salesman with this concise and insightful summary and analysis! This engaging summary presents an analysis of Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, a tragic drama centered on the character of Willy Loman and his turbulent relationship with his eldest son, Biff. Over the course of the play, flashbacks or dream sequences are used to reveal the reasons why their bond has disintegrated to such a degree, focusing on Willy's obsession with material success and Biff's rejection of the narrative of the American Dream to illustrate the stark contrasts between their personalities and attitudes towards life. Arthur Miller is considered one of the most influential dramatists of the 20th century, and Death of a Salesman is one of his best-known plays. It remains popular today, and new productions of the play are frequently performed. Find out everything you need to know about Death of a Salesman in a fraction of the time! This in-depth and infor...

Examining American life and consumerism, this play sets forth what happens when a man does not have a grip on the forces of life.

Aging salesman Willy Loman doesn't understand why his family never attained the greatness and success he had always envisioned.

"First published in the United States of America by The Viking Press, 1949"--T.p. verso.

Willy Loman, a sixty-three-year-old traveling salesman, is forced to face the reality he has avoided all his life.

Willie Loman lived in a dream world and when he was finally forced to face reality it was too much for him.

Die vorliegende Ausgabe ist umfassend annotiert und enthält zahlreiche Lesebegleitfragen. Eine Zeitleiste zu Arthur Millers Leben und Werk und verschiedene Zusatztexte runden den Band ab. Geeignet ist die Lektüre für die Jahrgangsstufen 10 - 13

Cuando en 1949 se estrenó en Nueva York Muerte de un viajante, obtuvo de inmediato un éxito que catapultó a la fama a Arthur Miller, hoy convertido en todo un clásico del teatro norteamericano del siglo XX. Llevada innumerables veces a las tablas en todo el mundo, y en varias ocasiones a la pantalla, más de cincuenta años después de su estreno esta obra ha pasado a ser un símbolo de la tragedia del hombre corriente en una sociedad que lo aniquila y de la inutilidad del sacrificio.   Willy Loman ha trabajado como viajante de comercio durante toda su vida para conseguir lo que cualquier hombre desea: comprar una casa, educar a sus hijos, darle una vida digna a su mujer. Tiene sesenta años, y está extenuado; pide un aumento de sueldo, pero se lo niegan y acaba siendo despedido «por su propio bien», pues ya no rinde en su trabajo como antes. Todo parece derrumbarse: no podrá pagar la hipoteca de la casa y, para colmo, sus dos hijos no hacen nada de provecho. ¿No se ha sacrificado él siempre para que estudiaran y se colocaran bien? A medida que avanzan las horas, la avalancha de problemas crece de modo imparable, pero Willy vive otra realidad, en otro mundo: ¡ha soñado con tantas cosas!... Ha sido un perfecto trabajador, un perfecto padre y marido: ¿dónde está el error?, ¿en él o en los demás?    «La tragedia de Willy Loman está en que dio su vida, o la vendió, para justificar que la había desperdiciado», escribió Arthur Miller, quien, a propósito de la triste vigencia de esta obra, dijo en cierta ocasión: «El que siga habiendo tantos Willy en el mundo se debe a que el hombre se supedita a las imperiosas necesidades de la sociedad o de la tecnología aniquilándose como individuo… Pero la obra trata de algo aún más primitivo. Como muchos mitos y dramas clásicos, es una historia sobre la violencia en el seno de las familias.»

El personaje del drama se interroga antes de morir por las razones de su fracaso como agente comercial, como padre y como hombre.

La muerte de un viajante es la historia de una familia norteamericana y su lucha por la supervivencia. El padre es William Loman, su esposa es Linda y sus dos hijos: Biff y Happy. Viven en Nueva Inglaterra en una casa que ahora estâa cercada por edificios. Willy ve con preocupaciâon el futuro de sus hijos sobre todo de Biff, quien a pesar de tener treinta y cuatro aänos no logra establecerse en un buen empleo, entre otras cosas porque vio truncados sus estudios. Para ambos hijos el aspecto fâisico fue muy importante y fincaron en eso sus esperanzas, son atlâeticos y guapos. Su padre de hecho alentaba estas expectativas, que finalmente no terminan de cumplirse. Por otro lado, William llevâo una doble vida al entenderse con una mujer de Boston. A quien le regalaba medias y por eso constantemente sufre por ver a su verdadera esposa remendar las propias. Esta es una obra que constantemente recrea escenas del pasado de los personajes y sus momentos decisivos. Aunque es en el presente donde estâan viviendo una situaciâon muy dramâatica, porque despuâes de mâas de treinta y cinco aänos de trabajo el padre estâa siendo relegado en âel. Le han disminuido su salario. Sus fuerzas flaquean y sus hijos fuera de ayudarlo, pues tambiâen su economâia es precaria, no le tienen el debido respeto. William es la vâictima de un sistema econâomico implacable que desecha a los que han ofrendado su vida a âel y que al final cuando su rendimiento baja son expulsados sin conmiseraciâon. Por eso va por la vida con sus recuerdos y hablando solo. Le niegan un puesto de oficina, porque su trayectoria no cuenta, importa sâolo el rendimiento actual. Lo sintetiza el personaje con una frase: "no puede usted comerse la naranja y despuâes tirar el pellejo". Eso le hacen justamente. En el dâia de su muerte se le cierran las puertas a William y a su hijo Biff, que fue quien descubriâo a su padre con otra mujer. Y que al final de la obra le reprocha su existencia, que es la misma que le ha tratado de imponer. Es asâi como todo se derrumba para este vendedor viajante que se va de su casa y cuya muerte ocurre fuera del escenario. Perdido en una noche que asesina, de manera simbâolica, el sueäno de prosperidad americano