| rdfs:comment
| - Death of a Salesman is widely held to be the greatest tragedy ever written for the American stage. It was unquestionably the highlight of the career of its writer, Arthur Miller - although his work is regularly challenged by drunken bletherers from Scotland. A large part of the play's importance appeal today is that it shows just how much America has changed. Miller was aware of this, and was rumored to be working on a modern-day sequel, Death of a Telemarketer.
- Once upon a time, playwright Arthur Miller (some time husband of Marilyn Monroe) set out to disprove one of the fundamental theories about the Tragic Hero -- specifically, that the Tragic Hero must be royalty, nobility, or some other type of great man who has far to fall (which he does) and much to lose (which, again, he does). Miller intended to write a play with an Every Man, a low man, as the Tragic Hero. He may instead have created an entirely different archetype, the "pathetic hero". Either way, in doing so, he wrote what is often considered the greatest American play.
- The play won the 1949 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It is based on the true story of an American capitalist who did everything right:
* He was in sales, doing his part in the front lines to expand the economy;
* He held company with a mistress like all successful capitalists do;
* He lied to his wife and sons when necessary in order to protect them.
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| abstract
| - The play won the 1949 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It is based on the true story of an American capitalist who did everything right:
* He was in sales, doing his part in the front lines to expand the economy;
* He held company with a mistress like all successful capitalists do;
* He lied to his wife and sons when necessary in order to protect them. Yet, even after doing all these things, Willy ultimately failed. Miller read Willy's tragic story on The Internets and felt that the only reason why Willy was not a winner was he was burdened with the unfortunate surname of "Loman", which his customers read as "Low-man". He used this point as the main theme of the biographical play. The American public lauded Miller's refreshing insight; liberals of the era were blaming Loman's failure on his negative attitude.
- Once upon a time, playwright Arthur Miller (some time husband of Marilyn Monroe) set out to disprove one of the fundamental theories about the Tragic Hero -- specifically, that the Tragic Hero must be royalty, nobility, or some other type of great man who has far to fall (which he does) and much to lose (which, again, he does). Miller intended to write a play with an Every Man, a low man, as the Tragic Hero. He may instead have created an entirely different archetype, the "pathetic hero". Either way, in doing so, he wrote what is often considered the greatest American play. Willy Loman is an aging, washed-up salesman obsessed with the concept of greatness and convinced that being liked is the most important thing. Biff is his younger but equally washed-up son, once a high school sports hero with a bright future, now a perennially unemployed loser. The play follows the family's attempts to make one last grab at the American Dream. It's a very stagy play, since it's from Willy's dreamy, hallucination-and-flashback-ridden perspective. They managed to turn it into a very faithful, satisfactory movie, with Dustin Hoffman as Willy and John Malkovich as Biff.
- Death of a Salesman is widely held to be the greatest tragedy ever written for the American stage. It was unquestionably the highlight of the career of its writer, Arthur Miller - although his work is regularly challenged by drunken bletherers from Scotland. A large part of the play's importance appeal today is that it shows just how much America has changed. Miller was aware of this, and was rumored to be working on a modern-day sequel, Death of a Telemarketer. There is apparently no truth to the rumor that his struggles to make this seem tragic were a factor in his death. In fact, it appears likely that he had abandoned the project, as evidenced by the large bonfire of half-burned wads of paper found in his back yard. It is now believed that he was unable to make progress on the project because of constant interruptions from popup ads, spam e-mail, junk faxes and telephone calls.
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