The Set
There are many stage directions throughout the play, to increase the dramatic impact, but the longest is at the start, it details the various lighting, music and stagecraft that must be used to make the play have an effect on the audience.
Another feature of the set is the fact that there are many imaginary wall lines around the set. In the past these wall lines are ignored and the actors can pass freely through the boundaries. In the present ‘the actors observe the imaginary wall lines, entering the house only through its door at the left.
This is important as the action in the play frequently skips from past to present, and can tell an audience more about what time the scene is set in.
The set ‘is wholly’ and is a house structure surrounded by tall, imposing building’s that are tower blocks/. The kitchen is placed in the centre and has all the typical features of a kitchen e.g. A fridge, table, sink etc. Miller says that ‘an air of the dream clings to the place’. This is very hard for a direct to do but helps the dramatic impact of the play.
Above the kitchen is the boy’s bedroom with two beds and Willy’s bedroom. There is a stairway leading from the kitchen to the two bedrooms.
The way the tower blocks surround the house is almost claustrophobic, and could be interpreted as an analogy for Miller feeling threatened by surrounding capitalism in the USA.
Music
In ‘death of a salesman’ music is used to a dramatic effect and the main characters, such as Ben and Willy, have their own pieces of music/ This may be to affect the audience and to make the characters entry seem more dramatic/
At the start of the play ‘a melody is heard, played upon a flute, It is small and mine, telling of grass and trees and the horizon.’
This is an optimistic piece of music, relative to the rest of the play and is used to give us hopes and dreams for the rest of the play. This music is dramatic and is played upon one flute, it is simplistic and powerful.
At the end of the play, just before the requiem, the music rises to a frenzy as Willy drives off and as he dies, the music is used to a dramatic effect as the music turns to ‘the soft pulsation of a cell o string’. This is striking to the audience and has a great emotional impact upon them.
Another quality of the Melody is that it feels out of place in a city scene, which is the appearance of the set. The music is the opposite and tells of a rural, peaceful, tranquillity and Willy’s dreams of a quiet life in the country.
The Requiem
In the Requiem we see Willy’s funeral, but alas, the friends and customers he claimed to have has not shown up. Linda and Happy are confused as to why this is, but Charley, Biff and Bernard know and have come to terms with the fact that Willy was not well liked and that his business ventures were ill-fated and old-fashioned.
Biff finally opens up and says that Willy ‘had the wrong dreams’ and Willy ‘never knew who he was’. Happy is distressed by what Biff says and ‘is almost ready to fight’. Happy obviously still believe in Willy’s ideals and in capitalism and states that he is gonna win it for him (Willy)’ much to the distress of Biff who knows that it is a vain attempt at getting rich quick.
Linda is comforted by Charley, who says that being a salesman is a good profession and that ‘a salesman has got to dream’. Charley goes on to say ‘he was a happy man with a batch of cement’, this could be interpreted as the author saying that most people are happy to work for a purpose, e.g. Socialism.
Throughout much of the play we see Willy symbolising ‘old capitalism’, the belief that if you work hard and are well liked then you gain lots of financial wealth. In the Requiem we see the death of this ‘old capitalism’ due to the unscrupulous nature of ‘new capitalism’ which unfortunately, is not dead yet.
Ben, Willy’s brother, symbolises ‘new capitalism’, the belief that if you are merciless and cut-throat in business then you will gain financial success. Much of the play is spent showing how ‘new capitalism’ is getting rid of ‘old capitalism.
The structure of the play
Throughout the play we have frequent flashbacks to the past, as Willy’s life falls apart and he dreams about the past to preserve his happiness. As the play progresses, the flashbacks become more frequent and crossover more into the present.
The flashbacks are essential to the rest of the play and provide vital points that are key to the story.
As the flashbacks become more frequent and frenzied, Willy starts acting out the flashbacks in the present. This makes him appear crazy and even leads Biff and Happy to openly claim Willy is not their father.
Miller uses these flashbacks to adequately convey the emotion and structure of Willy’s breakdown to the audience.
Conclusion
‘Death of a salesman’ could easily be interpreted as an attack on the unscrupulous nature of all capitalism, but this is only a small part of the play. It is an emotive story of the last few days of a failed salesman’s life, as he seeks happiness in the past and can not face the reality of his life. It is about a man who has been robbed by time and takes refuge in the past when he was well liked, yet in the present no-one in the business world likes him.
Miller has written ‘Death of a salesman’ in a powerful way and is successful in his purpose of touching the reader and making the read thinking about the world and the life they lead.