Look at the section from Charley's entrance to exit. How dramtically effective do you find this section? What ideas within the play do you find within this section?

Look at the section from Charley's entrance to exit. How dramtically effective do you find this section? What ideas within the play do you find within this section? The scene featuring Willy, Charley and Willy's fictional vision of his brother Ben. This scene provides and excellent insight into the main body of the plays ideas and provides a debatable level of dramatic effectiveness which I intend to examine. It particularly provides an insight into the ideas of the romanticised, American, capitalist society within the play, Willies belief in 'being liked' and his need to take self-esteem from others being the key part of his value system and his self-denial, pride and lying. I feel the scene conveys Willies self-denial and his fatally woven web of lies well as it highlights how this contributed to his insanity. His pride keeps him from accepting help from Charley when he even confesses 'I got nothin' to give him, Charley, I'm clean.' This is after Charley offers him a job and Willie tells him 'I got a good job.' He denies help for his family who he clearly loves so much because of his pride. He later contradicts himself when talking to his projection of Ben, his brother. As his brother is portrayed in Willies imagination as somebody of great similarity but also success, varying from Willie. Willie tells him a different story, desperately seeking self-esteem from Ben's

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In this essay I will be looking at the importance of family relationships in Arthur Miller's play 'Death of a salesman' and in particular Willy's relationships with his two sons Biff and Happy.

English coursework In this essay I will be looking at the importance of family relationships in Arthur Miller's play 'Death of a salesman' and in particular Willy's relationships with his two sons Biff and Happy. I will also look at how the scene of the Chophouse is so significant in terms of relationships and to the play as a whole. Arthur Miller was born in New York in 1915.His father was an Austrian who had moved to America prior to Miller's birth in order to full fill the "Great American Dream". The American dream is the chance to achieve great things with hard work and a belief in one self where by they can achieve their ambitions of wealth and personal status. His father had a prosperous lifestyle running a successful family business in manufacturing clothing. This allowed Miller to have everything he wanted at a young age. But before Miller was about to begin university his father, like many other successful people at that time, lost everything in the stock market crash of 1929. This meant that Miller had to

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"Willy Loman is such an unpleasant character that it is very difficult to sympathise with him, yet Miller clearly means us to do so." Discuss and evaluate this comment, with close reference to Miller's presentation.

OCR AS ENGLISH LITERATURE 3828,UNIT 2709- COURSEWORK Arthur Miller-Death of a salesman . "Willy Loman is such an unpleasant character that it is very difficult to sympathise with him, yet Miller clearly means us to do so." Discuss and evaluate this comment, with close reference to Miller's presentation. Willy Loman, the main character in 'Death of a salesman', is a complex and extremely fascinating tragic character. He is a man struggling to hold onto what dignity he has left in a changing society that no longer values the ideals he grew up to believe in. Whilst society can be blamed for much of his misfortune, he must also be blamed himself to an equal extent for his bad judgement, disloyalty and foolish pride. Throughout the play the Lomans in general cannot distinguish between reality and illusion, particularly Willy. This is a major theme employed by Miller and a source of conflict in the play. Miller presents Willy in such a way that he cannot see who he and his sons are. He believes that they are great men who have what it takes to be successful and beat the business world. Unfortunately, he is mistaken. In reality, Willy and sons are not, and cannot, be successful. Willy Loman is a firm believer in the "American Dream:" The notion that any man can rise from humble beginnings to greatness. His particular slant on this ideal is that a man succeeds by selling his

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"Everyone fails in a waste of misplaced energy and Miller offers no comfort to his audience" - Discuss this comment on 'Death of a Salesman'.

"Everyone fails in a waste of misplaced energy and Miller offers no comfort to his audience" Discuss this comment on 'Death of a Salesman' 'Death of a Salesman' is dominated by the theme of failure and the protagonist Willy Loman is certainly the main exemplifier of this. The complexity of this play, however, makes it difficult to label with such a generalised comment. I would not disagree that the action of the play centres around failure but I feel that some comfort is offered through other characters such as Charley, Bernard, Howard and Ben. Willy Loman has undeniably failed in every aspect of his life. He has been defeated in business, he is a poor father and a poor husband. As Dukore says 'The inadequacies of what he buys mirror the inadequacies in his sales, which in turn reflect his inadequacies as a parent'. Willy is not a success in business, despite describing himself as a 'big-shot' to his sons. He dedicates a lot of time to his work and has been employed by the same firm for 34 years, however, he has to borrow money from his neighbour Charley as a means of survival as he is cruelly cast off by his ruthless boss, Howard. Willy unsurprisingly finds this humiliating and difficult to believe, 'you can't eat the orange and throw the peel away - a man is not a piece of fruit'. Willy has no status as a businessman and he confesses that 'the trouble is, Linda, people

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Act I in Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman."

Nikesh Kumar 1/9/03 Period 3 Commentary- pages 66-69 The purpose of this passage from the end of Act I, where the Loman family converses among themselves, is to characterize Willy and showing his development. Willy is being nice to Biff, as he hopes that Biff will fulfill the dream that Willy has always wanted. One reason for Willy's reluctance to criticize Biff for his youthful thefts and his lackadaisical attitude toward his classes seems to be that he fears doing damage to the ego of Biff. As a result, he keeps offering countless praises hoping that Biff will fulfill the dreams that Willy has for him. For example, Willy tells Biff, "Because you got a greatness in you, Biff, remember that. You got all kinds a greatness..." Another reason that Willy refuses to criticize Biff is because he fears that if he does, Biff will dislike him. This disapproval signifies the ultimate personal and professional insult and failure. Willy's consciousness is split between despair and hope, and therefore, it is possible that both considerations are behind Willy's choice not to criticize Biff's youthful carelessness. Willy's life is a failure for him and now he is trying to redeem his life by "The American Dream." He displays characteristics of a happy man looking for all the success he can find and puts his faith in Biff as the bright hope of the future. He wants his "boys" to be all that

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Discuss Miller's presentation of Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman.

Josh Gunnell September 2003 English Literature Coursework Arthur Miller Death of a Salesman (1949) 'He had all the wrong dreams. All wrong.' Discuss Miller's presentation of Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman Willy Loman is the central character in this play of flashbacks and mind tangents set in the New York and Boston of the late 1940's. Miller's intense interest with Willy is in his protagonist attitude and belief in the American Dream, the belief that in America, one man can make it to be somebody and be counted for. Death of a Salesman has frequently been understood as a commentary on the American Dream and whether the dream's economic prosperity is truly available to anyone who works diligently, and the importance the dream places on material wealth invites selfishness and social injustice. Willy is a salesman, husband and a father. Willy has a tendency to lie to his children (just one of Willy's moral lapses), Biff and Happy, about the amount of business he undertakes, as the 'New England Man'. His wife, Linda, is a bit more understanding towards him even though she has knowledge of his lies and unfaithfulness. Her role as a loyal and often shy housewife and mother does not necessarily represent all women's lives in the 1940s, nor does Miller necessarily approve of the role. However, her behaviour does suggest the cultural notions,

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Death of a salesman

How can this play said to be about fathers and sons? In this play there are various relationships between father and son. As the writer, Arthur miller was Jewish himself the importance of the relationships between father and son are dominating in this play. One of the father and son relationships which are linked into this play is the relationship between Willy and his father, or, the lack of relationship. As we first find out on page 31 during one of Willy's flashbacks with his brother Ben, Willy asks Ben 'Where is dad?' This shows the audience of Willy's need to have a father figure there to guide him. As he had grown up with the absence of his father, when Willy tells Ben 'I still feel kind of temporary about myself' (page 35) this suggests to the audience that the non-existence of his father is the source of Willy's failure. Without a father present, Willy is not sure on how to bring 'his boys' up. When they were younger he believed that the key to success was to be 'rugged, well - liked, all around' but, in contrast we find out that this has not helped them during later life. As Willy had grown up without a father, for him, Ben took the place of a 'father figure', conversely Ben never seems to guide Willy or answer any of Willy's questions, 'What's the answer? How did you do it?' Ben replies with 'Oh, there's a story in that.' He never seems to give any support or

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Death of a Salesman.

Death of a Salesman 'The American Dream´ is based on the 'Declaration of Independence´: 'We believe that all men are born with these inalienable rights - life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.´ (Thomas Jefferson, 1776). This 'dream´ consists of a genuine and determined belief that in America, all things are possible to all men, regardless of birth or wealth; you work hard enough you will achieve anything. However, Miller says people have been 'ultimately misguided´. The origins of the American Dream seem to have been rooted in the pioneering mentality of the 18th and 19th century immigrants, most of whom came to America because of a promise of a new and better life. In particular, the opportunity to own one´s land. But land 'ran out´ and so cities developed and massive variations arose in wealth, which meant that this 'American Dream´ changed from being a potential reality, into being a dream, like the name implies. Most of Miller´s plays are directly or indirectly about the American Dream, because ultimately this dream wasn´t going to succeed as lots of people wished. 'Death of a Salesman´ written in 1949, is a moving destruction of the whole myth. To be hard working, honest and have ambition were the ways of the American Dream. This lead onto success, wealth and in due time - power. But this dream for everyone developed, and encouraged greed, selfish

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A View From The Bridge.

The A View From The Bridge 'A View From the Bridge' was written by Arthur Miller during the 1950's but was actually set in the '40's when Italy were waging war and currently suffering from a depression. This caused many Italians to immigrate to America and escape their homeland's demise. Many Italians living in the U.S.A felt secluded from the rest of the American society. The government then restricted the amount of migration which resulted in large quantities in illegal immigration from Italy. The play begins with Alfieri, an Italian American lawyer introducing the story of Eddie Carbone. Beatrice, wife of Eddie is informed that her Italian cousins, Marco and Rodolpho will be arriving at their house that night. Eddie and Beatrice plan to hide Marco and Rodolpho while they work in America illegally to send money home. Rodolpho and Marco arrive and soon settle in. After a few weeks, Rodolpho and Catherine, Beatrice's niece become very close much to the dislike of Eddie when he, Eddie is very authoritative towards her and meticulous to almost every move she makes. This is shown during the opening conversation with her. He talks solely about her appearance. He doesn't want her to start work, he doesn't like the dress she wears which is too "revealing" and resents the way she walks calling it "wavy" amongst other things. As the play progresses his actions can be shown in an

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Arthur Miller.

ARTHUR MILLER A leading American playwright, Arthur Miller, b. New York City, Oct. 17,1915, has enriched the Broadway stage for several decades. Although Miller's dramas take place in familial settings, he has made a reputation for dealing with contemporary political and moral issues. Miller began writing plays while a student at the University of Michigan, where several of his dramatic efforts were rewarded with prizes. In 1937, during his senior year, one of his early plays was presented in Detroit by the Federal Theatre Project. In 1944 his The Man Who Had All the Luck won a prize offered by New York City's Theatre Guild. With his first successes--All My Sons (1947; film, 1948), winner of the Drama Critics Circle Award, and Death of a Salesman (1949; film, 1952), winner of both the Drama Critics Circle Award and the Pulitzer Prize--Miller condemned the American ideal of prosperity on the grounds that few can pursue it without making dangerous moral compromises. Death of a Salesman, with its expressionistic overtones, remains Miller's most widely admired work. The keen social conscience evident in these plays has continued to manifest itself in Miller's writing. In the Tony Award-winning The Crucible (1953), for instance, he wrote of the witch-hunts in colonial Salem, Mass., and implied a parallel with the congressional investigations into subversion then in progress. The

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