Death of a Salesman - Arthur Miller > Reviews (18)

... ok so I lured you here. Just an interesting fact you may not know. Arthur Miller was married to Marilyn Monroe on June 29, 1956 in White Plains Court. Also "The Misfits" was written by Miller for Monroe, and was her last completed film.

Let me just admit now - "Death of a Salesman" is NOT the kind of book that I would read of my own choice. I studied it in an A Level English Literature class and now I'm glad I did. I doubt you'll find anything to compare with it unless you've read Sophocles' "Oedipus The King."

The story, set in depression era Brooklyn, depicts the life of the Lomans, more specifically Willy Loman. He goes through life trying to make himself a success and never quite achieves the much sought after American Dream.

The play was written in 1948, published in 1949 so the American 'lingo' is quite interesting to watch out for as you are reading. This book could be classified under many headings such as tragedy, social commentary or family drama.

Aristotle (a bloke many, many years ago) said that basically an ordinary person did not have enough stature to be found tragic by an audience. So Miller many years later said 'hey! why not write a tragedy featuring a normal middle class person.' So he did and Willy Loman became an 'antihero.'

For people who enjoy a good quotation - this book is full of really interesting ones. "I looked up and I saw they sky ... and I realized what a ridiculous lie my whole life has been."

Be warned though you will have to search behind multiple layers of deeper hidden meanings to discover exactly what Miller was meaning to convey to his audience.

Giving this play a chance won't even waste too much of your time if you don't like it as it is only three sections long.