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Death Of A Salesman Patriarchal Analysis

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The play Death of a Salesman, written by Arthur Miller, is a portrayal of a middle aged man caught up in his interpretation of the American Dream of becoming a successful salesman. The audience is taken through a reflection of his life with his family by his side, and the causes of his eventual downfall. Death of a Salesman depicts the “typical” 1940’s, American middle class family lifestyle as one of a patriarchal society, having surface level values, and focused on the American dream. In the play, Willy’s character is portrayed as intense, dominating, and is revered by his children and wife. Miller portrayed this patriarchal dominance through the husband-wife and father-son relationships, leading the audience to believe that an average middle class American family of the time would be one of a patriarchal society. Willy’s dominance or power over Linda is blatantly seen when in a conversation he sharply cuts her off saying “Stop interrupting!” (47). The …show more content…

Willy Loman is caught up in his interpretation of the “American Dream” of becoming a successful salesman. Willy does not only want this lifestyle for himself, but for both of his sons to follow in his footsteps of becoming a salesman. While Willy has been working as a salesman for the same company for decades he has never received any recognition for his hard work and dedication. All of his hard work and dedication was to become like the salesman who had hundreds of salesmen and buyers show up to his funeral because he was so well liked. Biff, dreams of moving out West and working freely, because this is not the idea that Willy had in mind it causes conflict between the two. Caught up in his “American Dream” Willy sacrificed his own family for his success, driving far away for sales and constantly thinking about how to be better liked resulted in his relationships with his family to wither and

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963 Words | 4 Pages

Willy Loman was a troubled man who didn't have respect for his wife and degraded his children every chance he got when it came to their failures, especially with his son Biff. He only cared about achieving the American dream which he did not succeed because of all his problems that stood in his way. His constant obsession with achieving the American dream only made his family distance themselves from him more only due to the fact that he believed that achieving this would lead him to happiness and success. This also leads to the other major theme which is resilience. Willy came from a poor socioeconomic background and he is making all the efforts to pull himself out of his current situation through whatever he can do in hopes for something better that will make him feel like he's achieved his

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“The man who makes an appearance in the business world, the man who creates personal interest, is the man who gets ahead” (33). In Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller uses foil characters to elucidate Willy’s flaws that ultimately prevent him and his family from succeeding. The contrast between Charley and Willy and Bernard and Biff serves to highlight how Willy’s obsession with achieving his version of the American Dream impacts both his life and his children’s. His poor values are passed on to his children producing even more failures. ¬¬¬¬Both Charley and Willy work as salesmen, however Charley represents what Willy desired to become – successful.

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While Linda enabled him, Willy could not help himself too keep ruining the good opportunities he had and turning them into some factious reality. At Willy`s funeral Biff comes to the realization that his father had all the wrong dreams and visions of success. Willy`s only dream was the fake “American Dream” that people believe will happen overnight. Willy`s failed attempts and happiness bonded into one and played a part into him creating this false reality and persona that he was the best salesman and that he was well loved by everyone around him.

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Zeb 1 Adam Zeb Hajra Naeem English February 8, 2016 “Death of A Salesman” In the play “Death of a Salesman” written by Arthur Miller, the character Willy Loman has flaws in his character that make him responsible for his own misfortune. Willy fails to realize his personal failure and betrayal of his soul and family through the meticulously constructed deception of his life.

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613 Words | 3 Pages

The main foreshadowing Miller uses in the play is the title itself, and when Linda tells Billy about Willy trying to attempt suicide. The audience can figure out that Willy will eventually die because of foreshadowing by the title. In the play Willy's death is expected, but it is never fully explained how he dies so we should assume that he killed himself through a car wreck. The unclear ending adds to the chaos in play. The whole story tells us about Willy Loman spent his life chasing a false American dream.

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Linda defends Willy and insists that Willy, as a traveling salesman, merely exhausts himself rather than become crazy. Even if Willy’s financial reality reveals the fact that he can never come true his American dream, Linda still refuses to break his fantasies and see through his lies. Instead, she supports Willy’s American dream and believes in Willy’s idea that success is possible for anyone. Even though Willy is often rude to her and ignores her opinions, she protects him at all costs. She loves Willy, so she can accept all of his shortcomings.

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1018 Words | 5 Pages

Through Biff Loman, Miller illustrates the failure of the American dream through the paradoxical relationship between him and his father, Willy Loman, presenting the notion that the secret to true happiness and success lies outside of the confines of the typical American dream of wealth and materialism. Molded by his father’s unrealistic ambitions, it became near impossible for Biff to assimilate as a functioning member of the

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In “Death of a Salesman” by Arthur Miller and “A Streetcar named Desire” by Tennessee Williams, both authors analyze men and masculinity through their male protagonists. The male protagonists under analysis are Willy Loman 's, Harold Mitchell, and Stanley Kowalski. All of these males mistreat their women; this mistreatment is a result of several factors, such as alcoholism and the power struggle to maintain masculinity. Both Williams and Miller use devices such as imagery, symbolism, setting, musical indicators, stage directions setting and character to illustrate men and masculinity with the main protagonists and the relationship the named with their female partners.

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Ana Oceguera 12. 19. 16 AP English Death of a Salesman Character Compare and Contrast     In the play Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, the audience follows the dynamic between the members of the Loman family. The father of the family, Willy Loman is a self-deluded traveling salesman whose dreams of success do not match his reality. Prompted by his frustration due to the discrepancy between his unrealistically ambitious expectations and his reality, we watch as his mental health takes a turn for the worse,  and his story eventually ends in suicide.

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One critic said that Death of a Salesman was nothing extraordinary and simply a ‘“weak play”’ (‘“Salesman’ Opens In 2 German Cities”). Furthermore, this critic said that the play was not a tragedy, for Willy was just ‘“a silly man with illusions”’ (‘“Salesman’ Opens In 2 German Cities”). Unlike Americans who view Willy as a man struggling to achieve success, this German critic viewed him as “silly”.

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The Death of a Salesman should be classified as a tragedy since it depicts the fall of Willy Loman as respectable figure.. The Death of the Salesman is a tragedy when Willy is considered the protagonist because it depicts Willy’s fall from respectability -and his sad attempts at gaining it- in both his professional and personal life. It is implied that Willy, at least in his mind, held the respect of Howard’s father, the previous owner of the firm when Willy states “Your father came to me the day you were born and asked me what I thought of the name of Howard…”. This indicates that Howard’s father respected Willy because one would generally only ask friends about potential baby names and one has to respect someone if they are their friend, therefore, it is implied that Howard’s father respected Willy. Willy’s fall from respectability is illustrated by how Howard, Willy’s boss, treats him.

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Fifty-five years after later, Death of a Salesman remains a powerful drama close to today’s society since it tackles issues that are still controversial. Indeed, the existence and the promises of the American dream and values are disputed. Secondly, at the time, the post war economical context conveyed harsh criticism of American capitalism and materialism, which is still a concern today. Finally, the tragedy highlights a tough notion of abandonment driven by selfish people only focused on business and profit.

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1683 Words | 7 Pages

Death of a Salesman is a play written by Arthur Miller. The play takes place in the late 1940’s in New York, Boston, and the protagonist’s house. Willy Loman is the main character of the play, he is an aging salesman and father of two. Loman has lived with his wife, Linda, in the same house for twenty-five years. The house once set apart from other homes but is now surrounded by several apartment buildings, making Loman feel closed in.

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1537 Words | 7 Pages

Willy finds out his dream of being an popular, well respected salesman is impossible and takes his own life. Linda supports Willy despite the abuse and confusion he puts her through with his various attempts to take his own life, with his delirious ramblings and hallucinations, and with his constant deception. Happy still sees his father as a hero and Biff finally begins to grasp the truth of the “American Dream”. When Willy kills himself, all of the Loman family, including Willy, break free from the web of false dreams he spun and begin to understand Willy’s failings. They also realize their own flaws.

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850 Words | 4 Pages

Willy’s American Dream The tragic play of Death of a salesman by Arthur Miller tells a story about an old man of 84 years old named Willy. Willy was captured by the American dream. He believed that hard work and ambitions could take him to a life of fame and popularity like the american dream was supposed to be. In Death of a salesman, the american dream reveals disappointment, failure and loss of hope. Thus showing that the american dream is not a great dream after all.

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