Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman

by Peter L. Hays, Kent Nicholson

Every day, in some part of the world, an Arthur Miller play is performed.In the nearly 60 years since its first production, the Pulitzer Prizewinning Death of a Salesman has been become a classic, a staple of school anthologies of American literature and of acting companies' repertoires. It has received worldwide productions, whether as a study of parentchild relationships, as in its landmark 1976 production directed by Miller in Beijing, or as a critique of Western capitalism and has been filmed once for television and twice for movies.

Genres: Drama, Plays, Classics

126 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Deepti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poignant theme with witty language

[Max · Rating 1 out of 5]

Death of a Salesman was a play about a family struggling from the Great Depression (I think). The main character is Willy, a loser of a salesman who people don't like, so he pretends to be liked by people. I thought that he was extremely lucky he even got laid and had two children. This leads to the two sons Willy has: Biff and Happy. Biff is the older one and begins to fail school because he witnessed his father with another woman. The teacher explained that Biff lost his role model so he lost his view of the future for life. Therefore, Biff failed his tests and began stealing. However, what I thought was that Biff was jealous of his father for getting laid by such a hot chick so he went emo. Then there's Happy. He's a real lady's man who would disregard the fact that he even has parents just to have his way with a random slut at the bar. So Willy gets fired, and sees ghosts. Then, he commits suicide to get insurance money to pay for Biff's college costs.
This book was one of the most boring books I've read. Thank goodness it was only like 100 pages. What I learned from this book was that when you have problems, you should never cheat on your wife. That was basically the reason how one person's problems spawned even more for other people who were actually happy because of lies.

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a very famous play written by Arthur Miller. I guess why everyone liked this play so much was maybe that they could relate to it. This play was written during the Great Depression that the U.S. suffered from in the 1930's. It is about a typical family, a mother who cares for her sons, two brothers who are grown up, Biff and Happy. They find out that their father, Willy Loman is suicidal. He is depressed about everything that has happened to him in his life. His brother was a very successful salesman, but he passed away. Willy is always mourning about the opportunity that he could have had with his brother. Everyday, he talks to himself, or rather, a mirage of his brother. In the end, something very dramatic happens. Arthur Miller does a great job in pulling the readers attention and driving the plot. He sets everything up so neatly and reveals to us the great secret in the climax.

[jackie sze · Rating 3 out of 5]

This play takes place in the early 1900s where there was the great depression. The main character Willy and his family tries to find many ways to get money but they keep meeting misfortune and Willy's two sons, Biff and Happy aren't good at earning money. Biff dropped out of school because of a big event and Happy is just not good. The family suffers greatly.
I thought his play was interesting because it made me think about families who are poor and what they go through. This play is really realistic and it can happen to everyone.
I recommend this book to people who wants to learn more about the great depression and people who likes plays.

[Heather · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this book because I wanted to read some classics and I was not sure why this was one of them. I do understand what it taught, but I didn't like it that much. I think that perhaps if I lived in that time, I might appericate it more.

[Athena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very depressing. Interesting inside look into the life of a small family in the mid-1900's, and the 'American Dream'. Reminds me how so many people get way too wrapped up in their jobs, and let their jobs determine who they are.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

now, how is it that Peter L. Hays wrote Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman? I thought Arthur Miller wrote it. Hm. Think this is a case of grabbing the wrong book by the cover.