Arthur Miller seemed to capture the sometimes tragic plight of the common man with his Death of a Salesman. Bloom suggests the strength of the play is puzzling but beyond dispute, lying more in its presentation on stage than its written form. The play's continued vitality is unquestioned.
The title, Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, part of Chelsea House ...
Arthur Miller seemed to capture the sometimes tragic plight of the common man with his Death of a Salesman. Bloom suggests the strength of the play is puzzling but beyond dispute, lying more in its presentation on stage than its written form. The play's continued vitality is unquestioned.
The title, Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, part of Chelsea House Publishers’ Modern Critical Interpretations series, presents the most important 20th-century criticism on Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman through extracts of critical essays by well-known literary critics. This collection of criticism also features a short biography on Arthur Miller, a chronology of the author’s life, and an introductory essay written by Harold Bloom, Sterling Professor of the Humanities, Yale University.
Amazon.com
Arthur Miller's 1949 Death of a Salesman has sold 11 million copies, and Willy Loman didn't make all those sales on a smile and a shoeshine. This play is the genuine article--it's got the goods on the human condition, all packed into a day in the life of one self-deluded, self-promoting, self-defeating soul. It's a sturdy bridge between kitchen-sink realism and spectral abstraction, the facts of particular hard times and universal themes. As Christopher Bigsby's mildly interesting afterword in this 50th-anniversary edition points out (as does Miller in his memoir, Timebends), Willy is closely based on the playwright's sad, absurd salesman uncle, Manny. But of course Miller made Manny into Everyman, and gave him the name of the crime commissioner Lohmann in Fritz Lang's angst-ridden 1932 Nazi parable, The Testament of Dr. Mabuse.
The tragedy of Loman the all-American dreamer and loser works eternally, on the page as on the stage. A lot of plays made history around 1949, but none have stepped out of history into the classic canon as Salesman has. Great as it was, Tennessee Williams's work can't be revived as vividly as this play still is, all over the world. (This edition has edifying pictures of Lee J. Cobb's 1949 and Brian Dennehy's 1999 performances.) It connects Aristotle, The Great Gatsby, On the Waterfront, David Mamet, and the archetypal American movie antihero. It even transcends its author's tragic flaw of pious preachiness (which undoes his snoozy The Crucible, unfortunately his most-produced play).
No doubt you've seen Willy Loman's story at least once. It's still worth reading.
--Tim Appelo
From Library Journal
This 50th-anniversary edition of Miller's masterpiece, which certainly is a contender for the finest American drama of the 20th century, includes the full text of the play, a chronology of its productions, photos from various stagings including the current Broadway revival, and a new preface by Miller himself, all in a quality hardcover for a reasonable price. Bravo, Penguin.
From The Merriam-Webster Encyclopedia of Literature
A play in "two acts and a requiem" by Arthur Miller, written in 1948 and produced in 1949. Miller won a Pulitzer Prize for the work, which he described as "the tragedy of a man who gave his life, or sold it" in pursuit of the American Dream. After many years on the road as a traveling salesman, Willy Loman realizes he has been a failure as a father and husband. His sons, Happy and Biff, are not successful--on his terms (being "well-liked") or any others. His career fading, Willy escapes into reminiscences of an idealized past. In the play's climactic scene, Biff prepares to leave home, starts arguing with Willy, confesses that he has spent three months in jail, and mocks his father's belief in "a smile and a shoeshine." Willy, bitter and broken, his illusions shattered, commits suicide.
Being a little child, I became quite familiar with my father’s footsteps. When he came back from work, I had already rushed towards the door and opened it for him. I suppose I just got very happy to see him after a long while. But when I grew up, what I fe...
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“What is the answer? How did you do it?”在Arthur Miller的剧本“Death of a Salesman”中,米勒描写了一个郁郁不得志的年过花甲的销售员如何在家庭与事业的泥潭中奋力挣扎,又如何最终选择了自杀的故事.开头的这句台词就是Willy最喜欢问的问题.关于这个剧本的评析已经遍布了...
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11 有用 万俟祺 2010-05-16 19:24:57
最后的最后,我无比郁闷的发现,我看过的第一本英文原著成了推销员之死,而不是我一直以为的傲慢与偏见。。
3 有用 迷阳 2016-04-05 19:03:04
梦露女神真会选老公啊(虽然已成为前夫)。写得特别特别好!这样的故事现在还是常常会在社会新闻里读到。美国版的老炮儿。人性种种写得太辛辣,辛辣得令人难过。谁又不是小人物呢?期待The crucible.
0 有用 好养活 2015-05-18 00:54:29
欲 哭 无 泪 (看不了第二遍……
2 有用 最后一代#踪影# 2015-06-01 21:26:59
悲剧的地方不在于平庸,而是注定平庸。
3 有用 曼仔 2017-02-15 11:07:09
如果说盖茨比式的美国梦幻灭还有一些从高空坠落的轻盈美感,这里的幻灭真的就是赤裸裸的现实。我自己做过一个月的sales体验生活,近距离接触了一批怀有和Willy同样梦想的美国人和美国梦,半个世纪过去了,小资本家依然可以用同样一套说辞哄骗那些别无所长的人们。这里还有非常典型的战后父亲的形象与母亲形象的倒塌,家庭image的重构。不得不说米勒很超前,五十年代的美国依然是“父亲知道一切,母亲照顾家庭”的价... 如果说盖茨比式的美国梦幻灭还有一些从高空坠落的轻盈美感,这里的幻灭真的就是赤裸裸的现实。我自己做过一个月的sales体验生活,近距离接触了一批怀有和Willy同样梦想的美国人和美国梦,半个世纪过去了,小资本家依然可以用同样一套说辞哄骗那些别无所长的人们。这里还有非常典型的战后父亲的形象与母亲形象的倒塌,家庭image的重构。不得不说米勒很超前,五十年代的美国依然是“父亲知道一切,母亲照顾家庭”的价值观,而米勒已经写出了这样的父亲形象是多么的外强中干,而无条件爱着丈夫的太太又是多么可笑可悲,父亲对儿子的寄托也是活在自己的想象里。主角是一群强势装睡的人,不愿意醒来。甚至直到结尾在Willy墓前,Happy依然说着和Willy似曾相识的话。认清现实,承担责任吧。 (展开)