1.1.2
Historical Context
Introduction to Historical Context
Introduction to Historical Context
Set in 1940s America, Death of a Salesman examines the rapid economic and social changes of the time.
1940s America
1940s America
- Death of a Salesman is set in late 1940s New York City, at a moment of rapid change in the USA.
- The country was beginning to emerge from the suffering of the Great Depression and World War 2, on the verge of a sustained period of prosperity and growth in the 1950s and 1960s.
The American Dream
The American Dream
- Miller captures the moment when the American Dream, with its offer of wealth, happiness and success for all who are prepared to work for it, seems to have been reborn.
- The play’s references to a range of modern goods and brands (refrigerators, Chevrolet etc.) show an America fast becoming a consumerist society dominated by new marketing techniques, with Willy and Linda reassuring themselves that their Hastings refrigerator must be a sound buy as it had “the biggest ads of any of them”.
Willy Loman
Willy Loman
- Miller also explores what is being lost in the rush to modernity. - His hero, Willy Loman, is a victim of a new, more ruthless version of capitalism which is beginning to emerge.
- His role as travelling salesman is becoming less relevant in an age of mass-marketing strategies using new technologies such as television.
Urbanisation
Urbanisation
- Likewise, as power and wealth becomes concentrated in vast cities such as New York, Americans are beginning to become more distant from the countryside, both physically and spiritually.
- The sound of the flute which opens the play, “telling of grass and trees and the horizon”, is Miller’s poignant reminder of an America that is in danger of being lost or forgotten as wealth becomes increasingly concentrated in its rapidly expanding cities.
1Introduction
1.1Introductions
2Act One
3Act Two
4Extended Passage Analysis
5Character Profiles
5.1Willy & Linda Loman
5.2Biff & Happy Loman
5.3Other Characters
6Key Themes
7Writing Techniques
7.1Structure
7.3Expressionism
8Historical Context
8.1Historical Context
9Literary Context
9.1Tragedy
10Critical Debates
10.1Introduction
10.2The Marxist Reading
10.3The Feminist Reading
10.4The Eco-Critical Reading
10.5Other Debates
Jump to other topics
1Introduction
1.1Introductions
2Act One
3Act Two
4Extended Passage Analysis
5Character Profiles
5.1Willy & Linda Loman
5.2Biff & Happy Loman
5.3Other Characters
6Key Themes
7Writing Techniques
7.1Structure
7.3Expressionism
8Historical Context
8.1Historical Context
9Literary Context
9.1Tragedy
10Critical Debates
10.1Introduction
10.2The Marxist Reading
10.3The Feminist Reading
10.4The Eco-Critical Reading
10.5Other Debates
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