2.1.2
Key Events 1&2
Act One: Key Event One
Act One: Key Event One
Act One opens with 63-year-old Willy Loman returning home late at night after being unable to make his regular business trip to New England. He is exhausted and badly shaken, but is comforted by his wife, Linda.
Key event one
Key event one
- Miller immediately presents Willy as a character in a state of crisis.
Significance
Significance
- Willy is on the verge of breakdown, both physical & psychological.
- He is unable to concentrate while driving his car and is a danger to himself and others.
- Willy’s mental strain is suggested by the “strange thoughts” he tells Linda of, thoughts which the audience will soon see recreated on stage.
Quotation
Quotation
- “I’m tired to the death… I couldn’t make it. I just couldn’t make it, Linda.”
Explanation
Explanation
- Miller immediately foreshadows Willy’s fate.
- As is traditional in tragedy, the hero’s fate is presented as inevitable.
- Willy’s references to “making it” can also be read symbolically as referring to Willy’s crushing sense of failure – he has been unable to “make it” as a salesman.
Act One: Key Event Two
Act One: Key Event Two
Act One opens with 63-year-old Willy Loman returning home late at night after being unable to make his regular business trip to New England. He is exhausted and badly shaken, but is comforted by his wife, Linda.
Key event two
Key event two
- Linda tries to comfort and reassure her husband.
Significance
Significance
- Linda is willing to make excuses to help take the pressure and responsibility off Willy’s shoulders (“Maybe it’s your glasses”).
- However she is also able to see that her husband cannot go on like this.
- It is Linda who brings up the idea of Willy retiring from the road and of Willy requesting a position at home in New York, gently insisting that he speak to Howard, his boss.
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Quotation
Quotation
- “LINDA: [very carefully, delicately]: Where were you all day?”
Explanation
Explanation
- Many critics dismiss Linda as a character who is too forgiving of Willy’s faults but Miller’s stage direction hints at the problem she faces.
- Linda realises her husband is close to psychological collapse (“Your mind is overactive”) and prone to losing his temper.
Explanation cont.
Explanation cont.
- As a result, she must treat him sensitively, almost maternally, avoiding direct confrontation.
- She knows the psychological toll that each outburst has on Willy and is careful to avoid triggering an emotional response from her husband.
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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