2.2.1
Foreshadowing, Flashbacks, Settings
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Foreshadowing, Flashbacks, Settings
Foreshadowing & inevitability
- Act One opens and closes with foreshadowing of Willy's fate. This is a literary technique used in many texts.
- The play’s title and opening lines (e.g. “I’m tired to the death”) serve to foreshadow Willy’s fate and create a tragic sense of inevitability.
- Miller also ends Act One on a similar note of impending tragedy as the lights go down on Biff holding the rubber tubing which Willy is planning to use to kill himself.
Past & present
- In Death of a Salesman, time is manipulated to allow instantaneous shifts between past & present.
- In Death of a Salesman, Miller’s use of set design (e.g. transparent sets), projections, backgrounds, lighting and costume allow him to flit between past and present, all depending on Willy’s thoughts at the time.
Flashbacks
- This use of flashback or “continuous present” can be unsettling.
- E.g. when Willy talks to Ben during his card game with Charley. The audience sees Willy’s mind disintegrating before its eyes.
Tension: nature v modernity
- Many authors have chosen to examine the tension between nature and the driving, relentless force of the modernity of their time.
- Miller’s opening stage direction immediately highlights a contrast between the “angry orange glow” of the city and the fine melody of the flute which tells of “grass and trees and the horizon”.
- This tension between the two lies at the heart of the play: Willy is drawn to the world of nature but is driven to succeed in the city.
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
11Recap: Main Quotes
11.1Characters Quotes
11.2Quotes by Act
11.2.1Act One: Key Events 1-3 Quotes11.2.2Act One: Key Events 4-6 Quotes11.2.3Act One: Key Events 7-9 Quotes11.2.4Act One: Key Events 10-12 Quotes11.2.5Act One: Stage Direction Quotes11.2.6Act One: The Woman Quotes11.2.7Act Two: Key Events 1-2 Quotes11.2.8Act Two: Key Events 3-4 Quotes11.2.9Act Two: Key Events 5-6 Quotes11.2.10Act Two: Key Events 7-8 Quotes11.2.11Act Two: Key Events 9-10 Quotes11.2.12Act Two: Howard's Office Quotes11.2.13Act Two: The Requiem Quotes
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
11Recap: Main Quotes
11.1Characters Quotes
11.2Quotes by Act
11.2.1Act One: Key Events 1-3 Quotes11.2.2Act One: Key Events 4-6 Quotes11.2.3Act One: Key Events 7-9 Quotes11.2.4Act One: Key Events 10-12 Quotes11.2.5Act One: Stage Direction Quotes11.2.6Act One: The Woman Quotes11.2.7Act Two: Key Events 1-2 Quotes11.2.8Act Two: Key Events 3-4 Quotes11.2.9Act Two: Key Events 5-6 Quotes11.2.10Act Two: Key Events 7-8 Quotes11.2.11Act Two: Key Events 9-10 Quotes11.2.12Act Two: Howard's Office Quotes11.2.13Act Two: The Requiem Quotes
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