Staging

Q: Act One: The Stage Space

Miller's creation of a __“continuous present”__ through his character's ability to move between past and present is vitally significant in _Death of a Salesman_.

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Act One: The Opening Stage Direction

Miller captures the psychological turmoil felt by Willy Loman in the last 24 hours of his life through his use of the stage, props and other theatrical devices.

Stage direction

The opening stage direction allows us to see how Miller wanted to use the whole stage (and other theatrical devices such as lighting and music) in order to capture the psychological turmoil felt by Willy Loman in the last 24 hours of his life.

Stage space

Befitting a domestic tragedy, the stage space is dominated by the Loman home, carefully constructed by Miller’s original stage designer, Jo Mielziner, to allow us access to the living-room, kitchen, boys’ bedroom & back yard.

Props

Miller’s use of props is minimal but significant:
- The “silver athletic trophy” won by Biff reminds us (and perhaps Biff himself also) that he has failed to live up to the promise of his high school days.

Props cont.

Miller’s use of props is minimal but significant:
- The “refrigerator” is a symbol of how new consumer goods are now being regarded as status symbols (“They got the biggest ads of any of them!”), as well as being a considerable financial pressure on the Lomans’ monthly household budget.

Lighting

Miller’s use of stage scenery and lighting is also important.
The Loman household appears to be at the mercy of forces much stronger than it can withstand.
The “towering, angular shapes” and “angry glow of orange” looming over it create a sense of urban oppression.

The Lomans’ house

The Lomans’ house seems about to be swallowed up by the encroaching city, symbolic of how Willy’s outdated notions of popularity as being the route to success are about to be swept aside by a more impersonal and ruthless business culture.

Act One: The Stage Space

Miller's creation of a “continuous present” through his character's ability to move between past and present is vitally significant in Death of a Salesman.

Wall and time lines

Miller’s characters are able to pass through imaginary wall-lines but even more significant is their ability to move between past and present as Willy’s memories begin to overwhelm him.

A “continuous present”

The forestage is used to dramatise Willy’s memories (or imagined memories), allowing for what Miller called a “continuous present” where the dividing line between past and present dissolves, helping to capture Willy’s feelings of confusion & bewilderment.

Permeable boundaries

Although AQA will accept you describing such scenes as “flashbacks”, it is worth noting that Miller himself did not think this was the correct term.
Miller stressed that these scenes, which become more frequent as Willy comes closer to collapse, “destroyed the boundaries” between past and present.

Significance

The horror in these scenes is that there is no neat dividing line between past and present for Willy any more – in his torment, he is unable to distinguish between them.

Act One: Music

Lastly, Miller’s use of music is revealing.

The flute

The play opens with the sound of a “flute” which resonates on different levels.
Miller tells us that it tells of “grass and trees and the horizon”, immediately creating a contrast with the oppressive cityscape which threatens to engulf the Loman household, and bringing to mind the countryside which Willy so loves.
As such, the flute is a symbol of nature, freedom and beauty.

Willy's father

We later learn that Willy’s father made and sold flutes, giving the sound of the flute an even more poignant connotation of Willy’s abandonment by his own father.

Insecurity

Although Willy romanticises his father as an icon of enterprise and self-reliance, the flute may also serve as an unconscious reminder of the lack of parental love or guidance experienced by him in his formative years, an absence which leads to his present-day doubts and insecurities where Willy still feels “kind of temporary” about himself.