Key Events 1&2
English Lit: AQA A Level Death of a Salesman, topic 2.1.2
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
- Miller immediately presents Willy as a character in a state of crisis.
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
- “I’m tired to the death… I couldn’t make it. I just couldn’t make it, Linda.”
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 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
- Linda tries to comfort and reassure her husband.
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
- “LINDA: [very carefully, delicately]: Where were you all day?”
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.
- 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.
Test yourself on Key Events 1&2
How old is Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman?
What excuse does Linda make to help take the pressure and responsibility off Willy’s shoulders?