Foreshadowing, Flashbacks, Settings

English Lit: AQA A Level Death of a Salesman, topic 2.2.1

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.

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.

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.

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.

Test yourself on Foreshadowing, Flashbacks, Settings