Inevitability
English Lit: AQA A Level Death of a Salesman, topic 9.2.7
Inevitability
A sense of inevitability and inability to escape fate is a common theme of tragedies and features heavily in Death of a Salesman.
A classic theme
- A sense of inevitability, of tragic heroes powerless to escape their fate, has been a feature of tragedy since the time of ancient Greek dramatists such as Aeschylus and Sophocles.
- Tragedies often revolved around characters controlled by forces beyond their knowledge or understanding.
Title
- Miller creates a sense of inevitability from his title alone: audiences will witness the death of a salesman.
- Willy Loman’s fate is known before the drama even begins.
Foreshadowing
- Miller also uses the technique of foreshadowing early in the play.
- Willy tells Linda, “I’m tired to the death”, reinforcing the sense that Willy’s demise is fast approaching.
Fate
- Act One ends with a similar reminder of Willy’s inevitable fate.
- As Willy dreams of Biff’s future success (“he’ll be great yet”), the gas heater, behind which Willy has hidden some rubber tubing, begins to “glow”.
- The audience are reminded, just as Willy has begun to hope again, that he is set on the path to self-destruction.
Test yourself on Inevitability
What technique does Miller use in the quotation: “I’m tired to the death” (Will Loman)?
How does the play's title (Death of a Salesman) create a sense of inevitability?