Monday, February 17, 2014

Critical Appreciation of Death of Salesman

Critical Appreciation of Death of Salesman
          Arthur Miller, one of the most successful American dramatists, had distinction of being the most outspoken American writers of the last four decades He belongs to the expressionistic school of drama and has insisted that courage, truth, trust, responsibility, and faith must be the central values of men. As a socialistic dramatist, Miller says,
“The greatest dramatist seems
 to have been speaking for
some fate-making power
behind the social force itself.”
          ‘Death of Salesman’, Arthur Miller’s third play, had 742 performances in Broadway theatre in New York.  It has invited much heat, criticism, and controversy as well as praise and laurels. It stands for a modern typical tragedy which is an exceptional good example of so called “middle-class tragedy. Let’s critically appreciate the play in a depth.

          In the all work of English literature, title is always very apt and suggestive. It always taken from central idea, theme or a hero. Here the title ‘Death of a Saleman’ itself indicates the tragic end of Willy. The sub-title also suggests that the drama is about Willy’s illusions; side-by-side it also shows the structure of the play.
                   
          A tragic hero is supposed to arouse pathetic feelings of admiration. Willy Loman is not hero of that caliber. But Inspite of that, he is able to arouse our pity. So he would become in future as immortal a tragic character as Orestes, Hamlet, or Macbeth. He is not merely an individual, but an identification of the common man. As a tragic hero, he represents the common man. Willy is who first sells commodities and then sells himself as a commodity. To quote Gerald Weales,
“Willy is a corpse who happily
 refuses to stay dead, has come
back to elicit sympathy evoke
pity, provoke anger, stir up
controversy, ask for judicial
appraisal.”
          ‘Death of Salesman’ deals with the common theme of the individual versus society. Like Ibsen, Shaw and Galsworthy Miller also deals with social problem of modern men. The play is not so much concerned with the life of an individual-Willy Loman but with the life of a section of society, which the representative of Willy is. Esther Jackson rightly remarks  
 “Death of Salesman represents
‘perhaps most nearly nature
myth about human suffering
in an industrial age.”
          Another important theme of the play is depiction of hollowness of American Dream.  It presents ‘loss of conscience’. It highlights the terrifying consequence of man’s littleness of his failure to be himself or to belong to the human society. The play also deals with the evils of Capitalism. There is a various interpretation of the play.

          The structure of the play seems somewhat complex. The play begins in the present as Willy is shown in conflict. We don’t yet know its reason but we just have to understand it through the flashbacks and daydreaming of Willy. The setting changes from Willy’s house to Charley’s office, Howard’s office and the hotels of Boston. The drama takes place in two acts without particular scene division. The writer also presents his central character in the midst of a crisis that he resolves through suicide.  

          We find the psychological aspects in the play. Most of action of the play takes place inside Willy’s mind and the technique adopted is similar to that of the stream of consciousness which presents both past and present of a character’s life together and simultaneous. Magnificent transitions of action are achieved through a psychological conflict. That is why many critics have interpreted the play in Freudian term and attribute it another abstruse psychological theories. Daniel E. Schneider remarks, “The play is an analysis of the ‘Oedipal’ father –son relationship.”

          The technique of ‘Death of a Salesman’ is a blend of a realism and expressionism. The play was published in 1949; it is the time following the Second World War. The drama reflects may other characteristic of the modern American Society. e.g. industrialization, competition, science and technology etc. The scholars like Darwin, Marx and Freud also influence American society of modern times. Willy is very angry with American culture when he says,
“There was respect and comradeship
and gratitude in it. Today, it’s
all cut and dried, but there is no
change for bringing friendship
to bear or personality.”

          The use of different dramatic technique shows that ‘Death of Salesman’ is a modern play. e.g. In the  very first scene when Willy enters home in a very tired condition, he says to Linda,
“I am tired to Death”.
          As soon as he utters the last word ‘death’, music suddenly increases which shows the end of his life. The entry and departure of each character is shown with the use of light and sound.
          In the end, when Willy commits suicide, it is not shown through any dialogue but only the sound of crashing the car is heard and in the very next scene his family is gathered for funeral which shows the end of his life. There are many dramatic techniques are used in the play. Symbolism, Imagery, tragic-comic element.

          Symbolism is a remarkable dramatic technique used by Miller. He used many symbols in the drama that have many meaning. e.g. Seeds; In the last scene will wants to plant seeds in the backyard. But actually it is the symbol of his life, he says, “Nothing is planted.”
          The stocking; which Linda mends also have significant. The stocking Willy brought for Lind, he gives to Miss Francis and when Biff knows it he is shocked shouts, “you have her mama’s stocking’.           Willy’s car is the symbol of American modernity. It is the symbol of the hectic and racy competition in which Willy is too deeply involved.

          Imagery is another aspect, which attracts readers the play. Miller used one very important imagery and that is through Willy’s dialogue, “Woods are burning”
          Here ‘woods’ is not about the jungle but it is used for the business world, which is full of competition and Willy thinks that this world for him is burning. It means that now he is unable to enter the business world.

          The play contains some of the Tragi-comic elements that Ibsen used so effectively in his social play. For instance Willy tells Linda that he is “very well liked” in Hartford, adding immediately “You know, the trouble is, Linda, people don’t seem to take to me”
          We find the same element when Willy says the Chevrolet is the greatest car ever built, and then immediately goes to says that they ought to prohibit the manufacture of that car

           ‘Death of Salesman’ is a great work of art, a major play which can never be dated. Miller presents the relationship between a man’s identity and the image that society demands of him. It deals with Willy Loman’s loss of identity. It illustrate failures and strength of ‘the hero of American Society.’-the salesman.  Miller was trying in “Salesman” to set forth what happens when a man does not have a grip on the forces of life. Finally to conclude in the words of William Hawkins. 
‘Death of Salesman’ is a play
written alone the lines of the
finest classical tragedy. It is
the revelation of a man’s down-
fall, in destruction whose roots
are entirely in his own soul.

No comments:

Post a Comment