american dream in death of a salesman research paper pdf

Academia.edu no longer supports Internet Explorer.

To browse Academia.edu and the wider internet faster and more securely, please take a few seconds to  upgrade your browser .

Enter the email address you signed up with and we'll email you a reset link.

• We're Hiring!
• Help Center

Download Free PDF

Death of a Salesman and the American Dream

This paper is aiming to show the theme of the American Dream in Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller

Related papers

Journal of Education, Teaching and Social Studies, 2021

Arthur Miller is considered one of the greatest American playwrights of the twentieth century. His masterpiece—Death of a Salesman—tells a tragic story about an ordinary American and chronicles the changing connotation of the American dream. The American dream originates from the puritan spirit, develops in the Revolutionary war and distorts as society changed. The essay attempts to reveal the changing connotation of the American dream reflected in this play by analyzing the representative character portrayed by Miller. On the basis of a better understanding of the play, the great influence of values in different time, such as the American dream, on ordinary people are expected to be learned.

In this paper the first part deals with the concept of American Dream on the back drop of various interpretations given by American statesmen, writers, historians and critics. The second part analyses how American Dream, in the era of the Great Depression, has its impact on Miller’s characters of one of the major plays The Price and how it affects their personality. It has been an accepted view that Miller wrote primarily on the backdrop of Great Depression and most of his protagonists are either the victims or the products of it and they struggle and suffer to negotiate their identities due to the wrong notion of American Dream.

International Journal of Research (IJR), 2014

War forms social and economic progression by destroying the existing ideologies of the society. It always reshapes the social infrastructure. The amalgamation of the ambition and realization leads the civilization to its extreme frustration to fulfill the dream of the capitalists. Therefore, social representation paves the way to its understanding of the humane mannerisms in the context of economic progression. A death is not a periphery, more than that to point out the social follies and mal-practices of the capital society where human life is very less emphasized than profit. The philosophy of existential crisis becomes acute when the society searches for the meaning of life. Perhaps, 'American dream' made life much more critical and mechanical what was experienced by Arthur Miller and spread throughout the globe and caused not only the dreah of representative but the death of a dream. It has often been said that Death of a Salesman is a harsh criticism of the American Dream. ______________________________________________________________________________ INTRODUCTION After the World War I, the world economy went through depression in the world market. In the long run, American social structure collapsed. Following this, the World War-II created huge insecurity in the job market; thousands of Americans lost their way of living. The so called profiteers tried their best to make profit out of the employees sweat and blood without recognizing their contributions to the rapid growth of the economy. That business orientation caused the death of the 'American dream' which is focused on this play by Arthur Miller. " He (Arthur Miller) is a popular playwright because he has the touch of common speech mingled with democratic idealism, poetic expression, and an ancient people's capacity for understanding the anguish of the soul "-Dennis Welland. Well, though Arthur Miller is one the greatest dramatists of the world literature, he is not a prolific writer. The reason perhaps is that he wrote only when he had something fresh to say and he refused to cash in on an easy popularity by repeating himself. He had shown through his own methods of working that he was not easily satisfied with what he wrote. It was not lack of ABSTRACT War forms social and economic progression by destroying the existing ideologies of the society. It always reshapes the social infrastructure. The amalgamation of the ambition and realization leads the civilization to its extreme frustration to fulfill the dream of the capitalists. Therefore, social representation paves the way to its understanding of the humane mannerisms in the context of economic progression. A death is not a periphery, more than that to point out the social follies and mal-practices of the capital society where human life is very less emphasized than profit. The philosophy of existential crisis becomes acute when the society searches for the meaning of life. Perhaps, 'American dream' made life much more critical and mechanical what was experienced by Arthur Miller and spread throughout the globe and caused not only the dreah of representative but the death of a dream. It has often been said that Death of a Salesman is a harsh criticism of the American Dream. ______________________________________________________________________________

Madonna Journal of English and Literary Studies

The American Dream occupies a pride of place in global literary provenance given its identity as a success-motivating paradigm for Americans and many people worldwide. However, while some critics contend that the ideology has culminated in the success of many people, others insist it is a hypothetical illusion which has led to the failure of many people. Thus, the debate rages on and continues to animate diverse discussions in the study of American social sciences, humanities, and literature. This article argues that the success or otherwise of the American Dream is located within the experience of the characters in a literary text rather than as a set of rules which has failed or succeeded in its scope. In some texts, it is recreated as responsible for the success of some characters. In other texts, it is portrayed as responsible for the failure of some characters. These diverse interpretations pose a problem in the proper designation of the ideology. In Miller's Death of a Salesman (1945) and Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby (1925), the American Dream is depicted in two ways-the reality of illusion and the illusion of reality. Through the theory of psychoanalysis, the article posits that the American Dream could be a success or failure depending on the attitude of the characters hence; it could either be an illusion of reality or a reality of illusion. Therefore, the understanding of the American Dream is not rigid but flexible depending on the different encounters and circumstances surrounding a character.

Jahan e tahqeeq, 2022

The present paper focuses on the cherished American dream, the reality and the reality manifested. The two have always been poles apart. But with this there is another reality i.e., the willingness of followers to be conned. The best of American Dream is divulged in the Death of the Salesman by Arthur Miller. The more we study profoundly, the eccentric character of a typical salesman Willy Loman, the more unpredictability of the American dreams unfolds itself, layer by layer. That Salesman is not of one cadre of society, rather he has in himself several other strata too. He is typified for middle class, lower middle class and even those who wish to be of any class, to be one with the society. Even, through his character we can make psychoanalysis of people of such character, demeanor or the profession existing all around us. But will it be the psychoanalysis of the man himself or the psychoanalysis of the American Dream personified. Loman's dysfunctional family, and his own life too, show the seething impressions of standardized lifeexplicitly, norms of American Success Formula. The tragic death he meets in the end, fixedly focuses on the death of the American Dream itself. But the most drastic aspect of it is the Existentialism, pervaded into the lives of these people taking them to the unrealistic goals.

This research aims at describing the influence of American Dream on Willy Loman’s characterization as a husband, father, and a salesman. The research applied a library research to collect information about the Death of a Salesman, American Dream and the author, Arthur Miller In doing the analysis, the writer used the structural method and sociological approach. The data were analyzed the characterization of Willy Loman by using structural approach, the writer continued her analysis to find out the influence of American Dream on Willy Loman’s characterizations by using sociological approach. The result of the research shows that Willy Loman’s characterizations are influenced by his ambition to pursue his American Dream. Willy Loman’s dream for being successful salesman and as a father makes him disappointed after he knows that he is fired from Howard’s Company and when he realizes that Biff in 34 years old does not has a proper...

Gloabal Language Review, 2022

The current research examines the elements of Idealism and Realism in Arthur Miller's play Death of a Salesman. Miller's play is opted through purposive sampling technique. Primary source, a Play, Death of a Salesman, and secondary sources, such as dissertations, articles, thesis, and newspapers are used as an instrument for data collection. Plato's Idealism and the realism of Aristotle are used as a framework for the present work. Idealism is revealed through the analysis of the hero, Willy Loman's Character. The protagonist misunderstands American Dream, he is a dreamer salesman. He wants to become a successful businessman, but he fails. Willy lives in illusions, while the real world is absolutely different. He is the echo of postmodern American society. Realism is an important theory identified in Miller's play, Death of a Salesman. Charley is a practical character in the play, his approach is rational, practical and realistic towards life.

Arthur Miller, one of the prolific writers in America. He received the Pulitzer Prize for the play Death of a Salesman in 1949. This play represents a successful attempt to blend the themes of social, personal and psychological tragedy within the some dramatic framework. It is also represents the theme of American tragedy. This play explores protagonist downfall and final defeat illustrate not only the failure of man but also the failure of way of life. It gives the clear picture of psychological tragedy of American lower middle class man. This article attempts focus on the psychological tragedy of salesman

When technical revolution in Death of a Salesman formed the transformist task in American society, certain changes cropped up and Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman failed to cope with them. A vigorous understanding of Millers creation involves the task of stretching beyond the boundaries of individual, to the extent of fathoming out the labyrinthine complicacy of social phenomena. Death of a Salesman holds a philosophy called the “American Dreams” ‘a misfit idea’ in a decade of unprecedented consumerism and technological advances. It gave the wrong ideology and deceived the human mind of the new middle class after the war until they were lost in a maize ready to be attacked by the lurking capitalist spider. This paper sets out to prove that Willy Loman, the every middle class man could not survive in the capitalist turmoil because he was a human being, he was not a salesman, he was a romantic, he believed in life, loved nature like Shelly, Keats and Rabinthdrath Tagore. There was n...

Journal of Political Ecology

Carlos Gregorio Hernández, Roberto Villa García y Jorge Álvarez Palomino (coords.), Cánovas del Castillo en el siglo XXI, Madrid, CEU Ediciones, 2024

Frontiers in Sociology, 2023

Studia Gilsoniana, 2023

Proceedings of the 35th CIHA World Congress Motion: Migrations, 2023

Razón y Palabra, 2017

GUARDIAN WORKERS WEEKLY, 2024

Bach-Jahrbuch, 2018

BioMed Research International, 2020

UniSa. Sistema Bibliotecario di Ateneo, 2011

International Journal of Pharmaceutics, 2015

Pediatric diabetes, 2016

Awari., 2024

Journal of University of Anbar for Pure Science

Related topics

•   We're Hiring!
•   Help Center
• Find new research papers in:
• Health Sciences
• Earth Sciences
• Cognitive Science
• Mathematics
• Computer Science
• Academia ©2024