Illusion versus Reality: Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman and Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire



Illusion versus Reality: Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman and Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire

Introduction

There were numerous studies about the production of the play and different aspects about it. The articles mainly involved different aspects of the character Willy Loman. A review of the play found that Willy Loman was based of Arthur Miller's uncle. In another review the topic of Willy's psychological state is discussed and possible mental illness' he may have. One review of the play brings up the question of what Willy Loman really sold, the answer was not found. The author uses the Death of a Salesman to help prove a point.

In addition, in A Streetcar Named Desire, Williams' portrays his protagonist, Blanche Du-Bois, as a woman that lives in her illusions rather than reality. It is very difficult for Blanche to tell the truth and admit that she is partly insane; Willy Loman suffers with the same problem. She believes that by changing her age, moral strength and self-control, within her illusions, it will help her in fulfilling her goals. Blanche does not want "what's real, but what's magic." This leads to Williams' strongest theme in his play, illusion versus reality. Williams reflects reality through his character Stanley Kowalski. Stanley is representative of the real world. He wants to uncover Blanche's mysteries and is very honest to his actions, whether they are good or bad but he lacks imagination. At first, Stanley can be seen by the audience as a hero but later on, after he beats his wife and rapes Blanche, the audience's opinions of him may change.

Discussion

The main protagonist Willy Loman, a pitiful, disastrous hero of the American masterpiece of the Arthur Miller's DOAS, struggles throughout the act to evidence the meriting of his labor. His failure to contend with the current basis him to continuously counterpoint the miserable reality he lives within the fertile preceding that a good number probably never had. All the way through the act, this contradiction of the creative thinker becomes to a greater extent detectable, admitting Willy to steal away of his deplorable reality and also into an illusion of the preceding that never subsisted; he is an example of Miller's reflection of illusion.

The main focus of the analysis in this study is of Willy Loman. The author talks about Willy's childhood and relates it to how he treats each of his sons and about Willy's role of dominance in his marriage.  The study then describes Happy and how he always tries to please his father because he was always second to his brother. The author talks about Biff and how Willy put so much pressure on him that Biff finally cracked.  The study describes Linda as a person who is soft but strong and only stays with Willy because he exemplifies the things she does not have. Last, the study justifies all of the characters' actions in the play ...